2. Son of Jonathan; grandson of King Saul. When the report about the deaths of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, Mephibosheth’s nurse began to carry the five-year-old boy and flee in panic. At that time he “had a fall and was lamed” in both feet. (2Sa 4:4) For some years thereafter, Mephibosheth lived in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel at Lo-debar. David learned this from Ziba, a former servant in Saul’s house. Doubtless remembering his covenant with Jonathan (1Sa 20:12-17, 42), David wished to exercise loving-kindness toward anyone “left over of the house of Saul.” Mephibosheth was brought before David, and when the king explained that it was his desire to exercise loving-kindness toward Mephibosheth by returning to him “all the field of Saul” and by having him “eat bread at my table constantly,” Mephibosheth responded humbly: “What is your servant, that you have turned your face to the dead dog such as I am?” However, in keeping with David’s determination in the matter, Ziba and all those dwelling in his house (including 15 sons and 20 servants) became servants to Mephibosheth, who was given Saul’s property. He thereafter resided in Jerusalem and constantly ate at the table of the king.​—2Sa 9.

When David fled from Jerusalem because of Absalom’s conspiracy, he was met by Ziba, who provided him with supplies. Answering David’s inquiries as to the whereabouts of Mephibosheth, Ziba said: “There he is dwelling in Jerusalem; for he said: ‘Today the house of Israel will give back to me the royal rule of my father.’” At that, the king told Ziba: “Look! Yours is everything that belongs to Mephibosheth.” (2Sa 16:1-4) Mephibosheth came to meet David upon the king’s return to Jerusalem, the account saying “he had not attended to his feet nor had he attended to his mustache nor had he washed his garments from the day that the king went away until the day that he came in peace.” When David asked why Mephibosheth had not gone with him, Mephibosheth gave the explanation that his servant had tricked him and also said: “So he slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is as an angel of the true God” (that is, he would see the matter in its true light). David evidently recognized Mephibosheth’s innocence, altering his first decree by saying: “You and Ziba should share in the field.” To this Mephibosheth replied: “Let him even take the whole, now that my lord the king has come in peace to his house.”​—2Sa 19:24-30; compare Pr 18:17; 25:8-10.

When the Gibeonites sought the death of Saul’s descendants to atone for that king’s evil attempt against them, David felt compassion for Mephibosheth because of the oath of Jehovah between David and Jonathan and spared Mephibosheth. (2Sa 21:7, 8) The Scriptures provide no further information about Mephibosheth, though Saul’s family continued in existence to a later generation through Mephibosheth’s son Mica (Micah). (2Sa 9:12; 1Ch 9:39-44) Evidently Mephibosheth also had the name Merib-baal, as 1 Chronicles 8:34 and 9:40 would indicate.

(Meʹrab) [from a root meaning “become many (abundant)”].

The older of King Saul’s two daughters. (1Sa 14:49) Saul had evidently promised to give one of them in marriage to the man who would defeat Goliath (1Sa 17:25), and it may have been for that reason that he offered Merab to David. After his encounter with Goliath, David proved to be a prudent and successful fighter against the Philistines, so much so that Saul “was scared of him,” while the people of Israel and Judah loved him. (1Sa 18:15, 16) In offering Merab to David as a wife, Saul urged him on to continued valor, while thinking to himself, “Do not let my hand come to be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines come to be upon him,” hoping for David’s death in battle. David, in humility, hesitated to accept the offer to become the son-in-law of the king. As matters turned out, Saul did not keep his promise, and Merab never became David’s wife. The account states that the younger daughter, Michal, “was in love with David,” which may imply that Merab was not. At any rate, “it came about that at the time for giving Merab, Saul’s daughter, to David, she herself had already been given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.”​—1Sa 18:17-20.

Merab bore five sons to Adriel. However, David later gave these sons and two other members of Saul’s household to the Gibeonites, who put all seven to death. This was done to atone for Saul’s having tried to annihilate the Gibeonites.​—2Sa 21:1-10.

Merab’s Sister Rears Her Sons. According to the Masoretic text, 2 Samuel 21:8 speaks of “the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul whom she bore to Adriel.” Yet 2 Samuel 6:23 says that Michal died childless. It appears that some scribes have tried to resolve this difficulty by substituting the name of Merab for Michal at 2 Samuel 21:8. This seems apparent from the fact that the Greek Septuagint (Lagardian edition) and two Hebrew manuscripts read “Merab” in this verse. However, a traditional explanation of 2 Samuel 21:8 as it appears in almost all other Hebrew manuscripts is as follows:

Michal’s sister Merab was the wife of Adriel and bore him the five sons in question. But Merab died early, and her sister Michal, rejected by David and childless, undertook the rearing, or bringing up, of the five boys. Hence, they were spoken of as Michal’s children instead of those of Merab. In harmony with this view of 2 Samuel 21:8, the Bible translation by Isaac Leeser speaks of “the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she had brought up for Adriel,” and a footnote thereon states: “As Michal was David’s wife; but the children were those of Merab, the oldest daughter of Saul, who were probably educated by her sister.” The Targums read: “The five sons of Merab (which Michal, Saul’s daughter, brought up) which she bare.” Other factors, not revealed in the Scriptures, may have a bearing on the way the text was set down.

(Me·raiʹah) [possibly, Rebellious].

A priest and head of the paternal house of Seraiah in the days of Joiakim after the Jews’ return from Babylonian exile.​—Ne 12:12.

(Me·raʹioth) [possibly, Rebellious Ones].

1. A priestly descendant of Aaron through Eleazar; called “the son of Zerahiah.”​—1Ch 6:3-7, 52; Ezr 7:3, 4.

2. A priest identified as “the son of Ahitub, a leader of the house of the true God” and who appears to be the father of Zadok.​—1Ch 9:10, 11; Ne 11:11.

3. Founder of a priestly paternal house, the head of which was Helkai in the days of Joiakim. (Ne 12:12, 15) “Meraioth,” which was the name of this house following the Jews’ return from Babylonian exile, may be a variation of “Meremoth,” the name of one of the priests accompanying Zerubbabel to Jerusalem in 537 B.C.E.​—Ne 12:1, 3.

(Me·rarʹi) [from a root meaning “be bitter”].

Son of Levi and brother of Gershon (Gershom) and Kohath. (Ge 46:11; 1Ch 6:1, 16) Since Merari is mentioned in third place among Levi’s sons, he may have been the youngest. He was one of the 70 members of Jacob’s household “who came into Egypt.” (Ge 46:8, 11, 26, 27) Merari had two sons, Mahli and Mushi (Ex 6:19; 1Ch 6:19), and was the founder of the Merarites, one of the three main Levite families.​—Nu 26:57.

(Me·rarʹites) [Of (Belonging to) Merari].

One of the three major families of Levites, descending from Levi’s son Merari through Mahli and Mushi. (Ex 6:16, 19; Nu 3:20; 26:57, 58) The first census of the Israelites in the wilderness listed 6,200 Merarite males from a month old upward, 3,200 of these being from 30 to 50 years of age and entering the service group “for the service in the tent of meeting.” (Nu 3:33, 34; 4:42-45) Their chieftain then was Zuriel, and their encampment was on the N side of the tabernacle. (Nu 3:35) During the wilderness trek the three-tribe division of Judah was first to pull away from an encampment. Then the Gershonites and Merarites “as carriers of the tabernacle pulled away,” followed by the three-tribe division of Reuben and then the Kohathite Levites. (Nu 10:14-21) The Merarites were in charge of the panel frames, bars, pillars, and socket pedestals of the tabernacle, as well as “all its utensils and all its service,” in addition to the pillars, socket pedestals, tent pins, and tent cords of the courtyard. (Nu 3:36, 37) To move these heavy objects, they were supplied with four wagons and eight cattle. In the wilderness they and the Gershonites were “under the hand” of Aaron’s son Ithamar.​—Nu 7:6-8.

In the division of the Promised Land under Joshua, 12 cities were assigned to the Merarites, four each from the tribal territories of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. One of these, Ramoth in Gilead (in the territory of Gad), was a “city of refuge.”​—Jos 21:7, 34-40; 1Ch 6:63, 77-81.

In David’s day 220 Merarites, with Asaiah as their chief, assisted other Levites in bringing the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem from the house of Obed-edom. (1Ch 15:1-6, 25) After the Ark had a resting-place, “David gave positions for the direction of the singing at the house of Jehovah” to certain Merarites. (1Ch 6:31, 44-47) Other Merarites were assigned as gatekeepers.​—1Ch 26:1, 10, 19.

During Judean King Hezekiah’s reform program, some Merarites were among the Levites who cleansed the temple. (2Ch 29:12, 15) Later, in the seventh century B.C.E., Merarites Jahath and Obadiah were appointed over repairers of the temple by King Josiah.​—2Ch 34:12, 13.

Merarites were among the Levites returning from Babylonian exile in 537 B.C.E. (1Ch 9:14) Later (in 468 B.C.E.), Merarites were among the Levites accompanying Ezra from Babylon to Jerusalem.​—Ezr 8:1, 18, 19, 31, 32.

(Mer·a·thaʹim) [probably, Double Rebellion].

A designation applying to Babylon or, possibly, to a particular territory in Babylonia. (Jer 50:21, 23, 24) It may allude to the nar marratu of Babylonian inscriptions, considered to be the Persian Gulf where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers enter into it. It is evidently a play on the Hebrew verb ma·rahʹ (be rebellious). As a dual form