On the transaction between David and Mephibo- sheth, see J. G. Eisner, Ueh. die gerechte Unschuld u. Red- Uchkeit Mcjyhihoseths (Frankf. u. Leipz. 1760) ; Niemeyer, Charukt. iv, 434 sq. ; Kitto's Daily Bible Illust. ad loc. ; Blunt. Undesigned Coincidences, ad locw ; Hall, Contempla- tions, ad loc. ; H. Lindsay, Lectures, ii, 102 ; Doddridge, Sermons, i, 177 ; Ewald, Hist, of Israel (Engl, transl. iii. 191). See Ziba.
Me'rab (Heb. il/e>-«6', n'n^, increase; Sept. Mfpo/3 and jrfpw/3 ; Josephus Mipojir], A nt. vi, 6, 5), the eldest of tlie two daughters of king Saul (doubtless by his wife Ahinoam), and possibly the eldest chUd (1 Sam. xiv, 49). She first appears (B.C. cir. 1062) after the victory over Goliath and the Pliilistines, when David had be- come an inmate in Saul's house (1 Sam. xviii, 2), and immediately after the commencement of his friendship with Jonathan. In accordance with the promise which he made before the engagement with Goliath (xvii, 25), Saul betrothed Merab to David (xviii, 17), but it is evi- dently implied that one object of thus rewarding his valor was to incite him to further feats, which might at last lead to his death by the Philistines. David's hesi-
tation looks as if he did not much value the honor, al- though his language in ver. 18 may be only an Oriental form of self-depreciation (comp. 1 Sam. xviii, 23 ; xxv, 42 ; 2 Sam. ix, 8) ; at any rate before the marriage Me- rab's younger sister Michal had displayed her attach- ment for David, and Merab was then married to Adriel the IMeholathite, who seems to have been one of the ^vealthy sheiks of the eastern part of Palestine, with whom the house of Saul always maintained an alliance. To Adriel she bore five sons, who formed five of the seven members of the house of Saul who were given up to the Gibeonites by David, and by them impaled as a propitiation to Jehovah on the sacred hill of Gibeah (2 Sam. xxi, 8). See Eizpah.
The Authorized Version of this passage is an accom- modation, rendering tT^?^, "she brought up," although it has " she bare" for the same Hebrew word in the pre- vious part of the verse. The Hebrew text has " the tiv^e sons of Michal, daughter of Saul, which she bare to Adriel," and this is followed in the Sept. and Vulgate. The Targum explains the discrepancy thus : " The five sons of Merab (which Michal, Saul's daughter, brought up) which she bare," etc. The Peshito substitutes Me- rab (in the present state of the text " Nodob") for Mi- chal. J. H. Michaelis, in his Hebrew Bible (2 Sam. xxi, 10), suggests that there were two daughters of Saul named Michal, as there were two Elishamas and two Eliphalets among David's sons. Probably the most feasible solution of the difficulty is that "Michal" is the mistake of a transcriber for "Merab;" but, if so, it is manifest from the agreement of the versions and of Jose- phus (^K^ vii,4,30) with the present text, that the error is one of verj' ancient date. — Smith, s. v. See JMichal.
Merai'ah (Heb. Merayah', iT^lp, resistance; Sept. 'Afiapia v. r. IMapsa ; Vulg. Maraja), a chief priest, the "son" of Seraiah, contemporary with the high-priest Joiakim (Neh. xii, 12). B.C. post 536.
Merai'oth (Heb. Merayoth', "i'l'IT;, rebellions; Sept. Mfpttiw^, Mipai')^, and MapiwS- v. r. Mnpn'yX), the name of one or more leading priests.
1. The son of Zerahiah and father of Amariah,-a high-priest of the line of Eleazar (1 Chron. vi, 6, 7, 52; Ezra vii, 3). B.C. considerably ante 1062. It was thought by Lightfoot that he was the immediate pred- ecessor of Eli in the office of high-priest, and that at his death the high-priesthood changed from the line of Eleazar to the line of Ithamar {Temple Service, iv, § 1). In 1 Chron. ix, 11 ; Neh. xi, 11, his name appears to have become transposed between those of Zadok and Ahitub, instead of its proper place after the latter, as may be seen from 1 Chron. vi, 6-12. See Higii-piukst.
2. A chief priest whose son Helkai was contemporary with the high-priest Joiakim (Neh. xii, 15) ; doubtless identical with the Meremoth of ver. 3.
Me'ran (M£ppoj^,Vulg.3/e?v-Aa), aplace mentioned along with Theman as famous for its merchants and its wise men (Bar. iii, 23). The association with the Ha- garenes leads us to seek for Meran in Arabia. It may be Mohrnh in Desert Arabia, or Marane, of which Pliny speaks (V. H. vi, 28, 32). Strabo (xvi, 4, p. 776) and Di- odor. Sic. (iii, 43) also mention the Mapavlrai, The con- jecture of Grotius that it is the Mcaruh mentioned in Josh, xiii, 4, and that of Hiivernick {I)e libra Baruch,'^ 5) that it is the Syrian town Maarah, are mere guesses (comp. Fritzsche, Exeget. Hdb. z. Apoh. ad loc.).— Kitto. The suggestion of Hitzig {Psalmen,\\\\'S) that Meran is merely a corruption of "Medan" or "Midian," owing to the ready mistake by a translator of 1 for 1, is more plausible, although there is little evidence of a Hebrew- original for this portion of Baruch. Junius and Tre- mellius give Medunai, and their conjecture is supported by the appearance of the Midianites as iiomade mer- chants in Gen. xxxvii. Both jMedan and INIidian are enumerated among the sons of Keturah in Gen. xxv, 2, and are closely connected with the Deaanim, whose