Saul's son living at the time of United Monarchy
Ish-bosheth (also called Eshbaal), Saul's son, was made king over Israel by Abner but was ultimately assassinated, leading to David's rule over all Israel.
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Also known as Eshbaal
Ish-bosheth, also known as Eshbaal, was the fourth son of King Saul (1Ch.8.33, 9.39). After Saul's death, Abner, the commander of Saul's army, took Ish-bosheth and made him king over Israel, while David reigned over Judah (2Sa.2.8-10). Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for two years.
During his reign, there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David (2Sa.3.1). Abner became angry with Ish-bosheth and defected to David (2Sa.3.8-21). Later, two of Ish-bosheth's captains, Rechab and Baanah, assassinated him while he was resting in his bed. They brought his head to David, hoping for a reward, but David had them executed for their crime (2Sa.4.5-12).
After Ish-bosheth's death, all the tribes of Israel came to David and acknowledged him as king over all Israel (2Sa.5.1-3). The name "Ish-bosheth" means "man of shame," while "Eshbaal" means "man of Baal." The name change may reflect the biblical writer's perspective on the contrast between Ish-bosheth's weak rule and David's divinely appointed kingship.
Part of: Kings, prophets and the house of David
Abner son of Ner was Saul's uncle's son (or, by another reading, Saul's uncle) and commanded his army. After Saul's death he made Ish-bosheth king, then quarrelled with him over the concubine Rizpah and defected to David.
Sources: 1 Sam 14:50 · 2 Sam 2:8-9 · 2 Sam 3:6-12
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Man of shame or humiliation, the youngest of Saul’s four sons, and the only one who survived him (2 Sam. 2-4). His name was originally Eshbaal (1 Chr. 8:33; 9:39). He was about forty years of age when his father and three brothers fell at the battle of Gilboa. Through the influence of Abner, Saul’s cousin, he was acknowledged as successor to the throne of Saul, and ruled over all Israel, except the tribe of Judah (over whom David was king), for two years, having Mahanaim, on the east of Jordan, as his capital (2 Sam. 2:9). After a troubled and uncertain reign he was murdered by his guard, who stabbed him while he was asleep on his couch at mid-day (2 Sam. 4:5-7); and having cut off his head, presented it to David, who sternly rebuked them for this cold-blooded murder, and ordered them to be immediately executed (9-12).
ISH'-BO'SHETH(man of shame), son and successor of Saul, was persuaded by Abner to go up to Mahanaim and assume the government while David reigned at Hebron, 2 Sam 2:8, 2 Sam 2:11; and all Israel except Judah acknowledged him as king. A severe battle soon after occurred at Gibeon, between the army of David, under Joab, and the army of Ish-bosheth, under Abner, in which the latter was utterly defeated. Abner was killed afterward by Joab. Ish-bosheth, thus deprived of his strongest supporter, was assassinated at noonday upon his bed after a brief reign of two years. 2 Sam 4:5-7.
ISH'-BO'SHETH(man of shame), son and successor of Saul, was persuaded by Abner to go up to Mahanaim and assume the government while David reigned at Hebron, 2 Sam 2:8, 2 Sam 2:11; and all Israel except Judah acknowledged him as king. A severe battle soon after occurred at Gibeon, between the army of David, under Joab, and the army of Ish-bosheth, under Abner, in which the latter was utterly defeated. Abner was killed afterward by Joab. Ish-bosheth, thus deprived of his strongest supporter, was assassinated at noonday upon his bed after a brief reign of two years. 2 Sam 4:5-7.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
12 verses in 2 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H0378
Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saulʼs army, took Saulʼs son Ish-bosheth, moved him to Mahanaim,
Saulʼs son Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David.
One day Abner son of Ner and the servants of Ish-bosheth son of Saul marched out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
So they got up and were counted off—twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and twelve for David.
Abner was furious over Ish-boshethʼs accusation. “Am I the head of a dog that belongs to Judah?” he asked. “All this time I have been loyal to the house of your father Saul, to his brothers, and to his friends. I have not delivered you into the hand of David, but now you accuse me of wrongdoing with this woman!
Then David sent messengers to say to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, “Give me back my wife, Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred Philistine foreskins.”
So Ish-bosheth sent and took Michal from her husband Paltiel son of Laish.
Now Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out and arrived at the house of Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day, while the king was taking his midday nap.
They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life. Today the LORD has granted vengeance to my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.”
So David commanded his young men, and they killed Rechab and Baanah. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies by the pool in Hebron, but they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in Abnerʼs tomb in Hebron.
Ner was the father of Kish, Kish was the father of Saul, and Saul was the father of Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Esh-baal.
Ner was the father of Kish, Kish was the father of Saul, and Saul was the father of Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Esh-baal.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.