ISHBAK (fsh'bak),(Heb. p.,-,yish-bawk', leav ing), a son of Abraham by Keturah (Gen. xxv:2; Chron. i:32), whose descendants comprised a tribe in northern Arabia. Pool thinks that the location of the settlements of this people may he recovered in the name of the valley called Sabak, or Sibak in the Dahna, in the highland country of North eastern Arabia.
(Ish'bi-he'nob), (Heb.
yish-bee'beh-nobe', my seat is at Nob), one of the giants, or Rephaim, who carried a spear which weighed 3oo shekels, twelve pounds and a half. This giant, being. on the point of killing David, who was fatigued in the battle, was himself killed by Abishai, son of Zeruiah (2 Sam. xxi:r6, 17), B. C. about Path. (See GIANTS.) (Ish'bo'sheth), (Heb.
eesh-bo'sheth, man of shame, "bashful"), a son of King Saul, and the only one who survived him.
In r Chron. viii :33, and ix:39, this name is given as esh-bahtal Baal was the name of an idol, accounted abominable by the He brews, and which scrupulous persons avoided pronouncing, using the word bosheth, 'shame' or 'vanity,' instead. This explains why the name Eshbaal is substituted for Ish-bosheth, Jerub baal for Jerubbesheth (comp. Judg. viii :35 with 2 Sam. x1:20, and Merib-baal for Mephibosheth (comp. 2 Sam. iv :4 with Chron. viii :34 and ix :4o).
(1) Succeeds Saul. Ishbosheth was not pres ent in the disastrous battle at Gilboa, in which his father and brothers perished; and, too feeble of himself to seize the scepter which had fallen from the hands of Saul, he owed the crown entirely to his uncle Abner, who conducted him to Pelahanann, beyond the Jordan, where he was recognized as king by ten of the twelve tribes. He reigned seven, or, as some will have it, two years—if a power so uncertain as his can be called a reign. Even the semblance of authority which he pos sessed he owed to the will and influence of Abner, who himself kept the real substance in his own hands.
(2) Quarrels with Abner. A sharp quarrel between them led at last to the ruin of Ish-bo sheth. Although accustomed to tremble before Abner, even his meek temper was roused to re sentment by the discovery that Abner had in vaded the harem of his late father Saul, which was in a peculiar manner sacred under his care as a son and a king. By this act Abner exposed the king to public contempt, if it did not indeed leave himself open lo the suspicion of intending to advance a claim to the crown on his own be half. Abner highly resented the rebuke of Ish bosheth, and from that time contemplated unit ing all the tribes under the scepter of David.
Ish-bosheth, however, reverted to his ordinary timidity of character. At the first demand of David, he restored to him his sister Isdichal, who had been given in marriage to the son of Jesse by Saul, and had afterwards been taken from him and oestowed npon another. It is, perhaps, right to attribute this act to his weakness ; although, as David allows that he was a righteous man, it may have been owing to his sense of justice.
(3) Death. On the death of Abner, Ish-bo sheth lost all heart and hope, and perished mis erably, being murdered in his own palace, while he took his mid-day sleep, by two of his officers, Baanah and Rechab. They sped with his head to David, expecting a great reward for their deed ; but the monarch—as both right feeling and good policy required—testified the utmost horror and concern. He slew the murderers, and placed the head of Ish-bosheth with due respect in the sepulcher of Abner (2 Sam. ii ; :6-39; iv), B. C. 1°48.
(4) Difficulty in Chronology. There is a serious difficulty in the chronology of this reign. In 2 Sam. ii :io Ish-bosheth is said to have reigned two years ; which some understand as the whole amount of his reign. And as David reigned seven and a half years over Judah before he became king of all Israel upon the deatir.Of Ish-bosheth, it is conceived by the Jewish chro nologer (Seder Olant Rabba, p. 37), as well as by Kimchi and others, that there was a vacancy of five years in the throne of Israel. But it is the more usual, and perhaps the better course, to settle this question by supposing that the reigns of David over Judah. and Ish-bosheth over Israel, were nearly contemporaneous, and that the two years are mentioned as those from which to date the commencement of the ensuing events—name ly, the wars between the house of Saul and that of David.
ISHI (i'shi), (Heb. yish-ee', salutary).
1. The son of Appaim, a descendant of Judah, and faiher of Sheshan Chron. :30, of the house of Hezron. (B. C. probably after 1612.) 2. Forefather (father) of several Simeonites who headed an expedition of five hundred men, in which they took Mount Seir from the Antal ekites, and possessed it (i Chron. iv :42), B. C. ante 726.
3. Father of Zolieth and Ben-zoheth (1 Chron. iv :2o), B. C. perhaps about ro17.
4. A chief of Manasseh, famous for valor, living east of the Jordan (1 Chron. v :24), B. C. about 72o.
5. (Heb. ish'ee, my husband), a word occurring in Hos. ii:16, and means "my man" or "husband."