MERAB (11!? ; LXX. Mep6(3 ; Joseph. Me p66'n ; Vulg. Merob), the elder of Saul's two daughters (I Sam. xiv. 49 ; xviii. 17 ; Joseph. vi. 6. 5), whom her father promised to give in marriage to David, in the hope that the warlike service which was imposed as a condition would issue in the death of the latter at the hands of the king's enemies. It has been inferred from David's reply (ver. 18) that he was disinclined to this alliance ; but his words appear to be nothing more than the customary expression of ciation which Eastern politeness expected from those who were about to receive a favour from a superior. Similar expressions are used, I Sam. xviii. 23 ; xxv. 41 ; 2 Sam. ix. 8 ; where it is plain that no disinclination is either expressed or implied. The offer of Saul was accepted by David, and the condition it imposed was probably fulfilled by one of more military expeditions ; but at the time when Merab should have been given to David, the king was faithless to his promise, and gave his daughter to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite. Of this marriage five sons were the issue, and these, with the two sons of Rizpah, were the seven mem bets of the family of Saul whom David delivered to the Gibeonites as an atonement for the wrong which Saul had done to that people (2 Sam. xxi.
8). In the Hebrew text of the passage just referred to, the mother of the five sons of Adriel is named Michal. There is scarcely room for doubting that this is an error of transcription, although of very early date, for it must have existed in the copies used by the LXX., and is followed by Joseplms ; such at least seems to be the most probable expla nation of the incredible statement respecting Michal made by this writer (Antiq. vii. 4. 3). The trans lators of the A. V., following the explanation given by the Targum, have endeavoured to evade the difficulty by rendering `she brought up,' not withstanding they had already translated the same word in the former part of the verse by ' she bare.' The Syriac has, in this verse, the same name as that given in all the other passages in which she is mentioned to the elder daughter of Saul, which, according to the present text, is Nodob.— S. N. 1-3