Now Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, had taken Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim and he made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel. He is exclusively called Ish-bosheth in the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible: He is also called Eshbaal, in Hebrew meaning 'Baal exists', or 'fire of Baal'.Ĭritical scholarship suggests that Bosheth was a substitute for Baʿal, beginning when Baʿal became an unspeakable word as (in the opposite direction) Adonai became substituted for the ineffable Tetragrammaton (see taboo deformation). In Hebrew, Ish-bosheth means 'Man of shame'. The names Ish-bosheth and Eshbaal have ambiguous meanings in the original Hebrew. ( July 2015) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This section needs additional citations for verification. David's supporters buried the head of Ish-bosheth in Abner's grave at Hebron ( 2 Samuel 4:12). David, however, refused to give any commendation for high treason he had both killers executed and their hands and feet cut off. Two of Ish-bosheth's own army-captains, Rechab and Baanah, assassinated the deposed king, ( 2 Samuel 4:5) expecting a reward from David because of this. After Abner's death, Ish-bosheth seems to have given up hope of retaining power ( 2 Samuel 4:1). Later, at the conclusion of the war with Ish-bosheth, David's terms for peace required returning Michal to him, and Ish-bosheth complied ( 2 Samuel 3:14). David's faction eventually prevailed against Ish-bosheth's ( 2 Samuel 3:1), but the war did not come to a close until Abner joined David ( 2 Samuel 3:6).īefore the death of Saul, David had been married to Saul's daughter Michal, Ish-bosheth's sister, until Saul and David had a falling out and Saul gave her to another man ( 1 Samuel 25:44). However, after the death of King Saul, the tribe of Judah seceded from the rule of the House of Saul by proclaiming David as its king ( 2 Samuel 2:4), and war ensued ( 2 Samuel 2:12). Ish-bosheth was 40 years old at this time and reigned for two years ( 2 Samuel 2:10).

In the biblical account, Abner, the captain of Saul's army, proclaimed Ish-bosheth king over Israel at Mahanaim in Transjordan ( 2 Samuel 2:8), after the slaying of Ish-bosheth's father and brothers in the battle of Gilboa ( 1 Samuel 31:1).

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