adriel Summary and Overview

flock of God, the son of Barzillai, the Meholathite, to whom Saul gave in marriage his daughter Merab (1 Sam. 18:19). The five sons that sprang from this union were put to death by the Gibeonites (2 Sam. 21:8, 9. Here it is said that Michal "brought up" [R.V., "bare"] these five sons, either that she treated them as if she had been their own mother, or that for "Michal" we should read "Merab," as in 1 Sam. 18:19).

A'DRIEL . See Merab.

Son of Barzillai the Meholathite, to whom Saul gave Merab his daughter in marriage, previously promised to David (1 Samuel 18:19). Five sons from this union were of the seven slain as a blood satisfaction to the Gibeonites whose blood Saul had, in violation of Israel's covenant (Joshua 9:15), shed. 2 Samuel 21:8; "Michal brought up for Adriel:" namely, Merab the mother died young, and her sister brought up her five nephews, as if she were their own mother. The Jewish targums favor this view. But as the Hebrew yalad means to bring forth or bear children, and Michal seems to have had no children (2 Samuel 6:23), perhaps Michal is a transcriber's error for Merab. Still the term "bare" (margin) may mark how completely Michal, evidently a woman of strong affections (1 Samuel 19:11-12;