Illustration created for this project.
Ish-bosheth
A son of Saul made king over the north for a time in rivalry with David.
What we know — and how we know it
Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 2
Scholarly — supported scholarly belief · 2
Family & lineage
Tribe & people
BibleOf the tribe of Benjamin.
2 Samuel 2:8
Name & titles
Scholarly"Ish-bosheth" means "man of shame," a deliberate scribal substitution: the same son of Saul is called Esh-baal ("man of Baal") in the Chronicler's genealogy. Later tradents replaced the Baal theophoric element with bosheth ("shame") to avoid uttering the god's name, as also happened with Mephibosheth/Merib-baal.
Onomastic point comparing 2 Sam 2:8 with 1 Chron 8:33 and 9:39, where the same figure is Esh-baal; the bosheth-for-baal substitution is a recognized scribal convention.
ScholarlyA large storage jar from Khirbet Qeiyafa, published in 2015, bears the incised name "Eshbaal son of Beda" and dates to roughly the early 10th century BCE. It does NOT name Saul's son and refers to a different Eshbaal, but it is the first attestation of this exact name from the period, showing the name-form was genuinely in use in early Iron Age Judah.
Khirbet Qeiyafa Eshbaal jar inscription (excavated by Y. Garfinkel et al., published 2015). Explicitly a DIFFERENT person; graded scholarly, not archaeology of this figure, to avoid misattribution.
Where in scripture
2 Samuel1 Chronicles
2 Samuel 2:82 Samuel 2:102 Samuel 3:82 Samuel 4:52 Samuel 4:82 Samuel 4:121 Chronicles 8:331 Chronicles 9:39
Family
In their own words — 1 recorded saying
“Now Saul had among his wives a woman named Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah: and Ish-bosheth said to Abner, Why have you taken my father's wife?” — 2 Samuel 3:7
Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).