He conquered the Jebusite-held town of Jerusalem, which he made…, Books of Samuel, two Old Testament books that, along with Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, and 1 and 2 Kings, belong to the tradition of Deuteronomic history first committed to writing about 550 bc, during the Babylonian Exile. Then was Abner very wroth for the words of Ishbosheth, and said, Am I a dog's head, which against Judah do show kindness this day to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hand of David, that you charge me to day with a fault concerning this woman? Abner then defected to David, leaving the northern tribes without effective leadership, and Ishbosheth was soon murdered by two of his captains. (2 Samuel 4:12). Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Although the Bible states that Ishbosheth was 40 years old when he became king and that his reign lasted two years, scholars have found that these figures are incorrect. They said it is the first time the name was discovered in an ancient inscription. David, however, refused to give any commendation for high treason; he had both killers hanged with their hands and feet cut off. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2 Samuel 9:8 And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? Ish-bosheth was 40 years old at this time and reigned for two years (2 Samuel 2:10). Kingdom of Judah, when King David is said to have reigned. Later, at the conclusion of the war with Ishbosheth, David's terms for peace required that Michal be returned to him, and Ish-bosheth complied (2 Samuel 3:14). 2 Samuel 16:9 Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Ish-bosheth (Hebrew: .mw-parser-output .script-hebrew,.mw-parser-output .script-Hebr{font-family:"SBL Hebrew","SBL BibLit","Frank Ruehl CLM","Taamey Frank CLM","Ezra SIL","Ezra SIL SR","Keter Aram Tsova","Taamey Ashkenaz","Taamey David CLM","Keter YG","Shofar","David CLM","Hadasim CLM","Simple CLM","Nachlieli",Cardo,Alef,"Noto Serif Hebrew","Noto Sans Hebrew","David Libre",David,"Times New Roman",Gisha,Arial,FreeSerif,FreeSans}אִֽישְׁבֹּשֶׁת‎, Ishboshet), also called Eshbaal (אֶשְׁבַּעַל‎, Eshbaal; also Ishbaal), was one of the four sons of King Saul. Eshbaal of the Bible was a son of King Saul. Am I a dog's head that belongeth to Judah? Before the death of Saul, David had been married to Saul's daughter Michal, Ishbosheth's sister, until Saul and David had a falling out and Saul gave her to another man (1 Samuel 25:44). The two books, which were originally one, are principally concerned with…. After Abner's death, Ish-bosheth seems to have given up hope of retaining power (2 Samuel 4:1). The first European power to lay claim to California was England. In the biblical story, Ish-bosheth was proclaimed king over Israel by Abner, the captain of Saul's army, at Mahanaim in Transjordan (2 Samuel 2:8), after his father and brothers were slain in the battle of Gilboa (1 Samuel 31:1). He is almost exclusively called Ish-bosheth in the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible: When he was prematurely assassinated and King David punished the killers: One possible explanation to that would be that Esh-baʿal (≈ 'man of the Lord') was his birth name, and that Judahites (i.e., from the South kingdom) could not find it in themselves to pronounce the name of a heathen divinity, and so called him Ish-bosheth ('man of shame') instead. According to the Hebrew Bible, Ishboshet was briefly declared king over the northern half of the Kingdom of Israel after the death of his father and three brothers at the Battle of Mount Gilboa, and before both parts of the kingdom were reunited under King David.[1]. To be weak is, in this world full of tempters, to drift into being wicked. The name "Eshbaal Ben Beda" appears on a large ceramic jar found in Khirbet Qeiyafa. After the death of Saul and his three sons in a battle with the Philistines (1 Samuel 31:1-6), Abner established Saul's son Ishbosheth as King. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular, Abner -- 'my father is a lamp', an Israelite name, Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular, To glow, grow warm, to blaze up, of anger, zeal, jealousy, Ish-bosheth -- 'man of shame', a son of Saul and king of Israel, Article | Noun - masculine singular construct, Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that, Judah -- 'praised', a son of Jacob, also the southern kingdom, also four Israelites, Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular, Saul -- first king of Israel, also an Edomite and two Israelites, Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular, Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular, Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle, Verb - Hifil - Perfect - first person common singular | second person masculine singular, To come forth to, appear, exist, to attain, find, acquire, to occur, meet, be present, Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct, David -- perhaps 'beloved one', a son of Jesse, Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - second person masculine singular, To visit, to oversee, muster, charge, care for, miss, deposit, Preposition | first person common singular.