-
MerabAid to Bible Understanding
-
-
Philistines come to be upon him,” hoping for David’s death in battle. David, in humility, hesitated to accept the offer to become the son-in-law of the king. As matters turned out, Saul did not keep his promise, Merab never becoming David’s wife. The account states that the younger daughter, Michal, “was in love with David,” which may imply that Merab was not. At any rate, “it came about that at the time for giving Merab, Saul’s daughter, to David, she herself had already been given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.”—1 Sam. 18:17-20.
Merab bore five sons to Adriel. However, David later gave these sons and two other members of Saul’s household to the Gibeonites, who put all seven to death. This was done to atone for Saul’s having tried to annihilate the Gibeonites.—2 Sam. 21:1-10.
MERAB’S SISTER REARS HER SONS
According to the Hebrew Masoretic text, 2 Samuel 21:8 speaks of “the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul whom she bore to Adriel.” Yet 2 Samuel 6:23 says that Michal died childless. It appears that some scribes have tried to resolve this difficulty by substituting the name of Merab for Michal at 2 Samuel 21:8. This seems apparent from the fact that the Syriac Peshitta Version, the Septuagint Version (Lagardian ed.) and two Hebrew manuscripts read “Merab” in this verse. However, a traditional explanation of 2 Samuel 21:8 as it appears in almost all Hebrew manuscripts is as follows:
Michal’s sister Merab was the wife of Adriel and bore him the five sons in question. But Merab dying early, her sister Michal, rejected by David and childless, undertook the rearing or bringing up of the five boys. Hence, they were spoken of as Michal’s children rather than those of Merab. In harmony with this view of 2 Samuel 21:8, the Bible translation by Isaac Leeser (7th ed., 1922) speaks of “the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she had brought up for Adriel,” and a footnote thereon states: “As Michal was David’s wife; but the children were those of Merab, the oldest daughter of Saul, who were probably educated by her sister.” The Targums read: “The five sons of Merab (which Michal, Saul’s daughter brought up) which she bare.” Other factors, not revealed in the Scriptures, may have a bearing on the way the text was set down.—See MICHAL.
-
-
MeraiahAid to Bible Understanding
-
-
MERAIAH
(Me·raiʹah) [resistance; or, perhaps, from a term meaning “Jehovah has promised”].
A priest and head of the paternal house of Seraiah in the days of Joiakim after the Jews’ return from Babylonian exile.—Neh. 12:12.
-
-
MeraiothAid to Bible Understanding
-
-
MERAIOTH
(Me·raʹioth) [rebellious].
1. A priestly descendant of Aaron through Eleazar; called “the son of Zerahiah.”—1 Chron. 6:3-7, 52; Ezra 7:3, 4.
2. A priest identified as “the son of Ahitub, a leader of the house of the true God” and who appears to be the father of Zadok.—1 Chron. 9:10, 11; Neh. 11:11.
3. Founder of a priestly paternal house, the head of which was Helkai in the days of Joiakim. (Neh. 12:12, 15) “Meraioth,” the name of this house of a generation following the Jews’ return from Babylonian exile, may be a variation of “Meremoth,” the name of one of the priests accompanying Zerubbabel to Jerusalem in 537 B.C.E.—Neh. 12:3.
-
-
MerariAid to Bible Understanding
-
-
MERARI
(Me·rarʹi) [bitter, unhappy].
Son of Levi and brother of Gershon (Gershom) and Kohath. (Gen. 46:11; 1 Chron. 6:1, 16) Since Merari is mentioned in third place among Levi’s sons, he may have been the youngest. He was one of the seventy members of Jacob’s household “who came into Egypt.” (Gen. 46:8, 11, 26, 27) Merari had two sons, Mahli and Mushi (Ex. 6:19; 1 Chron. 6:19), and was the founder of the Merarites, one of the three main Levite families.—Num. 26:57.
-
-
MeraritesAid to Bible Understanding
-
-
MERARITES
(Me·rarʹites).
One of the three major families of Levites, descending from Levi’s son Merari through Mahli and Mushi. (Ex. 6:16, 19; Num. 3:20; 26:57, 58) The first census of the Israelites in the wilderness listed 6,200 Merarite males from a month old upward, 3,200 of these being from thirty to fifty years of age and entering the service group “for the service in the tent of meeting.” (Num. 3:33, 34; 4:42-45) Their chieftain then was Zuriel and their encampment was on the N side of the tabernacle. (Num. 3:35) During the wilderness trek the three-tribe division of Judah was first to pull away from an encampment. Then the Gershonites and Merarites “as carriers of the tabernacle pulled away,” followed by the three-tribe division of Reuben and then the Kohathite Levites. (Num. 10:14-21) The Merarites were in charge of the panel frames, bars, pillars and socket pedestals of the tabernacle, as well as “all its utensils and all its service,” in addition to the pillars, socket pedestals, tent pins and tent cords of the courtyard. (Num. 3:36, 37) To move these heavy objects, they were supplied with four wagons and eight cattle. In the wilderness they and the Gershonites were “under the hand” of Aaron’s son Ithamar.—Num. 7:6-8.
In the division of the Promised Land under Joshua, twelve cities were assigned to the Merarites, four each from the tribal territories of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun. One of these, Ramoth in Gilead (in the territory of Gad) was a “city of refuge.”—Josh. 21:7, 34-40; 1 Chron. 6:63, 77-81.
In David’s day 220 Merarites, with Asaiah as their chief, assisted other Levites in bringing the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem from the house of Obed-edom. (1 Chron. 15:1-6, 25) After the Ark had a resting-place, “David gave positions for the direction of the singing at the house of Jehovah” to certain Merarites. (1 Chron. 6:31, 44-47) Other Merarites were assigned as gatekeepers.—1 Chron. 26:1, 10, 19.
During Judean King Hezekiah’s reform program, some Merarites were among the Levites who cleansed the temple. (2 Chron. 29:12, 15) Later, in the seventh century B.C.E., Merarites Jahath and Obadiah were appointed over repairers of the temple under King Josiah.—2 Chron. 34:12, 13.
Merarites were among the Levites returning from Babylonian exile in 537 B.C.E. (1 Chron. 9:14) Later (in 468 B.C.E.), Merarites were among the Levites accompanying Ezra from Babylon to Jerusalem.—Ezra 8:1, 18, 19, 31, 32.
-
-
MerathaimAid to Bible Understanding
-
-
MERATHAIM
(Mer·a·thaʹim) [perhaps, double rebellion; or, on the basis of Vatican Manuscript No. 1209 (LXX) and the Peshitta Version, double bitterness].
A designation applying to Babylon or, possibly, to a particular territory in Babylonia. (Jer. 50:21, 23, 24) It may allude to the region known from inscriptions as mat marrati, considered to be an area near the Persian Gulf between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Possibly Merathaim is a play on the Hebrew verb ma·rahʹ (“to be rebellious”), and, therefore, as a dual form of ma·rahʹ, Merathaim may point to the intensity of Babylon’s rebellion. From the days of its founder Nimrod, Babylon’s course was one of rebellion against Jehovah. (Gen. 10:8-10) For this reason it could appropriately bear the name “land of double rebellion.”
-
-
MerchantAid to Bible Understanding
-
-
MERCHANT
One who buys and sells or barters with expectation of making a profit; a trader or trades-woman. Very early in man’s history people became skilled in certain fields of endeavor, specializing in their occupation. (Gen. 4:20-22) Commerce and trade between them naturally followed, and in the course of events, many individuals, both men and women (Ezek. 27:3), worked exclusively as merchants and traders handling a great variety of commodities. By the time Abraham reached Canaan early in the second millennium B.C.E., certain mercantile weights and measures were used and recognized. (Gen. 23:16) The
-