Ish-bosheth

In the biblical account, Abner, the captain of Saul's army, proclaimed Ish-bosheth king over Israel at Mahanaim in Transjordan (), after the slaying of Ish-bosheth's father and brothers in the battle of Gilboa (). Ish-bosheth was 40 years old at this time and reigned for two years (). 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 (), and war ensued (). David's faction eventually prevailed against Ish-bosheth's (), but the war continued until Abner joined David (). Before 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 (). Later, at the conclusion of the war with Ish-bosheth, David's terms for peace required returning Michal to him, and Ish-bosheth complied (). After Abner's death, Ish-bosheth seems to have given up hope of retaining power (). Two of Ish-bosheth's own army-captains, Rechab and Baanah, assassinated the deposed king, () expecting a reward from David for this. David, however, refused to give any commendation for high treason; he had both killers executed and their hands and feet cut off. David's supporters buried the head of Ish-bosheth in Abner's grave at Hebron (). ==Problem of naming==

The names Ish-bosheth and Eshbaal have ambiguous meanings in the original Hebrew. In Hebrew, Ish-bosheth means "Man of shame". He is also called Eshbaal, in Hebrew meaning "Baal exists", or "fire of Baal". Critical 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 ). As Ish-bosheth He is exclusively called Ish-bosheth in the Books of Samuel in the Old Testament: When he was assassinated and King David punished the killers: As Eshbaal Meanwhile, in the Books of Chronicles, he is exclusively called Eshbaal: ==Archaeology==

In 2012, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority, archaeologists had discovered a 3,000-year-old inscription on a reconstructed large ceramic jar found in Khirbet Qeiyafa, containing the name "Eshbaal ben Beda". Though this Eshbaal is a different person than the Eshbaal/Ish-bosheth of the Bible, it was the first time the name was discovered in an ancient inscription. It is one of only four Hebrew inscriptions ever discovered dating to the 10th century BC. ==Speculations==

David Rohl identifies Ish-bosheth or Ishbaal with Mutbaal as the names have the same meaning and, both, Ishbosheth son of Saul as well as Mutbaal son of Labaya ruled from an ancient city in Transjordan. But the chronology that would make this identification feasible is not accepted by the majority of scholars and two people may have the same name and still belong to different time-periods. ==References==