1. 2 Samuel 2:8 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Who was Ish-bosheth?

2 Samuel 2:8 (ESV)

8 But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim,

Ish-bosheth was one of Saul’s sons. His name translated means Man of Shame. Elsewhere he is called Ish-baal, Man of Baal (1 Chronicles 8:33; 1 Chronicles 9:39).1 Scribal tradition often substituted the word bosheth, shame, for the hated name of the Canaanite god Baal (see Jeremiah 3:24; Jeremiah 11:13; Hosea 9:10).2