myBibleHistory

Journey of a Passage

2 Samuel 21:8

The five sons of Michal, or of Merab?

Five of Saul's grandsons handed to the Gibeonites are called "the five sons of Michal… whom she bore to Adriel." But Merab married Adriel (1 Samuel 18:19), and Michal had no child (6:23). The library's texts all read Michal; two medieval Hebrew manuscripts and some Greek witnesses are reported to read Merab.

Manuscript variant: witnesses differ in wording

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. Original SamuelUnknown (debated)
  2. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from Original Samuel
Greek
  1. Septuagint, 2 Kingdoms (library text: Giguet's French)Translated c. 2nd century BC; revised (kaige) from 11:2Translated from a Hebrew text of the period
Latin
  1. Jerome's Vulgatec. AD 400Translated from Hebrew texts of Jerome's day
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

Every witness, in order

  1. Unknown (debated)

    Original Samuel

    – No copy survives

    No original survives.

  2. Translated c. 2nd century BC; revised (kaige) from 11:2

    Septuagint, 2 Kingdoms (library text: Giguet's French)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from a Hebrew text of the period

    How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

    les cinq fils de Michol, fille de Saül, qu'elle avait eus d'Esdriel

    Michal. One Greek text (Vaticanus type) via Giguet's French; not checked against a critical edition.

  3. c. AD 400

    Jerome's Vulgate

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from Hebrew texts of Jerome's day

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

    quinque filios Michol filiæ Saul quos genuerat Hadrieli

    Michal.

  4. AD 1008

    Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from Original Samuel

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    חֲמֵשֶׁת בְּנֵי מִיכַל בַּת־שָׁאוּל אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה לְעַדְרִיאֵל

    the five sons of Michal daughter of Saul whom she bore to Adriel

  5. 1611

    King James Bible

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

    the five sons of Michal… whom she brought up for Adriel

    Reinterprets "bore" as "brought up" to harmonize with 6:23 (as in the Targum).

What changed, and why

Merab is most likely original (1 Samuel 18:19). Most modern translations read Merab, with a note. The Targum and Talmud explained that Michal raised her sister's sons.

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documentedThe Hebrew, library's Greek and Vulgate read Michal.
  • Strongly supportedThe original read Merab.

Sources

  • E. Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 3rd ed. (2012)

Related lessons

  • Rizpah's Vigil and the Giants of Gath →A three-year famine is traced to Saul's killing of the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites demand seven of Saul's descendants; David hands over two sons of Rizpah and five grandsons of Saul, and they are executed. Rizpah guards their bodies from birds and beasts from harvest until the rains. Moved, David buries the bones of Saul and Jonathan. Then four battles against giants of Gath, including Elhanan's killing of "Goliath the Gittite." Content warning: executions.
  • The Ark Comes to Jerusalem →David brings the ark from Baale-judah (Kiriath-jearim) on a new cart. When the oxen stumble, Uzzah reaches out to steady it and dies. Afraid, David leaves the ark with Obed-edom the Gittite for three months, then brings it up to Jerusalem with sacrifices, shouting and trumpets, dancing in a linen ephod. Michal watches from a window and despises him.