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mē´rab (מרב, meÌ„rabh “increaseâ€; ΜεÏοÌβ, MeroÌb): The elder daughter of Saul (), promised, though not by name, to the man who should slay the Philistine Goliath (). David did this and was afterward taken by Saul to court (), where he was detained in great honor. Merab was not, however, given to him as quickly as the incident would lead one to expect, and the sequel showed some unwillingness on the part of some persons in the contract to complete the promise. The adulation of the crowd who met David on his return from Philistine warfare and gave him a more favorable ascription than to Saul (-16) awoke the angry jealousy of Saul. He “eyed David from that day and forward†(). Twice David had to “avoid†the “evil spirit†in Saul (). Saul also feared David (), and this led him to incite the youth to more dangerous deeds of valor against the Philistines by a renewed promise of Merab. He will have David's life, but rather by the hand of the Philistines than his own (). Merab was to be the bait. But now another element complicated matters - Michal's love for David (), which may have been the retarding factor from the first. At any rate Merab is finally given to Adriel the Meholathite (). The passage in doubtless contains an error - Michal's name occurring for that of her sister Merab - though the Septuagint, Josephus, and a consistent Hebrew text all perpetuate it, as well as the concise meaning of the Hebrew word YaÌ„ladh, which is a physiological word for bearing children, and cannot be translated “brought up.†A Targum explanation reads: “The 5 sons of Merab (which Michal, Saul's daughter brought up) which she bare,†etc. Another suggestion reads the word “sister†after Michal in the possessive case, leaving the text otherwise as it stands. It is possible that Merab died comparatively young, and that her children were left in the care of their aunt, especially when it is said she herself had none (). The simplest explanation is to assume a scribal error, with the suggestion referred to as a possible explanation of it. The lonely Michal (-23) became so identified with her (deceased) sister's children that they became, in a sense, hers.