Person Old Testament
Ish-bosheth
Also known as Eshbaal
Ish-bosheth (also called Eshbaal), Saul's son, was made king over Israel by Abner but was ultimately assassinated, leading to David's rule over all Israel. Mentioned in 12 verses across 2 books, first at 2 Samuel 2:8.
Why it matters. Son of Saul, king over Israel.
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Ish-bosheth
Ish-bosheth, also known as Eshbaal, was the fourth son of King Saul (1Ch.8.33, 9.39). After Saul's death, Abner, the commander of Saul's army, took Ish-bosheth and made him king over Israel, while David reigned over Judah (2Sa.2.8-10). Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for two years.
During his reign, there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David (2Sa.3.1). Abner became angry with Ish-bosheth and defected to David (2Sa.3.8-21). Later, two of Ish-bosheth's captains, Rechab and Baanah, assassinated him while he was resting in his bed. They brought his head to David, hoping for a reward, but David had them executed for their crime (2Sa.4.5-12).
After Ish-bosheth's death, all the tribes of Israel came to David and acknowledged him as king over all Israel (2Sa.5.1-3). The name "Ish-bosheth" means "man of shame," while "Eshbaal" means "man of Baal." The name change may reflect the biblical writer's perspective on the contrast between Ish-bosheth's weak rule and David's divinely appointed kingship.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
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Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
Appears in Scripture
Named in 12 verses across 2 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.