Merab

Merab (meaning he that fights or increase) was the eldest daughter of King Saul. Saul had promised her as wife to whoever killed Goliath (1 Samuel 17:25), and she was promised to David — but then given instead to Adriel the Meholathite (1 Samuel 14:49; 18:17–19). Her five sons by Adriel were later handed over by David to the Gibeonites for execution as partial restitution for Saul's massacre of that people (2 Samuel 21:8). Merab's story illustrates the turbulent dynamics of royal families and political marriages in the Saulide court.