Yesterday, I shared some rabbinical reasoning on why Avner made Ishboshesh king when he knew Israel’s throne was already reserved for David. The ancient Hebrew sages say that two kings had to come from Jacob’s loins based on the following verse in the Book of Genesis: “And God said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; […]

Have you ever heard of the Breishis Rabbah? It’s an ancient Jewish commentary that dives into the Book of Genesis. It’s attributed to Rabbi Gennadius and contains a collection of homilies, interpretations, and stories that expand on the biblical text. Well, here’s the thing. This commentary states that Avner did NOT deny God’s decision to […]

“Avner the son of Ner, commander of Sha’ul’s army, had taken Ish-Boshet the son of Sha’ul, brought him over to Machanayim, and made him king over Gil‘ad, the Ashuri, Yizre‘el, Efrayim, Binyamin and all Isra’el.”-2 Samuel 2:8-9 Verses 8 and 9 tell us that Avner decided to move Ishbosheth from the northern part of Canaan […]

Yesterday, I discussed how Saul’s last remaining son’s name was changed from Eshba’al (Fire of the Lord) to Ishboshesh (Man of Shame). Now, here’s what’s interesting. Scribes and editors did the same thing with God’s formal name! They replaced YHWH with words they thought were more acceptable if they found it offensive. While the tetragrammaton […]

Yesterday, I left you with a major cliffhanger. Why would Saul give one of his sons the pagan name Eshba’al? Well, here’s the answer. In those days, the word Ba’al had become a common part of the Hebrew language. However, the Israelites used the word to mean “lord,” as in a person with authority. It […]