the flock of God
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
ADRIEL.Son of Barzillai, the Meholathite. He married Merab, the eldest daughter of Saul, who should have been given to David as the slayer of Goliath (1Sa_18:19, 2Sa_21:8 [in the latter Michal is a mistake for Merab]).
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
Son of Barzillai the Meholathite, to whom Saul gave Merab his daughter in marriage, previously promised to David (1Sa_18:19). Five sons from this union were of the seven slain as a blood satisfaction to the Gibeonites whose blood Saul had, in violation of Israel's covenant (Jos_9:15), shed. 2Sa_21:8; "Michal brought up for Adriel:" namely, Merab the mother died young, and her sister brought up her five nephews, as if she were their own mother. The Jewish targums favor this view. But as the Hebrew yalad means to bring forth or bear children, and Michal seems to have had no children (2Sa_6:23), perhaps Michal is a transcriber's error for Merab. Still the term "bare" (margin) may mark how completely Michal, evidently a woman of strong affections (1Sa_19:11-12; 2Sa_3:16), acted as a true mother to them.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
A'dri-el. (flock of God). Son of Barzillai, to whom Saul gave his daughter Merab, although he had previously promised her to David. 1Sa_18:19. (B.C. about 1062). His five sons were amongst the seven descendants of Saul whom David surrendered to the Gibeonites. 2Sa_21:8.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
ā?dri-el (עדריאל, ‛adhrı̄'ēl, ?my help is God?): The son of Barzillai the Meholathite, to whom Merab the daughter of King Saul was married when she should have been given to David (1Sa_18:19; 2Sa_21:8). ?Michal? in 2Sa_21:8 is a textual error easily accounted for Adriel and Merab had five sons, whom David handed over to the blood vengeance of the men of Gibeon. The name Adriel seems to be Aramaic, the equivalent of the Hebrew name Azriel.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
A?driel (the flock of God), the person to whom Saul gave in marriage his daughter Merab, who had been originally promised to David (1Sa_18:19). Five sons sprung from this union, who were taken to make up the number of Saul's descendants, whose lives, on the principle of blood-revenge, were required by the Gibeonites to avenge the cruelties which Saul had exercised towards their race [GIBEON].
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.
Adriel
(Heb. Adriel,עִדְרַיאֵל, flock of God; Sept. Α᾿δριήλ, Ε᾿δριήλ), a son of Barzillai the Meholathite. Saul gave him in marriage his daughter Merab, who had been originally promised to David (1Sa_18:19), B.C. cir. 1062. The five sons sprung from this union were taken to make up the number of Sauls descendants, whose lives, on the principle of blood- revenge, were required by the Gibeonites to avenge the cruelties which Saul had exercised toward their race (2Sa_21:8). SEE GIBEONITE.
In this passage the name of Michal occurs as the mother of these sons of Adriel; but as it is known that Merab was the wife of Adriel, and that Michal never had any children (2Sa_6:23), there only remains the alternative of supposing either that Michals name has been substituted for Merabs by some ancient copyist, or that the word which properly means bare (ילְדָה, yaledah, Sept. ἔτεκε, Vulg. genuerat) should be rendered brought up or educated, as in the Auth. Vers. after the Targum. The Jewish writers conclude that Merab died early, and that Michal adopted her sisters children, and brought them up for Adriel (Bab. Talm. Sanhed. 19, 2); but the word ילְדָהwill not bear this interpretation. Kitto, s.v. See MICHAL.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.