Adriel (Hebrew: עדריאל) (Aramaic: ܥܕܪܝܐܝܠ) (literally
עדר(flock) י (of) אל (El)) was a person mentioned in the Bible. Adriel was a nobleman in the
ancient kingdom of Israel.
The name Adriel is translated from the Hebrew word עַדְרִיאֵל (ad-ree-ale'), which means "flock of God". עַדְרִיאֵל comes from two Hebrew words: עֵ֫דֶר (ay'-der) and אֵל (ale). עֵ֫דֶר (ay'-der) means "flock" and comes from another Hebrew word - עָדַר (aw-dar') - that means "to dig" or "to arrange". אֵל (ale) means "God".
[Cheyne and Black (1899), ''Encyclopaedia Biblica,'' entry for "Adriel.]
/ref>[Strongs Exhaustive Concordance/Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc]
/ref> Adriel was the son of Barzillai the Meholathite. According to 1 Samuel 18:19, Saul the King, Saul married his daughter Merab to Adriel.
However, 2 Samuel 21:653 in the Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocaliz ...
, records that Michal
Michal (; ; ) was, according to the first Book of Samuel, a princess of the United Kingdom of Israel; the younger daughter of King Saul, she was the first wife of David (), who later became king, first of Judah, then of all Israel, maki ...
, another daughter of Saul "brought up" .V. "bare"five sons with Adriel. This is in apparent conflict with 2 Samuel 6:23, which records that Michal was barren, and 2 Samuel 3, which indicates that Michal was married to David
David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament.
The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...
, not Adriel. This could also simply be a case of multiple people having the same name.
The claim that Michal "brought up" these five sons has been taken to mean either that she treated them as if she had been their own mother, or that for "Michal
Michal (; ; ) was, according to the first Book of Samuel, a princess of the United Kingdom of Israel; the younger daughter of King Saul, she was the first wife of David (), who later became king, first of Judah, then of all Israel, maki ...
" we should read " Merab" in 2 Samuel 21:8, as in 1 Sam. 18:19.
Due to that later discrepancy that states Michal as the wife of Adriel, instead of Merab as first said in 1st Samuel, many scholars believe this to be an ancient copyist
A copyist is a person who makes duplications of the same thing. The modern use of the term is mainly confined to music copyists, who are employed by the music industry to produce neat copies from a composer or arranger's manuscript. However, the ...
's error
An error (from the Latin , meaning 'to wander'Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “error (n.), Etymology,” September 2023, .) is an inaccurate or incorrect action, thought, or judgement.
In statistics, "error" refers to the difference between t ...
that should have read Merab in 2 Samuel 21:8.
References
{{Authority control
House of Saul