Merab
increase, the eldest of Saul's two daughters (1 Sam. 14:49). She
was betrothed to David after his victory over Goliath, but does
not seem to have entered heartily into this arrangement (18:2,
17, 19). She was at length, however, married to Adriel of
Abel-Meholah, a town in the Jordan valley, about 10 miles south
of Bethshean, with whom the house of Saul maintained alliance.
She had five sons, who were all put to death by the Gibeonites
on the hill of Gibeah (2 Sam. 21:8).
Merab, he that fights or disputes