Mefiboshet, Yeruboshet and Ish-Boshet VS Elyadah

 Some thoughts on some peculiar name-changes in Shmuel:

King Shaul's only surviving son after his fall at the hands of the Plishtim was Yishvi. But upon becoming king of most of the tribes, he's called Ish-Boshet. Not a very honorable name. In Divrei Hayamim we learn that one of his names or maybe his full name was really Eshba'al.

Avimelech, son of Gidon, who was also known as Yeruba'al, is called Avimelech ben Yeruboshet.

Yehonatan's son Mefiboshet's real name, according to Divrei Hayamim was Merivba'al.

We're starting to see a theme here. Most commentators - both ancient and modern - who make note of this, explain it by saying that the author of Shmuel had something against the word "Ba'al", as though it refers to the Canaanite god Ba'al, and he sought to rid Ba'al worship. Bible critics claim this is evidence that Shaul held pagan beliefs and worshiped both Hashem and Ba'al. However, the Tanach is never afraid to point out people's flaws. Idolatry is never shown to be one of Shaul's flaws. So we can scratch that suggestion.

So what's the dealio exactly?

I think the key to understanding what's going on may be within Elyadah. Who?

Elyadah was one of King David's sons. He appears three times in Tanach: Shmuel 2:5:16, DH 1:3:8 and then in DH 1:14:7 we learn that he sported another name: Ba'alyadah. Hm! Once again, the Ba'al portion was wiped from Shmuel. Again, most commentators see this as simply a continuation of the author of Shmuel's battle against Ba'al worship. But I think Elyadah shows us that there's something deeper going on here.

I heard recently a class from Dr. Yossi Baruchi on the editing process of the Book of Shmuel (a shorter version can be heard here). He explained that Shmuel was written in a way that proves that only David and his descendants are worthy of leading Am Yisrael. One piece of evidence he brings is the way the book was written, in thematic terms: The book opens up with Eli, the then-current judge. And his sons sin, and because of this, Eli's family gradually falls from power. Then Shmuel rises to power, but his sons also sin, and Shmuel gradually falls from power. Then Shaul rises to power, but then he sins and he and his family gradually fall from power. Then David rises to power, and then he sins - and for a change, does teshuva - and stays in power! Then his sons sin: Amnon with Tamar and Avshalom both by killing Amnon and by overthrowing David (and that whole story with David's concubines...) - but David realizes prior mistakes and does teshuva again, and manages to return to power - and his House, too, remains in power.

I think something similar is going on here with the names of people, and Elyadah proves it. Think about it: If the author of Shmuel was really in the middle of an anti-Ba'al spree, wouldn't it make more sense to just call Elyadah "Boshetyadah"? And how come Ish-Boshet was called earlier in the book "Yishvi" and not "Ish-Boshet" from the start? Answer: Because that was not the main point of the name-change. Sure, perhaps there was something about the Ba'al piece, but it's quite telling that David's son gets a respectful name-change, while these other  people don't. What do those other three have in common? They're related to leaders. Other leaders! That's what's going on here: The author of Shmuel is trying to tell us that the House of Shaul has fallen from power, even the House of Yehonatan has fallen from power, and even houses of past leaders such as the House of Gidon have fallen from power. All of these houses are unfit for leadership for different reasons, and for this members of the household receive dishonorable name-changes. Only the House of David remains, only they are meant to be kings. For this reason, Elyadah, descendant of David, merits to get an honorable name-change.

This is further strengthened by Yishvi/Ish-Boshet: When he had no claim to the throne, and furthermore, his family was still properly in power (before Shaul's sin), being Shaul's youngest son, his name-change was to something nice: "Yishvi". When he claimed the throne, at a point in which his family had already fallen from power and were not fit to rule in the eyes of Hashem - he got a shameful name-change: "Ish-Boshet".