Ish-bosheth
Ish-bosheth (), also called Eshbaal (, ; alternatively spelled Ishbaal) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the second monarch of the Kingdom of Israel who succeeded his father, Saul. Biblical narrative. In the biblical account, Abner, the captain of Saul's army, proclaimed Ish-bosheth king over Israel at Mahanaim in Transjordan (), after the slaying of Ish-bosheth's father and brothers in the battle of Gilboa (). Ish-bosheth was 40 years old at this time and reigned for two years (). However, after the death of King Saul, the tribe of Judah seceded from the rule of the House of  Saul by proclaiming David as its king (), and war ensued (). David's faction eventually prevailed against Ish-bosheth's (), but the war did not come to a close until Abner joined David (). Before the death of Saul, David had been married to Saul's daughter Michal, Ish-bosheth's sister, until Saul and David had a falling out and Saul gave her to another man (). Later, at the conclusion of the war with Ish-bosheth, David's terms for peace required returning Michal to him, and Ish-bosheth complied (). After Abner's death, Ish-bosheth seems to have given up  hope of retaining power (). Two of Ish-bosheth's own army-captains, Rechab and Baanah, assassinated the deposed king, () expecting a reward from David because of this. David, however, refused to give any commendation for high treason; he had both killers executed and their hands and feet cut off. David's supporters buried the head of Ish-bosheth in Abner's grave at Hebron (). Problem of naming. The names "Ish-bosheth" and "Eshbaal" have ambiguous meanings in the original Hebrew. In Hebrew, "Ish-bosheth" means "Man of shame". He is also called "Eshbaal", in Hebrew meaning "Baal exists", or "fire  of Baal". Critical scholarship suggests that "Bosheth" was a substitute for "Baʿal", beginning when Baʿal became an unspeakable word; as (in the opposite direction) Adonai became substituted for the ineffable Tetragrammaton (see taboo deformation). As Ish-bosheth. He is exclusively called Ish-bosheth in the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible: When he was assassinated and King David punished the killers: As Eshbaal. Meanwhile, in the Books of Chronicles, he is only called Eshbaal: Archaeology. In 2012, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced that archaeologists had discovered a 3,000-year-old inscription on a reconstructed large ceramic jar found in  Khirbet Qeiyafa, containing the name "Eshbaal ben Beda". Though this Eshbaal is a different person than the Eshbaal/Ish-bosheth of the Bible, it was the first time the name was discovered in an ancient inscription. It is one of only four Hebrew inscriptions ever discovered dating to the 10th century BC.