Merab

Merab was the eldest daughter of King Saul, promised in marriage to David as a reward for fighting the Philistines but ultimately given to Adriel the Meholathite instead (1 Samuel 14:49; 18:17–19). Her five sons—born by her to Adriel, though textual variants mention Michal—were among the seven descendants of Saul whom David handed over to the Gibeonites to end the famine brought by Saul's bloodguilt (2 Samuel 21:8). Merab's fate illustrates the political instrumentalization of royal daughters in the ancient Near Eastern court.