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New Defender's Study Bible Notes
4:4 Mephibosheth. Like his uncle Ishbosheth (originally named “Esh-baal” (I Chronicles 8:33), Mephibosheth (originally “Merib-baal”—I Chronicles 8:34) had had a name change, presumably because their original names might seem to associate them with Baal-worship. “Ishbosheth” means “man of shame,” and “Mephibosheth means “dispeller of shame.”
4:11 a righteous person. David considered Ishbosheth righteous, since he had merely assumed he would be Saul’s successor and had done no obvious wickedness in taking the throne. He did not deserve to die at the hands of presumptuous assassins, who were themselves members of the same tribe of Benjamin as he and his father.