ADRIEL
“Honor of God.”
Son of Barzilai, the Meholathite, to whom Merab, daughter of Saul, had been given after being betrothed to David (1 Sam. 18:19).
He gave five sons to Adriel, and they were put to death to avenge the Gibeonites, because Saul had killed some of them (2 Sam. 21). In 2 Sam. 21:8 it is said that they were “sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she had by Adriel the son of Barzillai.”
In all likelihood this passage is mistaken due to a copyist’s error (cp. 1 Sam. 18:19; 1 Sam. 25:44). It is possible that the original passage read “the five sons of Saul’s daughter, whom he had by Adriel,” someone mistakenly adding Michal’s name in the margin, as a gloss, and that it was later incorporated into the text in successive copies. text.