MEROB (Hebrew Mérabh = “multitude,” “increase”). — Daughter of Saul (1 Sam 14:49), promised in marriage to the conqueror of Goliath (ibid. 17:25). After David’s victory over the giant, Saul hesitates, demanding further proofs of valor with the secret hope that the young man will perish in them (ibid. 18:17). Despite David’s exploits against the Philistines, Merob is denied him and is given in marriage to Adriel the Meholathite. Saul, however, cannot refuse his second daughter Michal to David after a still greater slaughter of Philistines. After Saul’s death, the five sons of Merob (not of Michal, as the present text has it) were delivered to the Gibeonites to avenge the wrong done them by the deceased (2 Sam 21:8).
Bibl.: A. Penna, *I due libri di Samuele*, Rome 1948.