Eglah
“Heifer”
Summary
One of David's wives during his reign in Hebron and the mother of his son Ithream, distinguished in Scripture by being called simply 'David's wife.'
☩Identity and Family
Eglah appears in the list of David's wives who bore him sons during his seven-year reign in Hebron. She is named sixth and last, mother of Ithream. Both Samuel and Chronicles preserve the same order and distinguish her with the special designation 'David's wife,' a title not applied to the others. According to an ancient Hebrew tradition preserved by Jerome, Eglah was actually Michal, Saul's daughter and David's first wife, and she died giving birth to Ithream. This would explain why Michal is later said to have had no children—the tradition understood this to mean no subsequent children after Ithream. However, this identification remains uncertain.
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Eglah," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. III (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Eglah," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. II (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Eglah," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).