2 Samuel 9:3

"And the king said, `Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?' Ziba said to the king, `There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.'"

This crippled son, of course, was Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9:6), whose real name was Meribbaal (or Meribaal) (1 Chronicles 8:34; 9:40). This writer finds it impossible to agree with the position maintained by many scholars that, "Until the times of Jezebel, the name `Baal' retained its innocent meaning."[4] No, we do not believe that Saul's naming this son Meribbaal was a sign that Saul honored that pagan deity as God. We think the explanation lies in the meaning of such names. Gideon was called Jerubbaal, and Keil gave the meaning of that name as "Baal-fighter" (See our commentary on Judges). There are at least a dozen other alleged "meanings" of Jerubbaal, and thus we know that the assignment of "the meaning" of names compounded with Baal is a very uncertain business. Some scholars give the meaning of Meribbaal as "Baal's Fighter"; but it is just as likely that the name means "Fighter of Baal," or "Fighter Against Baal."

Our reluctance to receive the many allegations that the term "Baal," had innocent implications at first is founded upon the experience of the Israelites at Baal Peor (Numbers 25). In that light, we cannot believe that "Baal" was ever an innocent designation, except in instances, such as that of Gideon, who was quite properly called "Baal-Fighter." The fact that the change by later Jewish scholars in which "Baal" was replaced with the word [~bosheth], meaning "shame," might have been due to their uncertainty regarding the actual meanings of names compounded with "Baal."

The problem of explaining why Saul named two sons with names compounded with Baal requires the postulation (1) that Saul honored Baal as a pagan deity; (2) that the name was considered innocent; or (3) that the names thus compounded indicated hatred and antagonism against this popular Canaanite god; and to this writer the third of these postulations is by far the most acceptable.

Canon Cook gave the meaning of Mephibosheth, for example, as "scattering or destroying Baal."[5]