2 And there was of the house H1004 of Saul H7586 a servant H5650 whose name H8034 was Ziba. H6717 And when they had called H7121 him unto David, H1732 the king H4428 said H559 unto him, Art thou Ziba? H6717 And he said, H559 Thy servant H5650 is he.
And when David H1732 was a little H4592 past H5674 the top H7218 of the hill, behold, Ziba H6717 the servant H5288 of Mephibosheth H4648 met H7125 him, with a couple H6776 of asses H2543 saddled, H2280 and upon them two hundred H3967 loaves of bread, H3899 and an hundred H3967 bunches of raisins, H6778 and an hundred H3967 of summer fruits, H7019 and a bottle H5035 of wine. H3196 And the king H4428 said H559 unto Ziba, H6717 What meanest thou by these? And Ziba H6717 said, H559 The asses H2543 be for the king's H4428 household H1004 to ride on; H7392 and the bread H3899 and summer fruit H7019 for the young men H5288 to eat; H398 and the wine, H3196 that such as be faint H3287 in the wilderness H4057 may drink. H8354 And the king H4428 said, H559 And where is thy master's H113 son? H1121 And Ziba H6717 said H559 unto the king, H4428 Behold, he abideth H3427 at Jerusalem: H3389 for he said, H559 To day H3117 shall the house H1004 of Israel H3478 restore H7725 me the kingdom H4468 of my father. H1 Then said H559 the king H4428 to Ziba, H6717 Behold, thine are all that pertained unto Mephibosheth. H4648 And Ziba H6717 said, H559 I humbly H7812 beseech thee that I may find H4672 grace H2580 in thy sight, H5869 my lord, H113 O king. H4428
And there were a thousand H505 men H376 of Benjamin H1145 with him, and Ziba H6717 the servant H5288 of the house H1004 of Saul, H7586 and his fifteen H2568 H6240 sons H1121 and his twenty H6242 servants H5650 with him; and they went over H6743 Jordan H3383 before H6440 the king. H4428
And Abram H87 said, H559 Lord H136 GOD, H3069 what wilt thou give H5414 me, seeing I go H1980 childless, H6185 and the steward H1121 H4943 of my house H1004 is this H1931 Eliezer H461 of Damascus? H1834 And Abram H87 said, H559 Behold, to me thou hast given H5414 no H3808 seed: H2233 and, lo, one born H1121 in my house H1004 is mine heir. H3423
And Abraham H85 said H559 unto his eldest H2205 servant H5650 of his house, H1004 that ruled over H4910 all that he had, Put, H7760 I pray thee, thy hand H3027 under my thigh: H3409
And he left H5800 all that he had in Joseph's H3130 hand; H3027 and he knew H3045 not ought H3972 he had, save H518 the bread H3899 which he did eat. H398 And Joseph H3130 was a goodly H8389 person, and well H3303 favoured. H4758
And he hath slandered H7270 thy servant H5650 unto my lord H113 the king; H4428 but my lord H113 the king H4428 is as an angel H4397 of God: H430 do H6213 therefore what is good H2896 in thine eyes. H5869 For all of my father's H1 house H1004 were but H3808 dead H4194 men H582 before my lord H113 the king: H4428 yet didst thou set H7896 thy servant H5650 among them that did eat H398 at thine own table. H7979 What right H6666 therefore have H3426 I yet to cry H2199 any more unto the king? H4428 And the king H4428 said H559 unto him, Why speakest H1696 thou any more of thy matters? H1697 I have said, H559 Thou and Ziba H6717 divide H2505 the land. H7704
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on 2 Samuel 9
Commentary on 2 Samuel 9 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
David's Kindness towards Mephibosheth - 2 Samuel 9:1-13
When David was exalted to be king over all Israel, he sought to show compassion to the house of the fallen king, and to repay the love which his noble-minded friend Jonathan had once sworn to him before the Lord ( 1 Samuel 20:13.; comp. 2 Samuel 23:17-18). The account of this forms the conclusion of, or rather an appendix to, the first section of the history of his reign, and was intended to show how David was mindful of the duty of gratitude and loving fidelity, even when he reached the highest point of his regal authority and glory. The date when this occurred was about the middle of David's reign, as we may see from the fact, that Mephibosheth, who was five years old when Saul died (2 Samuel 4:4), had a young son at the time (2 Samuel 9:12).
2 Samuel 9:1-4
When David inquired whether there was any one left of the house of Saul to whom he could show favour for Jonathan's sake ( ישׁ־עוד הכי : is it so that there is any one? = there is certainly some one left), a servant of Saul named Ziba was summoned, who told the king that there was a son of Jonathan living in the house of Machir at Lodebar, and that he was lame in his feet. אישׁ עוד האפס , “is there no one at all besides?” The ל before בּית is a roundabout way of expressing the genitive, as in 1 Samuel 16:18, etc., and is obviously not to be altered into מבּית , as Thenius proposes. “The kindness of God” is love and kindness shown in God, and for God's sake (Luke 6:36). Machir the son of Ammiel was a rich man, judging from 2 Samuel 17:27, who, after the death of Saul and Jonathan, had received the lame son of the latter into his house. Lodebar ( לודבר , written לאדבר in 2 Samuel 17:27, but erroneously divided by the Masoretes into two words in both passages) was a town on the east of Mahanaim, towards Rabbath Amman, probably the same place as Lidbir (Joshua 13:26); but it is not further known.
2 Samuel 9:5-7
David sent for this son of Jonathan ( Mephibosheth : cf. 2 Samuel 4:4), and not only restored his father's possessions in land, but took him to his own royal table for the rest of his life. “Fear not,” said David to Mephibosheth, when he came before him with the deepest obeisance, to take away any anxiety lest the king should intend to slay the descendants of the fallen king, according to the custom of eastern usurpers. It is evident from the words, “I will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father,” that the landed property belonging to Saul had either fallen to David as crown lands, or had been taken possession of by distant relations after the death of Saul. “Thou shalt eat bread at my table continually,” i.e., eat at my table all thy life long, or receive thy food from my table.
2 Samuel 9:8
Mephibosheth expressed his thanks for this manifestation of favour with the deepest obeisance, and a confession of his unworthiness of any such favour. On his comparison of himself to a “dead dog,” see at 1 Samuel 24:15.
David then summoned Ziba the servant of Saul, told him of the restoration of Saul's possessions to his son Mephibosheth, and ordered him, with his sons and servants, to cultivate the land for the son of his lord. The words, “that thy master's son may have food to eat,” are not at variance with the next clause, “Mephibosheth shall eat bread alway at my table,” as bread is a general expression, including all the necessaries of life. Although Mephibosheth himself ate daily as a guest at the king's table, he had to make provision as a royal prince for the maintenance of his own family and servants, as he had children according to 2 Samuel 9:12 and 1 Chronicles 8:34. Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants (2 Samuel 9:10), with whom he had probably been living in Gibeah, Saul's native place, and may perhaps have hitherto farmed Saul's land.
Ziba promised to obey the king's command. The last clause of this verse is a circumstantial clause in form, with which the writer passes over to the conclusion of his account. But the words שׁלחני על שׁלחן , “at my table,” do not tally with this, as they require that the words should be taken as David's own. This is precluded, however, not only by the omission of any intimation that David spoke again after Ziba, and repeated what he had said once already, and that without any occasion whatever, but also by the form of the sentence, more especially the participle אכל . There is no other course left, therefore, than to regard שׁלחני (my table) as written by mistake for דּוד שׁלחן : “but Mephibosheth ate at David's table as one of the king's sons.” The further notices in 2 Samuel 9:12 and 2 Samuel 9:13 follow this in a very simple manner. בּית מושׁב כּל , “all the dwelling,” i.e., all the inhabitants of Ziba's house, namely his sons and servants, were servants of Mephibosheth, i.e., worked for him and cultivated his land, whilst he himself took up his abode at Jerusalem, to eat daily at the king's table, although he was lamed in both his feet.