6 Now when Mephibosheth, H4648 the son H1121 of Jonathan, H3083 the son H1121 of Saul, H7586 was come H935 unto David, H1732 he fell H5307 on his face, H6440 and did reverence. H7812 And David H1732 said, H559 Mephibosheth. H4648 And he answered, H559 Behold thy servant! H5650
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 Mephibosheth H4648 the son H1121 of Saul H7586 came down H3381 to meet H7125 the king, H4428 and had neither H3808 dressed H6213 his feet, H7272 nor trimmed H6213 his beard, H8222 nor washed H3526 his clothes, H899 from the day H3117 the king H4428 departed H3212 until the day H3117 he came H935 again in peace. H7965 And it came to pass, when he was come H935 to Jerusalem H3389 to meet H7125 the king, H4428 that the king H4428 said H559 unto him, Wherefore wentest H1980 not thou with me, Mephibosheth? H4648 And he answered, H559 My lord, H113 O king, H4428 my servant H5650 deceived H7411 me: for thy servant H5650 said, H559 I will saddle H2280 me an ass, H2543 that I may ride H7392 thereon, and go H3212 to the king; H4428 because thy servant H5650 is lame. H6455 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 And Mephibosheth H4648 said H559 unto the king, H4428 Yea, let him take H3947 all, forasmuch H310 as H834 my lord H113 the king H4428 is come again H935 in peace H7965 unto his own house. H1004
And he passed over H5674 before them, H6440 and bowed himself H7812 to the ground H776 seven H7651 times, H6471 until he came near H5066 to his brother. H251
And as soon as the lad H5288 was gone, H935 David H1732 arose H6965 out of a place toward H681 the south, H5045 and fell H5307 on his face H639 to the ground, H776 and bowed H7812 himself three H7969 times: H6471 and they kissed H5401 one H376 another, H7453 and wept H1058 one H376 with another, H7453 until David H1732 exceeded. H1431
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.