1 And David saith, `Is there yet any left to the house of Saul, and I do with him kindness because of Jonathan?'
and not only while I am alive dost thou do with me the kindness of Jehovah, and I die not, but thou dost not cut off thy kindness from my house unto the age, nor in Jehovah's cutting off the enemies of David, each one from off the face of the ground.' And Jonathan covenanteth with the house of David, and Jehovah hath sought `it' from the hand of the enemies of David; and Jonathan addeth to cause David to swear, because he loveth him, for with the love of his own soul he hath loved him.
And it cometh to pass, when he finisheth to speak unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan hath been bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loveth him as his own soul. And Saul taketh him on that day, and hath not permitted him to turn back to the house of his father. And Jonathan maketh -- also David -- a covenant, because he loveth him as his own soul, and Jonathan strippeth himself of the upper robe which `is' upon him, and giveth it to David, and his long robe, even unto his sword, and unto his bow, and unto his girdle.
And Jonathan son of Saul riseth, and goeth unto David to the forest, and strengtheneth his hand in God, and saith unto him, `Fear not, for the hand of Saul my father doth not find thee, and thou dost reign over Israel, and I am to thee for second, and also so knoweth Saul my father.' And they make a covenant both of them before Jehovah; and David abideth in the forest, and Jonathan hath gone to his house.
Jesus, therefore, having seen `his' mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he was loving, he saith to his mother, `Woman, lo, thy son;' afterward he saith to the disciple, `Lo, thy mother;' and from that hour the disciple took her to his own `home'.
because of the love I rather entreat, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ; I entreat thee concerning my child -- whom I did beget in my bonds -- Onesimus, who once was to thee unprofitable, and now is profitable to me and to thee, whom I did send again, and thou him (that is, my own bowels) receive,
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.