Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 3 April 2022
Read NAW version of chapter 9: Presently, David said, “Is it possible that there is someone still left belonging to the house of Saul, that I might enact lovingkindness with him for the sake of Jonathan?” Now, there was a servant belonging to the house of Saul, and his name was Tsiba, so they called him unto David. Then the king said to him, “Are you Tsiba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” So the king said, “Is there not still a man belonging to the house of Saul that I might enact with him the lovingkindness of God?” And Tsiba said to the king, “There is still a son belonging to Jonathan. He is crippled in both feet.” So the king said to him, “Where is he?” And Tsiba said to the king, “He is there at the house of Machir son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.” Then King David sent and got him from the house of Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-Debar. Presently, Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David and fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, “Mephibosheth?” And he said, “Here is your servant.” And David said to him, “Don’t be afraid, for I will certainly enact lovingkindness with you on account of Jonathan your father, so I will return to you every property of Saul your forefather, and, as for you, you may eat a meal at my table anytime!” Then he prostrated himself and said, “Who {am I} your servant, that you have turned to face the dead dog such as I am?” And the king called Tsiba the servant of Saul and said to him, “All that had belonged to Saul and to all his house, I hereby give to the son of your master. Furthermore, you shall work the land for him, you and your sons and your servants, and you shall produce {food} for the son of your master, that he may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, the son of your master, may eat a meal anytime at my table.” (By the way, Tsiba had 15 sons and 20 servants.) Then Tsiba said to the king, “According to all that my master the King commands his servant, so shall your servant do!” And Mephibosheth was eating at {David’s} table like one of the sons of the king. (There was also young son who belonged to Mephibosheth, and his name was Mica.) So all who resided in the house of Tsiba became servants to Mephibosheth, and Mephibosheth resided in Jerusalem, since he could eat at the table of the king anytime and he was crippled in both of his feet.
Mephibosheth is called “Merib-baal” in the Chronicles genealogies.1
“Merib-baal” means “The one who contends with Baal,”
and Mephibosheth means “The one who blows away the shameful thing.”
It makes me wonder if Jonathan had high hopes for his son to be a religious reformer in Israel who would do away with Baal-worship and advance the worship of the one true God.
We first read of Mephibosheth several chapters back in 2 Samuel 4:4 “Meanwhile there belonged to Saul's son Jonathan a son who had been injured in both feet. Five years old he was when hearsay about Saul and {his son} Jonathan had come from Jezreel, so his nurse had picked him up and fled, but it happened in her mad dash to escape that he had fallen and became crippled. Anyway, his name was Mephibosheth.” (NAW)
Once the Philistines overwhelmed the Israelite front with Saul and Jonathan at Mt. Gilboa at the end of 1 Samuel, it is understandable that the people in Saul’s circle of association would have made a quick exit from his palace in Gibeah, because they expected the Philistines to sweep through the rest of Israel and kill all of Saul’s family and friends so that Israel would not be able to rise in resistance again.
And that indeed seems to be the case, for the Philistine armies are amassed in central Israel just South of Gibeah when David, as the new king, fights his first two decisive battles against them.
The Philistines had the Mediterranean Sea as their Western border, and they seemed to want the Jordan River to be their Eastern border. People on the East side of the Jordan River seemed to be safe from Philistine attacks,
so Jabesh Gilead across the Jordan is where soldiers found refuge immediately after Saul & Jonathan’s last battle,
and just East of the Jordan is where we find Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth attempting to continue the kingship over Israel from Machanaim,
and now we find Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, also on the Eastern shore of the Jordan in the town of Lo-Debar, living, perhaps with relatives of his mother2 in the tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, just south of the Sea of Galilee, far away from Gibeah – and far away from Jerusalem, just trying to stay out of the way.
However, one of Saul’s royal servants, Tsiba (also pronounced “Ziba”), didn’t scatter so far away – perhaps he even stayed in Gibeah to take care of Saul’s property (and to live off of it)3, so when David wanted to know if any of Saul’s descendants had survived, David’s officers knew about Tsiba and knew to ask him.
David seems to assume that Tsiba is a perpetual servant,
Now, we know from chapter 21 that seven more of Saul’s male descendants were still living6 (two sons mothered by concubines and five grandsons through his daughters, but none of those were eligible to be king ~2 Sam. 21:8). Perhaps everybody knew that it was really only Jonathan’s family that David was interested in.
Even so, when David asked Tsiba if there were any members of Saul’s house left, it would be reasonable for Tsiba to assume that David was looking to kill off any remaining contenders for his throne, even though David was claiming that he wanted to do him a kindness. (Years later, didn’t Herod say something similar to the magi? “...about the child, whenever you happen to make a finding, send a message out to me so that I might also come worship Him myself.” ~Matt. 2:8b, NAW)
As the story plays out, we see that Tsiba is a shrewd dealer who watches which way the political winds are blowing and who does what he can to benefit himself. That’s why he had thrown in with Saul previously, but now that David is in power, he figures that spilling the secret location of Saul’s grandson to the new rival king will give him brownie-points with David and perhaps overcome the stigma of having been Saul’s servant, and maybe even set himself up for political favors from David. So he gives the name of the name of the town where Jonathan’s son is hiding: “Lo-Debar,” which could literally be translated “Nothing.”
Then Tsiba hastens to say that this son of Jonathan is “crippled in both feet.” That’s all Tsiba has to say about him: “He’s a cripple;” he doesn’t even mention his name.
Maybe Tsiba said this out of mere practical logistics, giving David a heads-up that the messengers would have to be prepared to carry the man 65 miles the entire length of the Jordan River and up to Jerusalem if they wanted him.
Maybe he said it to evoke pity from David. “Your majesty, He’s not a political threat. He’ll never be able to lead an army against you. Why not just leave him in obscurity in Nowhere, Israel, and forget about him?”
Chapter 4 tells us that Mephibosheth was five years old the year Saul and Jonathan died, so, if we knew how many years it had been since the battle at Mt. Gilboa, we could calculate Mephibosheth’s age at the time he was discovered to David, but we don’t have date stamps in this chapter, and we don’t even know for sure the order of the events in these chapters of 2 Samuel, because a lot of this book of the Bible seems to be arranged in topical order rather than chronological order.
Assuming that David called for Mephibosheth after becoming king over all Israel, Mephibosheth could have been anywhere from 12 to 45 years old7.
Verse 12 mentions that Mephibosheth had a “young son” named Mica, but it is not clear whether he had this son at the beginning of the chapter, or if he had him later after being in David’s house.
And what was Mephibosheth thinking? He was only five years old when his father died, and he had grown up under the care of nurses. He may have never heard of the friendship between David and his father or the covenant they had made.
Here he was, living incognito in a little corner of Israel, hoping to stay out of trouble, when suddenly a band of messengers from King David arrive looking for him!
“Oh that Tsiba; he must have betrayed me to the new king! With my feet like this, I can’t run away from these guys. It would be suicide for my hosts at the house of Machir to try to fight these mighty men that David sent, seeing as they already defeated over 40,000 troops north of here in Syria and Lebanon. Dang, they’re going to physically pick me up and carry me all the way to Jerusalem! And then what? Hang me there? Why not just kill me here?”
I imagine there were conversations between Mephibosheth and David’s messengers during the ensuing days of travel: “No, I don’t know what David wants to do to you. All he said was that he wanted to ‘do a kindness’ to someone from the house of Saul… Yeah, ‘do a kindness’ ... No, we can’t kill you here and tell David that you died along the way! David didn’t give us permission to kill you. We’re just supposed to get you and bring you to him. Hey, it might not be bad. David sure had a lot of good things to say about your father. You should have seen him crying as he sung the Song Of The Bow in lament over your Dad. Have you ever heard the song? Your Dad must have been something special. OK, the road is getting rocky and steep here; hang on to the litter so you don’t fall out.”
Meanwhile, David is more-than-eager to meet up with his best-friend’s son, and what a special moment when he finally sees him.
David was probably already a political refugee when Mephibosheth was born, so he probably had never seen Jonathan’s son.
Surely David saw family resemblances in Mephibosheth’s face – triggering memories both of Saul (the king he never could seem to please), and of Jonathan (who was closer than a brother), and of all the dreams he and Jonathan had shared together about the future of Israel and of their children. And now, here was Jonathan’s only son, bowing before him.
In verses 7 and following, David says, “Don’t be afraid, for I will certainly enact lovingkindness with you on account of Jonathan your father, so I will return to you every property of Saul your forefather, and, as for you, you may eat a meal at my table anytime!”
Furthermore David appointed Tsiba, Saul’s secretary, along with his 15 sons and 20 servants, to be Mephibosheth’s servants, saying, “you shall work the land as servants for him, you and your sons and your servants, and you shall bring {food} for the son of your master.”
This rejected son who has been told all his life things like:
“You’re a cripple; you’re useless!”
“You’re so poor, you have to go to a friend’s house to get a square meal!”
“You’re a nobody, a fatherless descendant of a failed king and a failed prince.”
“You’ll have to live the rest of your life in hiding – in fear for your life – because the next king is going to hunt you down and kill you.”
Then suddenly he is treated by the new king as though he is a great nobleman!
David tells him, in effect, “Your father was such a great man that you have nothing to fear.”
“Furthermore, as the grandson of a king, you have vast holdings of land that are rightfully yours; I’ll get the title deeds all put into your name, and you’ll be a wealthy man.” (According to the prophet Nathan in chapter 12 v.8, all of Saul’s property in Gibeah had become David’s when David became king8. Possibly this was due to the provision in the law9 that estates go to daughters when there is no surviving son, and David was married to one of Saul’s daughters. Now David is going to give it all back to Mephibosheth.)
Then he says, “Let’s put all that real estate under the management of an experienced, royal administrator, who has servants of his own to manage all these properties for you. That will give you a nice revenue stream without you having to lift a finger.”
“Splitting the profits from those properties half and half with Tsiba (19:29) will make you independently wealthy and will also make a nice living for Saul’s servant Tsiba and his family to boot.”
“And, of course, you are welcome to pull up a chair at my dinner table any time you want. You’ll never go hungry, and you can dine as a peer with the king and the greatest people in the land.”
“You are someone this court wants to have around, so don’t be a stranger!”
By the way, can you see yourself in Mephibosheth’s shoes? The world has told you that you’re no good – that you’re a lost cause, but, because of your relationship with Jesus, God the Father says, “Do not fear! I will certainly enact lovingkindness with you on account of my son Jesus. I want to return to you all the assets of your forefather Adam who had the world at his command. And I want you hanging out with me, so, you’re welcome at my table anytime!”
Is is any wonder that Mephibosheth was a bit dumbfounded? He apparently risked a look up in wonder as David spoke, because he had bowed down before David spoke and then he bowed down again after David spoke, replying, “Who am I, your servant, that you should turn your face toward the dead dog such as I am?
Perhaps Mephibosheth had previously cast-in his lot with Ishbosheth against David, in rebellion to God’s will for Israel’s kingship, making himself morally and politically worthy of death.
Perhaps he felt that his broken feet actually made him worthless – like a dead dog. Nobody wants a dead dog around, it’s nothing but a nuisance to be cleaned up.
He says, “What am I?” If he had any pride it’s gone now. He just sees himself as an undeserving object of mercy.
This mercy is a dream-come-true! Mephibosheth has been shown kindness by God’s anointed, lifted up from danger, from poverty, and from isolation, to live the life of a wealthy nobleman, characterized by security, wealth, and community.
In v.13, the repetition of the fact that Mephibosheth was lame is interesting:
Perhaps it is just a way to close the chiastic structure of the chapter since that was the first thing said about Mephibosheth back in v. 3.
In a chiastic structure, you have matching statements at the beginning and the end, and the main point comes in the center.
The center of this chapter is David’s gracious words to Mephibosheth in v.7.
Before and after that, not only do you have matching statements about Mephibosheth’s crippled feet, you also have matching statements about the transfer of a person – Mephibosheth before and Tsiba after.
Then, just before and just after v.7, are matching statements about Mephibosheth “bowing down,” in verses 6 & 8.
This chiastic structure emphasizes David’s kindness at the center.
Perhaps also the mention of Mephibosheth’s lameness in v.13 is given as one of two reasons why he stayed in Jerusalem:
First, he could eat at the king’s table anytime, so, why not take advantage of that?
and second, he was crippled, so trying to go anywhere else would be inconvenient, so he might as well stay in Jerusalem.
It’s also hard to know how the Hebrew adverb “always” should be interpreted to modify the verb about Mephibosheth “eating.”
Some of the English versions create the mental picture of a gluttonous man who was “always eating at David’s table” (Man, when will he ever stop eating?), and, perhaps that was the case. Mephibosheth doesn’t really seem to do anything to distinguish himself in any other way (except for his complaint later on about Tsiba mismanaging things).
But the Hebrew word for “always” could just-as-well be interpreted “any time,” as in, he was always welcome in David’s house. It is my opinion that David was not commanding Mephibosheth to only ever eat at his table, but that David was saying, “You can stop by and eat dinner with us any day!” It is a foreshadowing of what David pictured in Psalm 23 of God’s eternal grace: “Thou preparest a table before me…. And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
Why did David do this extravagant act of kindness?
First, it was to keep his promise to Jonathan. He loved Jonathan and had made a covenant with him back in 1 Samuel 20:15 where they both agreed: “... you will not cut off your lovingkindness from being with my house for ever…” David is making good on his promise, showing lovingkindness to Jonathan’s family.
Second, David saw himself as the recipient of undeserved grace, and that motivated him to want to share undeserved grace with others.
David was the youngest son of at least 8 – and probably more10 – siblings, lost in the shuffle of a big family, thought to be unfit for kingship by his own father – for Jesse didn’t invite him to the family meeting when Samuel came to anoint a king. Then David had been given a place at King Saul’s own table (1 Sam. 20:25) and a princess as a wife.
Then, after another crushing time of persecution and exile as a young man, which made any prospect of favored status in Israel seem terribly unlikely, God had honored him with the title of King over his entire nation.
The more we realize how much undeserved grace we have received, the better we can show undeserved grace to others.
When we look at this Old Testament story, several parables of Jesus come to mind:
There’s the parable of the unforgiving servant who couldn’t grasp the mercy extended to him by his master forgiving him of his gigantic debt, and who was therefore unable to show mercy to his associate who only owed him a pittance (Matthew 18).
The prodigal son got it, however, after learning his lesson the hard way, “I am not worthy to be called your son,” he says to his father, and the father says, “Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring... the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry” (Luke 15:21-23, KJV).
Jesus also said that the kingdom of God is like a wedding feast where the guests were the poor, the blind, and the crippled (Luke 16:14-24) – crippled just like Mephibosheth.
Then there’s the parable of the two men in the temple: The one who felt he deserved God’s blessing was the one God spurned, and the one who felt he didn’t deserve God’s blessing, but asked for His mercy anyway, who was made right (Luke 18:9-14).
When David said in v.3 “Is there anyone among my former adversaries to whom I can show kindness?” he was demonstrating God’s own attitude and modeling how to respond to God’s mercy:
Many of us see the justice side of God and just think of Him as saying, “Hmmm. Is there anyone I can smite today? Oh, I just love smiting wicked people!”
But, can we see that, at the same time, God is also just looking for opportunities to bless?
2 Chr. 16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” He loves to save!
Titus 3:4-7 “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (NKJV)
Have you experienced that kindness from God? "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household" (Acts 16:31, NKJV). It’s that simple.
And if you have experienced that kindness of God, what is the appropriate response? “Therefore,” said Jesus in Luke 6:35-36 “love your enemies, do good, and give, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore [y’all] be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” (NKJV)
In closing, let me suggest three categories of persons to focus kindness on:
First would be anyone to whom you are already obligated. Are there any favors which you have promised to someone in the past but never made good on?
Put a priority on fulfilling those vows. In Ecclesiastes 5:4, God promises to punish those who don’t.
Matthew Henry commented, “It is good sometimes to bethink ourselves whether there be any promises or engagements that we have neglected to make good; better do it late than never.”
Second, are there any people that God is calling you to show special kindness to? David did not merely take the stance of saying he would be gracious to anyone who happened to come up to him and ask him for something; in this case, he very proactively sought out and helped someone who needed kindness. (Henry) If God lays it on your heart to do a special kindness for someone, will you do it?
And Third, Is there anybody who has been at enmity with you that you could demonstrate God’s kindness to? Matthew Henry’s application in his commentary is very convicting on this point: “We must evince the sincerity of our forgiving those that have been any way unjust or injurious to us by being ready, as we have opportunity, to show kindness both to them and theirs. We must not only not avenge ourselves upon them, but we must love them, and do them good (Mat. 5:44), and not be backward to do any office of love and good-will [even] to those that have done us many an injury. 1 Pet. 3:9, - but, contrari-wise, blessing. This is the way to overcome evil, and to find mercy for ourselves and ours, when we or they need it.” ~Matthew Henry
LXX |
Brenton |
DRB |
KJV |
NAW |
MT |
1 Καὶ εἶπεν Δαυιδ Εἰ ἔστιν ἔτι ὑπολελειμμένος τῷ οἴκῳ Σαουλ καὶ ποιήσω μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἔλεος ἕνεκεν Ιωναθαν; |
1 And David said, Is there yet any one left in the house of Saul, that I may deal kindly with him for Jonathan's sake? |
1
And David said: Is there any one, |
1 And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew X him kindness for Jonathan's sake? |
1 Presently, David said, “Is it possible that there is someone still left belonging to the house of Saul, that I might enact lovingkindness with him for the sake of Jonathan?” |
1 וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד הֲכִי יֶשׁ-עוֹד אֲשֶׁר נוֹתַר לְבֵית שָׁאוּל וְאֶעֱשֶׂה עִמּוֹ חֶסֶד בַּעֲבוּר יְהוֹנָתָן: |
2 καὶ ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου Σαουλ παῖς ἦν καὶ ὄνομα αὐτῷ Σιβα, καὶ καλοῦσιν αὐτὸν πρὸς Δαυιδ. καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ βασιλεύς Εἰ σὺ εἶ Σιβα; καὶ εἶπεν Ἐγὼ δοῦλος σός. |
2 And there was a servant of the house of Saul, and his name was Siba: and they call him to David; and the king said to him, Art thou Siba? and he said, I am thy servant. |
2
Now there was of the house of Saul, a servant X
X named
Siba: and when |
2 And there was of the house of Saul a servant X whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he. |
2 Now, there was a servant belonging to the house of Saul, and his name was Tsiba, so they called him unto David. Then the king said to him, “Are you Tsiba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” |
2 וּלְבֵית שָׁאוּל עֶבֶד וּשְׁמוֹ צִיבָא וַיִּקְרְאוּ-לוֹ אֶל-דָּוִד וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ אֵלָיו הַאַתָּה צִיבָא וַיֹּאמֶר עַבְדֶּךָ: |
3 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεύς Εἰ ὑπολέλειπται ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου Σαουλ ἔτι ἀνὴρ καὶ ποιήσω μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἔλεος θεοῦ; καὶ εἶπεν Σιβα πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα Ἔτι ἔστιν υἱὸς τῷ Ιωναθαν πεπληγὼς τοὺς πόδας. |
3 And the king said, Is there yet a man left of the house of Saul, that I may act towards him with the mercy of God? and Siba said to the king, There is yet a son of Jonathan, lame [of his] feet. |
3 And the king said: Is there any one left of the house of Saul, that I may shew the mercy of God unto Him? And Siba said to the king: There is a son of Jonathan left, who is lame [of his] feet. |
3 And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame [on] his feet. |
3 So the king said, “Is there not still a man belonging to the house of Saul that I might enact with him the lovingkindness of God?” And Tsiba said to the king, “There is still a son belonging to Jonathan. He is crippled in both feet.” |
3 וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ הַאֶפֶס עוֹד אִישׁ לְבֵית שָׁאוּל וְאֶעֱשֶׂה עִמּוֹ חֶסֶד אֱלֹהִים וַיֹּאמֶר צִיבָא אֶל-הַמֶּלֶךְ עוֹד בֵּן לִיהוֹנָתָן נְכֵה רַגְלָיִם: |
4
καὶ εἶπεν X
ὁ βασιλεύς
Ποῦ οὗτος; καὶ
εἶπεν Σιβα πρὸς
τὸν βασιλέα
Ἰδοὺ ἐν οἴκῳ
Μαχιρ υἱοῦ Αμιηλ
|
4
And the king said X
X,
Where is he? and Siba said to the king, Behold, he is in the house
of Machir the son of Amiel |
4 X Where is he? said he X X X. And Siba said to the king: Behold he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel in Lodabar. |
4 And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar. |
4 So the king said to him, “Where is he?” And Tsiba said to the king, “He is there at the house of Machir son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.” |
4 וַיֹּאמֶר-לוֹ הַמֶּלֶךְ אֵיפֹה הוּא וַיֹּאמֶר צִיבָא אֶל- הַמֶּלֶךְ הִנֵּה- הוּא בֵּית מָכִיר בֶּן- עַמִּיאֵלB בְּלוֹC דְבָר: |
5 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν ὁ βασιλεὺς Δαυιδ καὶ ἔλαβεν αὐτὸν ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου Μαχιρ υἱοῦ Αμιηλ ἐκ τῆς Λαδαβαρ. |
5 And king David went, and took him out of the house of Machir the son Amiel of Lodabar. |
5
Then King David sent, and |
5 Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar. |
5 Then King David sent and got him from the house of Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-Debar. |
5 וַיִּשְׁלַח הַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִד וַיִּקָּחֵהוּ מִבֵּית מָכִיר בֶּן-עַמִּיאֵל מִלּוֹ דְבָר: |
6 καὶ παραγίνεται Μεμφιβοσθε υἱὸς Ιωναθαν υἱοῦ Σαουλ πρὸς [τὸν βασιλέα] Δαυιδ καὶ ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ καὶ προσεκύνησεν αὐτῷD. καὶ εἶπεν [αὐτῷ] Δαυιδ Μεμφιβοσθε· καὶ εἶπεν Ἰδοὺ ὁ δοῦλός σου. |
6 And Memphibosthe the son of Jonathan the son of Saul comes to [the king] David, and he fell upon his face and did obeisance to him: and David said [to him], Mephibosthe: and he said, Behold thy servant. |
6 And when Miphiboseth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul was come to David, he fell on his face and worshipped. And David said: Miphiboseth? And he answered: Behold thy servant. |
6 [Now] when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant! |
6 Presently, Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David and fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, “Mephibosheth?” And he said, “Here is your servant.” |
6 וַיָּבֹא מְפִיבֹשֶׁת בֶּן- יְהוֹנָתָן בֶּן- שָׁאוּל אֶל-דָּוִד וַיִּפֹּל עַל-פָּנָיו וַיִּשְׁתָּחוּ וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד מְפִיבֹשֶׁת וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּה עַבְדֶּךָ: |
7 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Δαυιδ Μὴ φοβοῦ, ὅτι ποιῶν ποιήσω μετὰ σοῦ ἔλεος διὰ Ιωναθαν τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ ἀποκαταστήσω σοι πάντα ἀγρὸν Σαουλ [πατρὸς τοῦ] πατρός σου, καὶ σὺ φάγῃ ἄρτον ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης μου διὰ παντός. |
7 And David said to him, Fear not, for I will surely deal mercifully with thee for the sake of Jonathan thy father, and I will restore to thee all the land of Saul [the father of] thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. |
7
And David said to him: Fear not, for I will surely shew thee mercy
for Jonathan thy father's sake, and I will restore X
X the
land[s]
of Saul |
7 And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. |
7 And David said to him, “Don’t be afraid, for I will certainly enact lovingkindness with you on account of Jonathan your father, so I will return to you every property of Saul your forefather, and, as for you, you may eat a meal at my table anytime!” |
7 וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ דָוִד אַל-תִּירָא כִּי עָשֹׂה אֶעֱשֶׂה עִמְּךָ חֶסֶד בַּעֲבוּר יְהוֹנָתָן אָבִיךָ וַהֲשִׁבֹתִי לְךָ אֶת-כָּל- שְׂדֵה שָׁאוּל אָבִיךָ וְאַתָּה תֹּאכַל לֶחֶם עַל-שֻׁלְחָנִי תָּמִיד: |
8 καὶ προσεκύνησεν [Μεμφιβοσθε] καὶ εἶπεν Τίς [εἰμι] ὁ δοῦλός σου, ὅτι ἐπέβλεψας ἐπὶ τὸν κύνα τὸν τεθνηκότα τὸν ὅμοιον ἐμοί; |
8
And [Memphibosthe]
did
obeisance,
and said, Who [am
I]
thy servant, that thou hast looked
upon |
8
X
He
bowed
down to him,
and said: Who [am
I]
thy servant, that thou shouldst look
upon
such |
8
And he bowed
himself,
and said, What is
thy servant, that thou shouldest
look
upon
such |
8 Then he prostrated himself and said, “Who {am I} your servant, that you have turned to face the dead dog such as I am?” |
8 וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ וַיֹּאמֶר מֶה עַבְדֶּךָ כִּי פָנִיתָ אֶל-הַכֶּלֶב הַמֵּת אֲשֶׁר כָּמוֹנִי: |
9 καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ βασιλεὺς X Σιβα τὸ παιδάριον Σαουλ καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτόν Πάντα, ὅσα ἐστὶν τῷ Σαουλ καὶ ὅλῳ τῷ οἴκῳ αὐτοῦ, δέδωκα τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ κυρίου σου· |
9 And the king called X Siba the servant of Saul, and said to him, All that belonged to Saul and to all his house have I given to the son of thy lord. |
9 Then the King called X Siba the servant of Saul, and said to him: All that belonged to Saul, and all his house, I have given to thy master's son. |
9 Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master's son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house. |
9 And the king called Tsiba, the servant of Saul and said to him, “All that had belonged to Saul and to all his house, I hereby give to the son of your master. |
9 וַיִּקְרָא הַמֶּלֶךְ Eאֶל-צִיבָא נַעַר שָׁאוּל וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו כֹּל אֲשֶׁר הָיָה לְשָׁאוּל וּלְכָל-בֵּיתוֹ נָתַתִּי לְבֶן- אֲדֹנֶיךָ: |
10
καὶ ἐργᾷ
αὐτῷ τὴν γῆν, σὺ
καὶ οἱ υἱοί
σου καὶ οἱ
δοῦλοί σου,
καὶ εἰσοίσεις
τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ κυρίου
σου ἄρτους,
καὶ ἔδεται
αὐτούς· |
10
And thou, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till
the land for him; and thou shalt bring in |
10
Thou therefore and th |
10
Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till
the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the
fruits,
that thy master's son may have food to eat: |
10
Furthermore, you shall work the land
for him, you and your sons and your servants, and you shall bring
{food} for the son of your master, that he may have food to
eat. |
10
וְעָבַדְתָּ
לּוֹ אֶת-הָאֲדָמָה
אַתָּה וּבָנֶיךָ
וַעֲבָדֶיךָ
וְהֵבֵאתָ
וְהָיָהG
לְבֶן-
אֲדֹנֶיךָ
לֶּחֶם
וַאֲכָלוֹH |
11
καὶ εἶπεν Σιβα
πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα
Κατὰ πάντα, ὅσα
ἐντέταλται ὁ
κύριός μου ὁ
βασιλεὺς τῷ
δούλῳ αὐτοῦ,
οὕτως ποιήσει
ὁ δοῦλός σου.
καὶ Μεμφιβοσθε
ἤσθιεν ἐπὶ τῆς
τραπέζης |
11
And Siba said to the king, According to all that my lord the king
has commanded his servant, so will thy servant do. And
Memphibosthe did eat at the table of |
11
And Siba said to the king: As |
11 Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons. |
11 Then Tsiba said to the king, “According to all that my master the King commands his servant, so shall your servant do!” And Mephibosheth was eating at {David’s} table like one of the sons of the king. |
11 וַיֹּאמֶר צִיבָא אֶל- הַמֶּלֶךְ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר יְצַוֶּה אֲדֹנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת-עַבְדּוֹ כֵּן יַעֲשֶׂה עַבְדֶּךָ וּמְפִיבֹשֶׁת אֹכֵלJ עַל- שֻׁלְחָנִיK כְּאַחַד מִבְּנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ: |
12 καὶ τῷ Μεμφιβοσθε υἱὸς μικρὸς καὶ ὄνομα αὐτῷ Μιχα. καὶ πᾶσα ἡ κατοίκησις τοῦ οἴκου Σιβα δοῦλοι τοῦ Μεμφιβοσθε. |
12 And Memphibosthe had a little son, and his name was Micha: and all X X the household of Siba were servants to Memphibosthe. |
12
And Miphiboseth had a young son whose name was Micha: and all that
|
12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micha. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. |
12 (There was also young son who belonged to Mephibosheth, and his name was Mica.) So all who resided in the house of Tsiba became servants to Mephibosheth, |
12 וְלִמְפִיבֹשֶׁת בֵּן-קָטָן וּשְׁמוֹ מִיכָא וְכֹל מוֹשַׁב בֵּית- צִיבָא עֲבָדִים לִמְפִיבֹשֶׁת: |
13 καὶ Μεμφιβοσθε κατῴκει ἐν Ιερουσαλημ, ὅτι ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης τοῦ βασιλέως διὰ παντὸς ἤσθιεν· καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν χωλὸς ἀμφοτέροις τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτοῦ. |
13 And Memphibosthe dwelt in Jerusalem, for he continually ate at the table of the king; and he was lame in both his feet. |
13 But Miphiboseth dwelt in Jerusalem: because he ate always of the king's table: and he was lame of both X feet. |
13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king's table; and X was lame on both his feet. |
13 and Mephibosheth resided in Jerusalem since he could eat at the table of the king anytime and he was crippled in both of his feet. |
13 וּמְפִיבֹשֶׁת יֹשֵׁב בִּירוּשָׁלִַם כִּי עַל-שֻׁלְחַן הַמֶּלֶךְ תָּמִיד הוּא אֹכֵל Mוְהוּא פִּסֵּחַ שְׁתֵּי רַגְלָיו:פ |
11 Chron. 8:34 “The son of Jonathan was Merib-Baal, and Merib-Baal begot Micah… 9:40 The son of Jonathan was Merib-Baal, and Merib-Baal begot Micah.” (NKJV)
2This is suggested by Matthew Henry and by John Gill in their commentaries.
3This was suggested by Keil & Delitzsch and by Tsumura in their commentaries.
4This was Willett’s position and that of many Jewish commentators, based on Lev. 25:46; though Josephus (Antiquities l. 7. c. 5.) claimed that Saul had emancipated Tsiba.
5Alternately, some commentators suggested that “son of your master” refers to Jonathan’s son Mica instead of to Saul’s son Mephibosheth.
6For this reason, some commentators (Klostermann, McCarter) have suggested that this happened after the events described in chapter 21, but Tsumura argued against it.
7In the Soncino commentary, Goldman wrote, based on the presence of a young son, that Mephibosheth must have been at least 19 years old at the time. Based on the same fact, Gill posited that it was a “long time after David was established in the kingdom.” Willett asserted confidently that Mephibosheth was 12, which would have been as soon as David assumed the throne over all Israel. The fact is, nobody knows for sure.
8I’m indebted to Goldman for pointing this out. 2 Samuel 12:7-8 Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah...”
9Numbers
27:8 “And you shall speak to the children of Israel,
saying: 'If a man dies and has no son, then you shall cause his
inheritance to pass to his daughter.’” (NKJV)
The
supposition that K&D and some earlier Rabbi’s made that
David could use his power as king to re-assign the property of other
persons might be consistent with wicked monarchs like Jezebel, but
would not be consistent with the justice which David upheld.
10Depending on how you count the numbers in 1 Sam. 16, there were 6 or 7 brothers besides him, and he had at least one sister named Tseruiah.
AMy
original chart includes the NASB and NIV, but their copyright
restrictions have forced me to remove them from the
publicly-available edition of this chart. I have included the ESV in
footnotes when it employs a word not already used by the KJV, NASB,
or NIV. (NAW is my translation.) When a translation adds words not
in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use
of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words in [square
brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different
from all the other translations, I underline it. When a
version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs
too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far
from the grammar form of the original text, I use strikeout.
And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I
insert an X. (I also place an X at the end of a word if the original
word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I
occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between
the various editions and versions when there are more than two
different translations of a given word. The only known Dead Sea
Scroll containing 2 Samuel 9 is 4Q51Samuela, which
contains fragments of vs. 8-10, and which has been dated between
50-25 B.C. Where the DSS is legible and in agreement with the MT,
the MT is colored purple. Where the DSS
supports the LXX (or Vulgate) with omissions or text not in the MT,
I have highlighted with
yellow the LXX and its translation into English, and where I
have accepted that into my NAW translation, I have marked it with
{pointed brackets}.
BAlthough there are other Machir’s and other Ammiel’s, this particular Machir son of Ammiel seems only to be mentioned in one other place (2 Sam. 17:27), as one of the folks who supported David during Absalom’s coup.
CSeveral Hebrew manuscripts read מלו (“from Lo…”), and this is the reading of the Syriac and Septuagint. This is also the reading of the MT at the end of the next verse. Several Manuscripts, including Targums retain the beth preposition of the MT here, but change the last letter to another letter that sounds the same: בלא (“in Lo…”). This doesn’t change the story at all.
DThe Hishtaphel stem of this Hebrew word ends with a sureq as part of the 3rd singular spelling, but it looks like a 3rd plural or a pronomial suffix (as the LXX interpreted it here) from a more common stem spelling. The Hishtaphel stem is rare, but it indicates both causative and reflexive action.
EThe DSS is illegible at this point, but it does not have enough space for all the text in the MT – it’s about 8 characters (including spaces) short. The Syriac is about 10 characters shorter than the MT (including the maqqef), as it omits “servant of Saul” and abbreviates the “to” in “to Tsiba,” down to only one character. The LXX and Vulgate read as though the “to” is entirely missing from the Hebrew manuscript they were looking at, which would shorten the MT by 3 characters, but they both include the phrase “servant of Saul.”
FThe Vaticanus reads αρτους (“bread”) but the LXX reads αυτους (“them”), while the MT reads “it.” This suggests that the Vaticanus scribe was (mis-)copying an LXX text rather than translating from the MT.
GLXX, Syriac, and Vulgate all read as though the Hebrew word was “bread” rather than the verb of being.
HTwo Hebrew manuscripts omit the prepositional ending on this word, and so does the Syriac and some Greek mss.
IVulgate actually reads mensam tuam “your table.”
JA couple of Hebrew manuscripts read Imperfect יאכל (“he would eat”) instead of the MT’s participle form (“he was eating”), and the LXX follows them instead of the MT with an indicative ἤσθιεν, but since the LXX chose an imperfect tense, it translates the same as the MT (“he was eating”). Another way to translate the participle would be in the future tense, as Tsumura did (“Mephibosheth is going to eat at my table”). The Syriac ומפיבשׁת אכל הוא kept the participial form from the MT and added a pronoun “he” (“and Mephibosheth he was eating…”). There really is no difference in meaning. Syriac also inserts the word “bread/food” לחמא here, which, with the verb “eat,” could go without saying, and changes nothing.
KThe MT (and Targums) appear to have a first person singular pronomial ending (or perhaps a plural construct ending – but if so, it’s missing an absolute state noun to end the construct chain). The Geneva, KJV, and RV, and AJV are translations of the MT, “Mephibosheth shall eat at my table.” The problem is that this follows seamlessly from a speech by Tsiba, and it would inappropriate for Tsiba to insist on hosting Mephibosheth at meals after David had just insisted on hosting Mephibosheth at meals (although Henry suggested that Tsiba said this out of a crooked heart, and K&D suggested that Tsiba was honest and using a figure of speech referring to sharing profits as though it were eating at his table). Kimchi (followed by Junius, Peter Martyr, and Erlich) reconciled this by making the conjunction a consessive one (“although Mephibosheth could have eaten at my table”). Willett and McCarter and others suggested that Mephibosheth ate at David’s table while the rest of his family ate at Tsiba’s table, but I have a hard time accepting that. The KJV (following Rashi and followed by Gill and Tsumura) reconciled this by adding the words, “said the king,” in order to change the speaker from Tsiba to David, but the editor of the books of Samuel was always careful to tell us who is speaking to whom, so this would be highly irregular, so even this literal translation of the MT indicates that some text has fallen out of the MT. One Hebrew manuscript lengthens the last character in the Hebrew word from yod to vav, changing the 1st person singular pronoun to 3rd person (“Mephibosheth ate at his table”), but this would indicate in Hebrew that it was his own table, not David’s, so it doesn’t fix the problem. The Vulgate reads the pronoun as 2nd person (stretching it torturously from a yod to a final coph), but it fits nicely in Tsiba’s mouth (“Mephibosheth will eat at your table…”), however, in the English version of the Vulgate, Douay inexplicably resorted back to the MT’s 1st person pronoun. Other ancient versions solved the problem from a missing-word perspective: The Septuagint inserted “of David” after the word for “table” (followed by the NASB, NIV, ESV, NET, and NLT, likewise Vatabulus, Willett, K&D), and the Syriac Peshitta inserted דמלכא “of the king” after the word for “table” (followed by Goldman, as it is in the MT of v.13), both of which make sense. In fact, everyone seems to be agreed on basically the same meaning; they are all just trying to make sense of the odd word in the MT. The manuscript evidence just doesn’t point us conclusively in any one direction for the solution. How it might be wished that there were a DSS with this verse for comparison!
LCognatio seems a strange rendering when the LXX, MT, Targums, and Syriac are united in the meaning of “dwell.”
MGill, claiming to follow Junius, Tremellius, Piscator, and Patrick, suggested translating this conjunction as “although”.