Text -- 2 Samuel 9:1-10 (NET)

David Finds Mephibosheth

9:1 Then David asked, “Is anyone still left from the family of Saul, so that I may extend kindness to him for the sake of Jonathan?” 9:2 Now there was a servant from Saul’s house named Ziba, so he was summoned to David. The king asked him, “Are you Ziba?” He replied, “At your service.” 9:3 The king asked, “Is there not someone left from Saul’s family, that I may extend God’s kindness to him?” Ziba said to the king, “One of Jonathan’s sons is left; both of his feet are crippled.” 9:4 The king asked him, “Where is he?” Ziba told the king, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar. 9:5 So King David had him brought from the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar. 9:6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed low with his face toward the ground. David said, “Mephibosheth?” He replied, “Yes, at your service.” 9:7 David said to him, “Don’t be afraid, because I will certainly extend kindness to you for the sake of Jonathan your father. You will be a regular guest at my table.” 9:8 Then Mephibosheth bowed and said, “Of what importance am I, your servant, that you show regard for a dead dog like me?” 9:9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s attendant, and said to him, “Everything that belonged to Saul and to his entire house I hereby give to your master’s grandson. 9:10 You will cultivate the land for him– you and your sons and your servants. You will bring its produce and it will be food for your master’s grandson to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, will be a regular guest at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 2Sa 9:1

¹ sn 2 Samuel 9–20 is known as the Succession Narrative. It is a literary unit that describes David’s efforts at consolidating his own kingdom following the demise of King Saul; it also provides the transition to subsequent leadership on the part of David’s successor Solomon.

² tn Heb “house.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 9:2

¹ tn Heb “your servant.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 9:3

¹ tn Heb “house.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 9:5

¹ tn Heb “sent and took him.”

² tn Heb “from.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 9:6

¹ tn Heb “he fell on his face and bowed down.”

² tn Heb “Look, your servant.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 9:7

¹ tn Heb “and you will eat food over my table continually.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 9:8

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Mephibosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “What is your servant, that you turn to a dead dog which is like me?”

NET Notes: 2Sa 9:10

¹ tn Heb “work.”

² tn The Hebrew text implies, but does not actually contain, the words “its produce” here.

³ tc The words “it will be,” though present in the MT, are absent from the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate.

⁴ tn Heb “and he will eat it.”