9:1 1 Then David asked, “Is anyone still left from the family 2 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.” 3 9:3 The king asked, “Is there not someone left from Saul’s family, 4 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 5 from the house of Makir son of Ammiel in 6 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. 7 David said, “Mephibosheth?” He replied, “Yes, at your service.” 8
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 9:8 Then Mephibosheth 10 bowed and said, “Of what importance am I, your servant, that you show regard for a dead dog like me?” 11
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.
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.”
3 tn Heb “your servant.”
4 tn Heb “house.”
5 tn Heb “sent and took him.”
6 tn Heb “from.”
7 tn Heb “he fell on his face and bowed down.”
8 tn Heb “Look, your servant.”
9 tn Heb “and you will eat food over my table continually.”
10 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Mephibosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “What is your servant, that you turn to a dead dog which is like me?”