Mephibosheth

4Jonathan, Saul's son, had a little boy whose feet did not work right. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. The woman who cared for him picked him up and ran. She hurried so fast that the boy fell and was hurt. After that he could not walk well. His name was Mephibosheth.

And Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.

NoteJonathan was Saul's son and David's best friend. He and Saul died in a battle far away at Jezreel. The family was afraid enemy soldiers would come, so the nurse ran. A nurse was a woman paid to take care of a rich family's child. Remember Mephibosheth's name. He comes back into the story later.

1David asked, "Is anyone still alive from King Saul's family? I want to be kind to that person, because of Jonathan."

And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?

NoteSaul was the king before David. Jonathan was Saul's son. Jonathan was David's dearest friend, and he had died in a battle.

2Saul's family had a servant named Ziba. People brought him to David. The king asked, "Are you Ziba?" He said, "Yes, I am your servant."

And there was of the house of Saul a servant 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.

NoteA servant was someone who worked in a family's house and did jobs for them.

3The king asked, "Is anyone left from Saul's family? I want to show that person the same kindness God shows." Ziba said, "Jonathan still has a son. He cannot walk."

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.

NoteJonathan's son was hurt in a fall when he was little. His feet never got better.

4The king asked, "Where is he?" Ziba said, "He is at the house of Machir son of Ammiel. That house is in the town of Lodebar."

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.

NoteLodebar was a small town far away, across the Jordan River.

5So King David sent men to Lodebar. They brought the young man back from Machir's house.

Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar.

6Mephibosheth was Jonathan's son and Saul's grandson. He came to David and bowed with his face to the ground. David said, "Mephibosheth." He answered, "I am here. I am your servant."

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!

NoteHis name is said like this: Meh-FIB-oh-sheth.

7David said, "Do not be afraid. I will be kind to you, because of your father Jonathan. I will give you back all the land of your grandfather Saul. And you will always eat at my table."

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.

NoteWhen a new king took over, the old king's family was often sent away or hurt. That is why Mephibosheth was afraid. Eating at the king's table meant living in the palace and being treated like family.

8Mephibosheth bowed low and said, "Who am I? I am like a dead dog. Why would you even look at me?"

And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?

NoteDogs back then were not pets. They ran wild and ate scraps. Calling yourself a dead dog was a way of saying, "I am nobody at all."

9Then the king called Ziba, who had served Saul. He said, "I have given your master's grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family.

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.

NoteA master is the person a servant works for. Ziba's master had been Saul.

10You and your sons and your servants must farm the land for him. Bring in the crops, so his family has food. But Mephibosheth himself will always eat at my table." Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

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: but Mephibosheth thy master’s son shall eat bread alway at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

NoteFifteen sons and twenty servants means Ziba had a very big household to help him farm.

11Ziba said to the king, "I will do everything my lord the king has told me." So Mephibosheth ate at David's table, like one of the king's own sons.

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.

12Mephibosheth had a little boy named Micha. Everyone who lived in Ziba's house now worked for Mephibosheth.

And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micha. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth.

13So Mephibosheth lived in the city of Jerusalem. He always ate at the king's table. He could not walk with either foot.

So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king’s table; and was lame on both his feet.

NoteJerusalem was David's city. The king's palace was there.

1David walked a little past the top of the hill. There he met Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth. Ziba had two donkeys with saddles on them. The donkeys carried 200 loaves of bread and 100 bunches of raisins. They also carried 100 pieces of summer fruit and a skin bag of wine.

And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred bunches of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine.

NoteDavid was running away from his son Absalom, who wanted to be king. Ziba worked for Mephibosheth, a grandson of King Saul. Wine was carried in bags made from animal skin, not bottles.

2The king asked Ziba, "Why did you bring all this?" Ziba said, "The donkeys are for your family to ride. The bread and fruit are for the young men to eat. The wine is for anyone who gets tired out in the desert."

And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for the king’s household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink.

NoteThe desert here is dry, empty land with no towns and little water. Walking through it was hot and tiring.

3The king asked, "Where is Mephibosheth, your master's grandson?" Ziba said, "He stayed in Jerusalem. He said, 'Today the people of Israel will give me back my grandfather's kingdom.'"

And the king said, And where is thy master’s son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: for he said, To day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.

NoteSaul was the king before David. Mephibosheth was Saul's grandson. So he might hope to be king one day.

4The king said to Ziba, "Then everything Mephibosheth owned is yours now." Ziba bowed low. He said, "I hope you are always pleased with me, my lord the king."

Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertained unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech thee that I may find grace in thy sight, my lord, O king.

NoteBowing low was how people showed respect to a king. Ziba is asking David to keep liking him.

24Then Mephibosheth, Saul's grandson, came down to meet the king. He had not cared for his feet since the king left. He had not trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes. He waited until the king came home safely.

And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace.

NoteMephibosheth was the son of David's friend Jonathan and the grandson of King Saul. People showed deep sadness by not washing, not trimming their hair, and wearing dirty clothes.

25He came from Jerusalem to meet the king. The king asked him, "Mephibosheth, why did you not come with me?"

And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth?

26He answered, "My king, my legs do not work. I said, 'Saddle my donkey so I can ride and go with the king.' But my servant tricked me.

And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go to the king; because thy servant is lame.

27He told lies about me to you, my king. But you are like an angel of God. So do what seems right to you.

And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in thine eyes.

NoteSaying someone is "as an angel of God" was a polite way of saying he is wise and fair.

28My grandfather's whole family deserved death from you. Yet you let me eat at your own table. So what more can I ask you for?"

For all of my father’s house were but dead men before my lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king?

NoteEating at the king's table meant you were cared for like part of his family.

29The king said to him, "You do not need to say more. I have decided. You and Ziba will split the land."

And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land.

NoteThe land had belonged to King Saul. David had given it to Mephibosheth, and later gave it to Ziba instead.

30Mephibosheth said to the king, "Let Ziba take it all. You have come home safely, and that is enough for me."

And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house.

1While David was king, there was no food for three years in a row. Crops failed year after year. David asked the LORD why. The LORD said, "It is because of Saul and his family. Saul killed the people of Gibeon."

Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.

NoteA famine is a long time when crops will not grow. People go hungry because there is not enough food. When the story says David "enquired of the LORD," it means he asked God a question. Kings did this through a priest, a man whose job was to serve God and help people talk to him.

2So King David called the people of Gibeon and talked with them. The Gibeonites were not Israelites. They were the last of a people called the Amorites. Long ago Israel had made a solemn promise to them. But Saul had tried to kill them, because he cared only for Israel and Judah.

And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)

NoteLong before this, the people of Gibeon had made a deal with Israel. Israel promised in God's name never to hurt them. A promise made that way was meant to last forever. Saul broke it when he tried to kill them.

3David asked them, "What can I do for you? How can I make this wrong right? Then you can ask God to bless the people who belong to him."

Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD?

Note"How can I make this wrong right?" is one word in the old text: atonement. It means doing something to fix a wrong you or your family did. Back then, a family who lost someone could say what would make things right again.

4The Gibeonites said, "We do not want silver or gold from Saul's family. And we may not just kill any man in Israel." David said, "Tell me what you want, and I will do it."

And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you.

NoteIn those days a family could take silver or gold instead. It was a payment for someone who had been killed. The Gibeonites said no to money.

5They said to the king, "Saul was the man who destroyed us. He made a plan to wipe us out so none of us would be left anywhere in Israel.

And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,

6So give us seven men from his family. We will hang them before the LORD at Gibeah, Saul's own town. Saul was the man the LORD once chose to be king." The king said, "I will give them to you."

Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them.

NoteGibeah was the town Saul came from. Long ago, people thought a whole family shared the blame for what one man did. That is why Saul's sons and grandsons were asked for.

7But the king kept Mephibosheth safe. He was the son of Jonathan and the grandson of Saul. David saved him because of the promise he and Jonathan had made before the LORD.

But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.

NoteJonathan was Saul's son and David's closest friend. The two of them had promised, with God listening, to look after each other's families. David kept that promise here.

8The king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons Rizpah had borne to Saul. Rizpah was the daughter of Aiah. He also took five sons of Saul's daughter, whom she had borne to Adriel. Adriel was the son of Barzillai from Meholah.

But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:

NoteOld copies of this book do not all say the same name here. Some say Michal, and some say her sister Merab. Both were daughters of Saul.

9He handed the seven men over to the Gibeonites. They hanged them on the hill before the LORD. All seven died together. It happened at the start of harvest time, when the barley was first cut.

And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.

NoteBarley is a grain, like wheat, that people ground up to make bread. It was cut in the spring, near the start of the growing year.