Category Archives: Mephibosheth

Bible 911 – 2 Samuel

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2 Samuel 9:11 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. (KJV)

Ziba

If I was writing a biblical fiction story, Ziba would be the servant that went on the donkey hunt with Saul in 1 Samuel 9. (We are never told if he gave up that little bit of silver.) He is identified in 2 Samuel as the chief steward over Saul’s personal household. He is a main character in 2 Samuel 9, 16, and 19.

I like looking up names and including them in studies, when I can. Ziba is a good example of why you need to study. Meanings for this name varies depending on what website you look at. Many of them seem to focus on “good qualities”, and he is made out to be a great servant. I am giving the link to Abarim Publications, because they actually sight possible root words for the meaning they give. Ziba | The amazing name Ziba: meaning and etymology I may be negative here, but the buttering up of David and the story he tells on Mephibosheth in Chapter 16 cast some serious shade on his loyalty in Chapter 9.

It is a good assumption that Ziba had done his job for a long time. He had many years where there was no male heir to Saul’s property because Mephibosheth seemed to be in hiding in Lo Debar. Michal was with David, interesting he did not ask his wife about other heirs. Merab had a husband and several sons. So, Ziba was living the good life with his fifteen sons and twenty servants, and all of Saul’s property with no one to watch over him. I may watch to many dramas, but the giving up of Mephibosheth in Chapter 9 seems to me to be a good way of getting rid of the last rightful heir to Saul’s holdings. He may have assumed that Mephibosheth would be killed by David. That seemed to be the way things were done, especially in the Northern Kingdom of Israel; get rid of all of the family and servants. See Judges 9.

I believe Ziba was a loyal servant to King Saul, but would he have been as good to Jonathan and the other children. It looks like he followed his master’s behavior, Saul started out good, but power and wealth changed him. Given his job and possible importance in Benjamin, and the small army of his family he could have had his own thoughts of claiming the throne. So, I will not vote for Ziba to be Servant of the Year, but he did get to the river crossing very fast (both times).

The popular belief that Lo Debar was a dump and Mephibosheth crawled around in the dirt begging are two ideas I do not agree with. This is a good example of names not telling the whole story, you need to check non-concordance Bible reference works. Lo Debar was a guard city for Gilead on the Jordan River valley, and its main industry was pottery. Part of its pastureland would have been the steep side of the valley wall.

Makir was possibly a family member, and he had enough clout to help take care of David and all who fled from Absalom. Because of where Makir lived I will say he was an important person in Lo Debar. See Joshua 17:3 for his possible connection in Gilead. Zelophehad from Numbers 36 may have been a grandfather.

Mephibosheth:

  • Was the grandson of the king and would have been heir to the throne of Israel.
  • Jonathan would have made a plan to take care of his child.
  • He had a wife and a son when David called for him. See 1 Chronicles 8:34 and 9:35 – 44 for his family tree, he will be listed as Merib-Baal in verse 40.
  • Jonathan may not have broadcast the covenant he had with David, because Saul was crazy.
  • Who and where was his mother?
  • David had lost track of his friend and had no idea the Jonathan had a son.

There is no doubt in my mind that Mephibosheth had lived in fear and in the shadows for most of his life; because he did not know the truth about David. To go from fear to feasting is always amazing, but this came with stories of his father and a faithful friend who would protect him.

The relationship of David (the Messiah figure) and Benjamin (Jacob’s only child born in the Land) will get looked at. (This is a study not an answer.) There are “types and shadows” here that have connections into the Christian Church. My bullet points are not put in any order as this is a study.

  • Benjamin is the second born son of Rachel, who was Jacob’s favorite. He would have been given the double blessing if Joseph had not been found.
  • Judah was given the blessing of being the ruler, and Joseph got the double portion blessing. Joshua was the leader after Moses, and Manasseh did get two portions of land (Lo Debar may have been in the East Bank portion). Samuel, an Ephraimite, anointed both Saul (Benjamin) and David (Judah). My personal belief is that Samuel and David are members of the Order of Melchizedek.
  • The tribe of Benjamin stayed with Judah when the nation split in two. If you read 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles you will see that members of the other ten tribes did move south to continue worshipping Yahweh at the Temple. Jerusalem was actual in the portion given to Benjamin. I do wonder about the Tribe of Simeon because its portion was in the middle of Judah. I tend to forget that the Tribe of Levi stayed with the Temple, so many of them had to move also.
  • David and Jonathan’s friendship sets the pattern for what happened in 2 Kings 12.
  • Saul, the king, tried to cleanse Israel of the Gibeonites (2 Samuel 21) his grandsons paid for that. Saul, the Pharisee who was from Benjamin, tried to cleanse Israel of Christians. He gave up his life for Jesus (Judah).
  • King Saul did religious things like fasting, seeking God through the priest, and following the food laws. David went further than these by actively bring the Ark to Jerusalem and praising God in song and dance. David also had prophets, seers, and priest on his staff.
  • The appointed feast found in Leviticus 23 are seldom mentioned, and you never see about The Year of Jubilee, Leviticus 25. I know there are lost books that may have told about these events. Hezekiah is noted as one who observed Passover, but it is about 250 years after Solomon.
  • I am reading through 2 Chronicles as I write this post and the attitudes and actions of the people (Judah, Benjamin, Levi, and some from the other ten) in the southern kingdom towards God and David’s family is interesting. They seem to be all over the place but for better or for worst they do keep a descendent of David on the throne.
  • This story is a good picture of Grace.
  • See below for David’s return to Jerusalem and the Tribe of Benjamin.

Verse 8

We look at some things very differently than the ancients. Dogs are one of those things. The Bible has many references to dogs; the NIV has about 40. Add in some archology finds and you get a decent picture of dogs in the Iron Age. They were part of the Hebrew society. There are references for them herding and guarding, and they managed to be around the dinner table. Yes, there is a fair amount of distain for them and some of their behavior is used for a very figurative description in Deuteronomy.  Oldest-Ever Evidence of Canines Proves Israel’s Canaan Dogs Roamed Mideast 9,000 Years Ago – Israel365 News

Verse 8 is one of the three times the term “dead dog” is used in the NIV. I found it interesting that David and Benjaminite’s have a connection to all three.

  1. 1 Samuel 24:14 – David compares himself to a dead dog when talking to King Saul.
  2. 2 Samuel 9:8 – Mephibosheth, a Benjaminite and Saul’s grandson uses the phrase when he questions David as to why he was summonsed.
  3. 2 Samuel 16:9 – Shimei, a Benjaminite, is described as that when Abishai (Judah) wants to kill him for cursing David.

Yes, they were an unclean animal, but so was the camel, the horse, and the donkey.

David’s Return and Bemjamin

2 Samuel 19 -21 have several narratives that center on David and the Tribe of Benjamin. In one respect parts of this section are foundation stones for 1 Kings 12 where God moves Benjamin to stay with Judah when the nation divides. There are a few new characters – Sheba son of Bicri (Chapter 20) and Rizpah the daughter of Saul’s concubine. The others are in this list:

  • The people arguing with each other, 19:9.
  • Judah standing with the king.
  • Shimei (Chapter 16), going with Judah, leading 1,000 Benjaminite’s to get David at the Jordan.
  • Ziba
  • Mephibosheth, who is unkept, making accusations against Ziba.
  • Sheba (20:1), who leads a rebellion and separates the kingdom.
  • Gibeonites (Joshua 9:15) who have a problem with the dead King Saul.
  • Rizpah (21:8) and her sons and Merab’s sons who are killed to pay the blood debit to the Gibeonites.

Gilgal at the Jordan is where Joshua and the Children crossed. It is also where many of the men were circumcised. This assembly was no less crazy with all of the arguing and Sheba taking off with most of the people in rebellion.

With Rizpah and Merab son’s being killed, that ended Saul’s family line outside of Mephibosheth who is extended grace because of Jonathan’s covenant with David. The final story with the Tribe of Benjamin is the story of Esther.

The Names in 2 Samuel 9

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This post is a condensed reference for the names in Lo Debar – Another Look. I know I go against the popular narrative that Lo Bar was a dump, and that Mephibosheth was a pitiful, defeated individual who crawled in the dirt begging. The links are to other posts about this subject.

I like to study the names of the people and places in a story. There are times when they seem to have their own story to tell and then in other places, they are just names. I do believe it is better to not build your whole point of view on just names.  

David, H 1732 – beloved

Saul, H 7586 – desired. See 1 Samuel 9:20 for a word play on his name. See 1 Samuel 911.   

Jonathan, H 3083 – God has given

Zeba, H 6717 – statue. He was Saul’s chief steward, but as his story plays out, he was not as loyal as you may think. See 2 Samuel 16 for his chance to get all of the land that belonged to Saul, then see 2 Samuel 19:24 for the other half of the story. I think he told David in chapter 9 so he could get rid of the only heir of the land he wanted as his own.  

Makir, H 4353 – sold. He met David when he crossed the Jordan River and supplied aid to the refugees. I believe but cannot prove he was related to Jonathan. He is why Mephibosheth was hidden in Lo Debar.

Ammiel, H 5988 – my kinsman is God.

Mephibosheth, H 4648 – exterminating the idol. I believe he was sent to Lo Debar per instructions from Jonathan and that he was with family who took care of him. He was a grandson of the king who probably had family in the area starting with the last story in Judges.

Lo Debar (city) H 3810, the definition is pastureless or not a pasture. A possible reason for that name is it was built on the side of the Jordan Valley. They were a guard city for Gilead and made pottery as a source of income.

Mica, H 4316 – who is like God. This is Mephibosheth’s son; this is one reason I think he was with family, someone got him a wife.

Jerusalem (city), H 3389 – teaching of peace or foundation of peace. Different references of Strong’s have slightly different definitions, “teach” comes from a possible root word, H3384. Strong’s Hebrew: 3389. יְרוּשָׁלַ֫םִ (Yerushalaim or Yerushalayim) — probably “foundation of peace,” capital city of all Isr. (biblehub.com)  

2 Samuel 9:1 Hebrew Text Analysis (biblehub.com)

Bible 911 Esther

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Esther 9:11 On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the palace was brought before the king. (KJV)

In studying and pondering this Bible 911, I see this verse as “an end” and “a start”. An internet search will reveal movies, controversies, agendas, and extra verses for Esther, not bad for only ten chapters. I choose to leave those alone.

A Start

No matter what anyone says, the celebration that started in the ninth chapter, Purim, is still observed. That speaks volumes if you will let it. A pur is like some dice. It is the same idea as the Disciples “casting a lot” to pick the replacement for Judas. It is possible that is also the idea behind the Urim and Thummim.

An End

Mordecai and Esther ended the family line of Agag the Amalekite, which is something their ancestors King Saul and his son Jonathan did not do. Agag is the king of the Amalekites whom Saul was to kill in 1 Samuel 15. Please read Amalek Part 1 and Part 2.

The great victory in Esther 9:11 did not end the family of Esau/Edom and it probably did not end the Amalekites (I think). They are descendants of Abraham with a lot of history. God was not pleased with them, as shown in Exodus 17:16 and Hebrews 12:16. Even Malachi 1 has much to say about them, if Ezra did write Malachi that would fit in with the ideas in Esther 9. Most of the prophets were given words that were against Esau, Edom, and Mount Seir.

Samples of Amalekites being around after 1 Samuel 15:

  • They raided Ziklag and David fought against them in 1 Samuel 29.
  • One killed King Saul-2 Samuel 1.
  • 1 Chronicles 4:43 has a story from the time of Hezekiah about them.

Agag’s Family Connections

  • Genesis 36: 12 and 16
  • 1 Samuel 15 – Agag and the homeland of Havilah to Shur (verse 7). Ishmael and the Philistines also have connections to this area.
  • Esther 3:1
  • Exodus 17 and Deuteronomy 25 tell the story of the Amalek attack on Israel as it left Egypt.
  • Ephraim and Manasseh, while in Egypt, had raiding bands that may have terrorized the area from Shur and Havilah – 1 Chronicles 7:21 – 22. 
  • Ezekiel 35:5-6 speaks of an “ancient hostility” that bloomed as Jerusalem fell to Babylon. The hostility may have been Saul’s attack, or the raid in Exodus 17 that could have come from those raids in 1 Chronicles 7:21 – 22, but I have a feeling it was Esau selling and being tricked out of the right of the firstborn – Genesis 27. Amalek may have caught the offense of his grandfather and never let it alone.

If you want a study, the story and history of Esau would keep you busy for a while. Esau’s family line is recorded in Genesis 36. Reseach the Prophets also.

Esther’s Family

Esther is a Benjamite. Her uncle Mordecai’s genealogy is in Esther 2:6 and it is indicated that he was carried off with Jehoiachin. They are related to Jonathan and Saul. The Benjamite genealogy is found in 1 Chronicles 8; the very next section is the captives who returned from Babylon (that is probably from Ezra). Saul and Jonathan’s family tree is 1 Chronicles 9: 35-44. Between these passages and tradition, we believe that Esther was a granddaughter of Jonathan through Mephibosheth and his son Micah. (Please view Why Hide a Grandson There and Lo Debar a Second Look. Lo Debar was not a dump and I believe Mephibosheth was with family that was protecting him and providing for him. The last story in the Book of Judges changed a lot for the tribe of Benjamin.)

Some about Benjamin:

  1. He is the only progenitor of the Tribes that was born in the Promised Land. The rest were born in Paddan Aram/Haran or Egypt.
  2. Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives are in the territory allotted to Benjamin.
  3. He was the thirteenth child of Jacob. (12 sons, 1 daughter)

127 Providences

The Persian kingdom was huge. It wrapped the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea and went to India. Jerusalem and Shushan were just two of the 127 providences, so how many actually had Jews in them? The couriers and the horses had a serious trip to take.

Times

The years in Esther are referenced by Xerxes’ rule of Persia. I wonder if the “months” are from the Jewish calendar. Movies crunch the years to fit it into a two-hour time slot.

  • 1:3 is the third year of his rule, so he throws a party.
  • 2:12 has twelve months of beauty treatments for the maidens.
  • 2:16 is the seventh year of his reign. There was no big rush to pick a new queen.
  • 3:7 is the twelfth year of Xerxes’ reign.
  • 3:12 and 13 are the days of the months for the writing of the letters and the day picked to kill the Jews.

The first celebration would have been in the thirteenth year. The day of writing the letters in 3:12 would have been just before Passover.

Hebrew Jewish Months in the Old Testament – Bible History (bible-history.com)

Things that caught my attention

  1. Where the action and setting of the Books took place. (This is not a complete list.) No part of Esther takes place in the Promised Land. For the most part, Exodus through Deuteronomy is not in Israel. Daniel and Ezekiel are set outside of Israel with references to the Land. Jonah starts in the Land and goes to Nineveh.
  2. Acrostics found in Esther. The name of God is not found in Esther, but there are acrostics for it in the text. This site actually listed them, if you go searching the internet, please know there are many agendas out there.  Q&A: Is God in Esther? (thirdmill.org)  
  3. Haman, Agag, and Amalek are people who did not do right by Israel. We need to remember the real enemy from Isaiah 14:12, it is Lucifer who stirs people to attack the Jews because they are God’s chosen people through Abraham.

What is your Amalek?

This is a metaphorical question. Amalek was the first thing to attack Israel after they passed through the Red Sea leaving Egypt. They plagued Israel and the Father promised them He would fight against them. I believe they are one thing that will be put under the feet of Jesus. So, what attacked you after you repented and were baptized and is still warring against you?

Lo Debar – Another Look

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Lo Debar, I have a feeling that it has become a symbol of hope and that God can turn things around in as long as it takes to ask a question.  Lo Debar holds the love of a true friendship and the strength of a promise kept but also has a darker side of greed, fear, and poor communication.  The characters in this story have strong messages to teach us if we will listen. (see A Place Called Lo Debar)

David’s life before he killed the giant sets the stage for Lo Debar.  The time he spent in the wilderness keeping sheep and singing praise to God allowed him to have a realDavid052 friendship.  C. S. Lewis in Membership said, ”We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and privacy; and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship.”  David had those so when Jonathan decided that they should be friends David was ready.  David means “loving” and Jonathan means “Jehovah-given.”

The question of why did David even have to ask if Jonathan had a son puzzled me until I added ages and years together.  The last time David saw David007Jonathan alive was in 1 Samuel 23:16, while David is hiding at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph and Mephibosheth (probably), was not born yet.  There was also the oath he gave to Saul in 1 Samuel 24: 22 not to kill off his family when he became king.  So the question in 2 Samuel 9:1 is valid because he would not have known about Mephibosheth.  But the lack of communication by Jonathan to the family about the covenant of friendship and the oath that Saul had with David caused a little five-year-old boy to be crippled as panic set in and the royal household flees in fear. (It seemed to be common practice to kill off everyone including servants of a royal family back in that age so I am sure the fear was real.)  The poor communication or fear carried to other parts of the family because David had to find Ziba, a servant, instead of his wife, Michal, the aunt of Jonathan’s child, to tell him Mephibosheth existed and was alive.

I am not fussing at Jonathan because he was in a really bad spot.  His crazy father wanted to kill his covenant friend and the family servants had already proven they could not be trusted, so speaking about David was probably not a good idea.  But it would appear that he had a plan for his family in case something happened to him.  I don’t think it was an accident that Mephibosheth was “found” living at Makir son of Ammiel’s house.  Jonathan and possibly Saul must have trusted his man and his family to hide and protect the royal grandchild and eventually find a wife for Mephibosheth.  Remember he also brought supplies to David as he ran from Absalom.

In studying Jonathan I found something that I have no idea what it means but it was interesting. As I said Jonathan means “Jehovah-given” and there are two forms of it used in the Bible they are number 3083 and 3129 in the Strong’s Concordance.  3083 is used when it deals with Jonathan and David plus two times in 1 Samuel 14: 6+8 where he was relying on God for direction to attack the Philistines.  3129 is used when it deals with Jonathan and his father Saul.

God has a sense of humor and likes to hide things in scripture like Makir son of Ammiel: Makir means “salesman or brought” and Ammiel means “people of God.” The Makir meaning shines out in the Absalom story because he brought a lot of goods to David almost as if he were a salesman.  But he must have been important in Lo Debar because he hid Mephibosheth for at least twelve years, paid for his care, and picked his wife and no one turned them over to David. ( see Why Hide a Grandson There)

Ziba, Saul’s chief servant, is the dark side of this tale and may have worked for the family but with friends like him who needs enemies.  You have to wonder if Ziba, which means, “stationed” is the servant with Saul in 1 Samuel 9?  I took the “stationed” or “to be stationed” as he was the one assigned to Saul by God.  He seems to have done fairly well for himself because he had 15 sons and 20 servants, which was a sign of wealth.  I believe he was protecting his interest in telling David where Mephibosheth was living, he could have been hoping that David would kill Mephibosheth and the land of Saul would legally become his.  So in 2 Samuel 16:1-4 when he was lying about Mephibosheth’s actions he was still trying to get the land and get rid of Mephibosheth.  David seems to have seen this in 2 Samuel 19:24 when he orders the land split between them.

Saul, which means “asked”, is also part of this story.  A lot of adjectives could be assigned to him because he is the poster boy for good going bad but the one that I settled on was selfish. His “self” pops up throughout his whole story and finally leads to a crippled child hiding in fear from the man who would be his best friend.

Mephibosheth, which means “dispeller of shame”, I am sure has been the center of many sermons and he should be because it is a beautiful story.  Think about how he got to Lo Debar.  The news comes that his father is dead; his nurse (not his mother) drops him breaking both feet as he is rushed many miles from home and left with someone he barely knows.  He has no family, apparently, the only one who knows where he is, is a servant who wants his inheritance and all this five-year-old boy has to go on is stories and rumors about his father and grandfather.  Then one day a military David060unit takes him from the only house he remembers and brings him to the man he has been told to fear for at least twelve years.  Once there he finds out he is rich and will eat at the king’s table for the rest of his life.  Yeah, he should have a few sermons preached about him.

Did you notice that David did not answer Mephibosheth’s question of “why should you take notice of me?” Mephibosheth would have seen the end of David’s years and all of the trouble with his kids but he also would have seen the Temple built and Israel become a world power.  You would take for granted that Solomon just continued David’s covenant of friendship and he ate at the king’s table for life.

The great thing that I found in finishing his story is that Mephibosheth’s tale did not end with him.  In 1 Chronicles 8:34 – 40 and in 9:35 – 44 they list his family for several generations and record them as being warriors, so they fought for the kings of Judah for many years.  This is for a grandchild of a disposed of a king who would have normally been killed; friendship is a great thing. In Chronicles, he is listed as Merib-Baal, which is a tribute to Gideon who also has connections to the Lo Debar/Manasseh area.

These final two connections are questionable so study them for yourself and you decide.  Esther in Esther 2:5 is listed as being from the Tribe of Benjamin descended from Kish.  There are two Kish’s in the tribe of Benjamin but none of the names line up with Mephibosheth.  The other possible family member is Zimri who was king of Israel for seven days.  There is a Zimri listed in Mephibosheth’s family line that would have been alive about that time but there is less proof for that than for Esther so let your imaginations go wild with the possibilities.

This “other” look at Lo Debar, Mephibosheth, David, and Jonathan has been a great study I hope you have enjoyed it.

The artwork is from http://clipart.christiansunite.com/1379673661/Bible_Characters_Clipart/David_Clipart 

Lo Debar – Why Hide a Grandson There?

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Why would you hide an heir apparent in a “Lo Debar?” (see Lo Debar) That connection with King Saul goes back a couple of generations to the Book of Judges.  In chapter 21 Israel had killed off almost all of the Tribe of Benjamin and had cursed them on top of all of that.  But to find wives for the 400 Benjamites who remained they killed off everyone in a town in Gilead except for the young women. So, when the newly crowned King Saul takes off to rescue Jabesh Gilead in 1 Samuel 11 it was probably because he had family there.  Not only did he rescue his family but also, he upped his standing in Israel at the same time.  So, his connection with that part of the land of Israel is family ties so the young Mephibosheth would have been safe.      ( see Lo Debar – Another Look )