L M¹ 9:1-13. To Mephibosheth. (Son of Jonathan). M² 10:1-5. To Hanun. (Son of Nahash).
M¹ N¹ 1-4. Mephibosheth. Sought.
N² 5-13. Mephibosheth. Found.
N¹ i 1-3-. Inquiry of David. "Who?"
j -3. Ziba's answer. Person. Mephibosheth.
i 4-. Inquiry of David. "Where?"
j -4. Ziba's answer. Place. Lo-debar. 948 B.C.
2 Samuel 9)
1: And David said, “Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness (= grace, favor, or loving-kindness) for Jonathan's sake?”
2: And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba (= statue). And when they had called him to David, the king said unto him, “Art you Ziba?” And he said, “Your servant is he.”
3: And the king said, “Is there not yet a man of the house of Saul, that I may show the loving-kindness of God to him?”
And Ziba said to the king, “Jonathan has yet a son, which is lame on his feet.”
4: And the king said to him, “Where is he?”
And Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar (= no pasture. Where the sinner is until found by God's free grace).
N² l 5,6. Mephibosheth comes to Jerusalem.
m 7,8. David's promise made.
m 9-12. David's promise fulfilled.
l 13. Mephibosheth dwells in Jerusalem.
5: Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar. (This is the action of grace towards the "lost" sinner. Cp. Luke 15:4,5,8,9)
6: Now when Mephibosheth (= the destroyer of idols. Born in 965 B.C. [4:4]. Now 17, and father of a young son [v.12]), the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come to David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, “Mephibosheth.” And he answered, “Behold your servant!”
7: And David said to him, “Fear not: for I will surely show you loving-kindness for Jonathan your father's sake (so with God's grace to us; not for the sake of the lost one), and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.”
8: And he bowed himself, and said, “What is you servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog (self-abasement is ever the result of grace shown) as I am?” (so the sinner is concerned what he is, rather than what he has done. Cp. Isa. 6:5. Luke 5:8)
9: Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, “I have given to your master's son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house.
10: You therefore, and your sons, and your servants, shall till the land for him, and you shall bring in the fruits, that your master's son may have food to eat: but Mephibosheth your master's son shall eat bread alway at my table” (type of The Bread of Life). Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
11: Then said Ziba to the king, “According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so shall your servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons.”
12: And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micha (= who is like God?). And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth.
13: So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king's table; and he was lame on both his feet.