2 Samuel 8:13--9:13
Konteks8:13 David became famous 1 when he returned from defeating the Arameans 2 in the Valley of Salt, he defeated 3 18,000 in all. 8:14 He placed garrisons throughout Edom, 4 and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. The Lord protected David wherever he campaigned. 8:15 David reigned over all Israel; he guaranteed justice for all his people. 5
8:16 Joab son of Zeruiah was general in command of 6 the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was secretary; 8:17 Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar 7 were priests; Seraiah was scribe; 8:18 Benaiah son of Jehoida supervised 8 the Kerithites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests. 9
9:1 10 Then David asked, “Is anyone still left from the family 11 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.” 12 9:3 The king asked, “Is there not someone left from Saul’s family, 13 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 14 from the house of Makir son of Ammiel in 15 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. 16 David said, “Mephibosheth?” He replied, “Yes, at your service.” 17
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.” 18 9:8 Then Mephibosheth 19 bowed and said, “Of what importance am I, your servant, that you show regard for a dead dog like me?” 20
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 21 the land for him – you and your sons and your servants. You will bring its produce 22 and it will be 23 food for your master’s grandson to eat. 24 But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, will be a regular guest at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)
9:11 Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do everything that my lord the king has instructed his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth was a regular guest 25 at David’s table, 26 just as though he were one of the king’s sons.
9:12 Now Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. All the members of Ziba’s household were Mephibosheth’s servants. 9:13 Mephibosheth was living in Jerusalem, 27 for he was a regular guest at the king’s table. But both his feet were crippled.
[8:13] 1 tn Heb “made a name.”
[8:13] 2 tn So NASB, NCV; NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “Edomites” (see the note on “Aram” in v. 12).
[8:13] 3 tn The words “he defeated” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:14] 4 tc The MT is repetitious here: “He placed in Edom garrisons; in all Edom he placed garrisons.” The Vulgate lacks “in all Edom”; most of the Greek tradition (with the exception of the Lucianic recension and the recension of Origen) and the Syriac Peshitta lack “he placed garrisons.” The MT reading appears here to be the result of a conflation of variant readings.
[8:15] 5 tn Heb “and David was doing what is just and fair for all his people.”
[8:17] 7 tc Here Ahimelech is called “the son of Abiathar,” but NCV, CEV, and REB reverse this to conform with 1 Sam 22:20. Most recent English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) retain the order found in the MT.
[8:18] 8 tc The translation follows the Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate in reading “over,” rather than the simple conjunction that appears in MT. See also the parallel passage in 1 Chr 18:17.
[8:18] 9 sn That David’s sons could have been priests, in light of the fact that they were not of the priestly lineage, is strange. One must assume either (1) that the word “priest” (כֹּהֵן, kohen) during this period of time could be used in a broader sense of “chief ruler” (KJV); “chief minister” (ASV, NASB), or “royal adviser” (NIV), perhaps based on the parallel passage in 1 Chr 18:17 which has “the king’s leading officials”, or (2) that in David’s day members of the king’s family could function as a special category of “priests” (cf. NLT “priestly leaders”). The latter option seems to be the more straightforward way of understanding the word in 2 Sam 8:18.
[9:1] 10 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.
[9:2] 12 tn Heb “your servant.”
[9:5] 14 tn Heb “sent and took him.”
[9:6] 16 tn Heb “he fell on his face and bowed down.”
[9:6] 17 tn Heb “Look, your servant.”
[9:7] 18 tn Heb “and you will eat food over my table continually.”
[9:8] 19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Mephibosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:8] 20 tn Heb “What is your servant, that you turn to a dead dog which is like me?”
[9:10] 22 tn The Hebrew text implies, but does not actually contain, the words “its produce” here.
[9:10] 23 tc The words “it will be,” though present in the MT, are absent from the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate.
[9:10] 24 tn Heb “and he will eat it.”
[9:11] 26 tc Heb “my table.” But the first person reference to David is awkward here since the quotation of David’s words has already been concluded in v. 10; nor does the “my” refer to Ziba, since the latter part of v. 11 does not seem to be part of Ziba’s response to the king. The ancient versions are not unanimous in the way that they render the phrase. The LXX has “the table of David” (τῆς τραπέζης Δαυιδ, th" trapezh" Dauid); the Syriac Peshitta has “the table of the king” (patureh demalka’); the Vulgate has “your table” (mensam tuam). The present translation follows the LXX.
[9:13] 27 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
