Tunnetaan myös nimellä: Mephibosheth, Merib-Baal, Mephi-Boset, Mephibosheth
Yhdistynyt kuningaskuntaLeaderc. 1040–970 B.C.E.
Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan and grandson of King Saul. He became lame in both feet after a fall as a child when news of Saul’s and Jonathan’s death reached them. King David showed him kindness for Jonathan’s sake and let him eat at the king’s table for the rest of his life.
When Mephibosheth was five years old, his nurse fled with him after hearing the news of Saul and Jonathan’s death. She fell with the child in her arms, and he became lame in both feet.
4Now Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son who was crippled in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried away, he fell and was left lame. His name was Mephibosheth.
David looked for someone from Saul’s household to show kindness to for Jonathan’s sake. His servant Ziba told him about Mephibosheth, who was living in Lo-debar.
2Now there was a servant of Saul's household named Ziba, and they summoned him to David. The king said to him, "Are you Ziba?" "At your service," he answered.
3The king asked, "Is there no one at all left of Saul's house to whom I may show God's own kindness?" Ziba answered the king, "There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in both feet."
David shows kindness and gives him a place at the king's table
David called Mefibosjet to himself, returned all of Saul's land to him, and let him eat at the king's table as one of the king's own sons. Ziba and his household were assigned to work the land for him.
6When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he fell facedown and bowed low. David said, "Mephibosheth!" "I am your servant," he answered.
7"Do not be afraid," David said to him, "for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to Saul your grandfather, and you will always eat at my table."
9Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul's steward, and said to him, "I have given to your master's grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his whole house.
10You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the harvest, so that your master's grandson may have food to eat. And Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, will always eat at my table." (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)
11Ziba said to the king, "Whatever my lord the king commands his servant, your servant will do." So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons. [Footnote: Hebrew reads "my table"; the sense is the king's table.]
During Absalom's rebellion, Ziba met David with gifts and claimed that Mefibosjet had stayed behind in Jerusalem to regain Saul's throne. David then gave Ziba everything that belonged to Mefibosjet.
1When David had gone a little beyond the summit, there was Ziba, Mephibosheth's servant, coming to meet him with a pair of saddled donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred clusters of raisins, a hundred summer fruits, and a skin of wine.
2The king asked Ziba, "What are these for?" Ziba answered, "The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and the summer fruits are for the young men to eat, and the wine is for those who grow faint in the wilderness to drink."
3"And where is your master's son?" the king asked. Ziba said to the king, "He is staying in Jerusalem, for he said, 'Today the house of Israel will restore my father's kingdom to me.'"
4Then the king said to Ziba, "Everything that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours." Ziba said, "I bow before you. May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king."
When David returned to Jerusalem, Mefibosjet met him in mourning and explained that Ziba had deceived him. He had not cared for himself since the king left. David divided the property between Mefibosjet and Ziba.
25Mephibosheth son of Saul also came down to meet the king. He had not cared for his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day the king came home safely.
27He answered, "My lord the king, my servant deceived me. Your servant said, 'I will saddle my donkey and ride it and go with the king'—for your servant is lame.
29My father's whole house deserved nothing but death from my lord the king, yet you set your servant among those who eat at your table. What further claim do I have, and what right to appeal to the king?"
7But the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD that was between them, between David and Jonathan son of Saul.