Question 1

What did David promise Mephibosheth when he came before the king (2 Samuel 9:7)?

Accepted Answer

Mephibosheth came and fell facedown before David (9:6). David told him not to be afraid, and then he made two promises for Jonathan’s sake: all the land that had belonged to Saul would be given back to him, and he would eat at the royal table from then on (9:7). Mephibosheth himself later said that his grandfather’s whole house deserved death from the king, yet David had given him a seat at his table (19:28). David had also once sworn to Saul that he would not wipe out Saul’s descendants (1 Samuel 24:21-22), and here he goes far beyond merely sparing a life.

Question 2

What two things did David grant Mephibosheth for Jonathan’s sake (2 Samuel 9:7)?

Accepted Answer

Mephibosheth comes prostrate, and David answers his evident fear with reassurance and two grants: the restoration of all Saul’s land and a permanent place at the royal table (9:6-7). This exceeds what even David’s oath to Saul required, which was only that Saul’s line not be cut off (1 Samuel 24:21-22). Mephibosheth’s own later words show how undeserved he knew this favor to be, since he regarded his grandfather’s house as worthy of death (19:28).

Question 3

Why did David ask whether any of Saul’s family still survived (2 Samuel 9:1)?

Accepted Answer

David was not searching for rivals to remove. He wanted to find someone from Saul’s family to whom he could be kind because of his friend Jonathan (9:1). Years earlier Jonathan had asked David never to withdraw his loyal love from Jonathan’s household, and the two had sworn an oath in the LORD’s name that included their descendants (1 Samuel 20:14-15, 42). Now, as king, David kept that promise. Later the narrator says plainly that David spared Mephibosheth on account of the oath he and Jonathan had sworn (21:7).

Question 4

What motive does David state for seeking a survivor of Saul’s house (2 Samuel 9:1)?

Accepted Answer

David seeks a descendant of Saul to receive kindness for Jonathan’s sake (9:1). He is keeping covenant: Jonathan had asked him not to withdraw his loyal love from Jonathan’s house, and their oath sworn in the LORD’s name bound their offspring as well (1 Samuel 20:14-15, 42). The narrator later ties David’s protection of Mephibosheth directly to that sworn oath (21:7).

Question 5

How does the narrator describe Mephibosheth’s place at David’s table (2 Samuel 9:11)?

Accepted Answer

Mephibosheth did not merely receive a pension. He was treated at David’s table as if he were one of David’s own sons (9:11), and he made his home in Jerusalem as a constant guest there (9:13). The chapter closes by repeating that both his feet were lame, a reminder that he brought nothing to earn this place. Mephibosheth himself later said he had no right to it (19:28). Many Christians have seen in this scene a picture of God’s grace: someone from a fallen house, unable to help himself, brought into the king’s family because of another, much as believers are welcomed into God’s own household (Ephesians 2:19).

Question 6

What status does the narrator give Mephibosheth at the royal table (2 Samuel 9:11)?

Accepted Answer

The narrator places Mephibosheth at David’s table with the standing of a royal son (9:11), resident in Jerusalem and a permanent guest (9:13). The closing note about his lameness underlines that the favor rested on David’s covenant kindness, not on any merit or usefulness in him, as Mephibosheth himself acknowledged (19:28). Many Christians have seen here a picture of grace: one from a condemned house, helpless in himself, received into the king’s family for another’s sake, as believers are welcomed into God’s own household (Ephesians 2:19).

Question 7

True or False: Mephibosheth responded to David’s promises by calling himself no better than a dead dog (2 Samuel 9:8).

Accepted Answer

This is true. Mephibosheth bowed and asked what he was, that the king should pay attention to someone who was like a dead dog (9:8). In that culture a dead dog was a picture of something worthless; David had once described himself to Saul in the same terms (1 Samuel 24:14). Mephibosheth did not think he had any claim on the king’s favor, and he said much the same thing later (19:28). David’s kindness did not depend on Mephibosheth being worthy of it.

Question 8

True or False: Mephibosheth answered David’s grant by describing himself as a dead dog unworthy of the king’s notice (2 Samuel 9:8).

Accepted Answer

This is true. Mephibosheth’s reply is pure self-abasement: he is, in his own words, like a dead dog, an image of utter worthlessness that David himself had once used before Saul (9:8; 1 Samuel 24:14). He claims no merit, and he will later disclaim any further right before the king (19:28). The favor he receives rests entirely on David’s covenant kindness, not on anything in him.

Question 9

What did Ziba tell David about Jonathan’s surviving son (2 Samuel 9:3-4)?

Accepted Answer

When David asked a second time, he described the kindness he meant to show as God’s kindness (9:3), kindness of the sort God Himself shows. Ziba, a former servant of Saul’s household, answered that Jonathan had a son whose feet were both lame, and that he was staying in Lo-debar in the household of Machir, Ammiel’s son (9:3-4). The narrator had already explained how this happened: the boy was five when news came of Saul and Jonathan’s deaths, and he fell and was injured as his nurse fled with him (4:4). He was living in another man’s house, far from the royal court.

Question 10

What did Ziba report about the one remaining son of Jonathan (2 Samuel 9:3-4)?

Accepted Answer

David’s second question calls the kindness he intends God’s own kindness (9:3), loyal love that reflects the LORD’s own covenant faithfulness, the very thing Jonathan had asked of him (1 Samuel 20:14-15). Ziba reports a son of Jonathan, crippled in both feet, staying in Machir’s household at Lo-debar (9:3-4). The narrator had earlier recorded the cause: as a five-year-old he was injured when his nurse fled at the news of Saul and Jonathan’s deaths (4:4).

Question 11

What task did David give to Ziba and his household (2 Samuel 9:9-10)?

Accepted Answer

David told Ziba that everything Saul and his family had owned was now given to Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson (9:9). Ziba, with his sons and servants, was to work that land and bring in its crops so that Mephibosheth’s household would have food, while Mephibosheth himself would always eat at the royal table (9:10). Ziba agreed to do everything the king commanded (9:11). Later chapters still describe Ziba as Mephibosheth’s servant and as steward of Saul’s house (16:1; 19:17).

Question 12

What charge did David give Ziba concerning the restored estate of Saul’s grandson (2 Samuel 9:9-10)?

Accepted Answer

David makes the restoration practical. Saul’s entire property is transferred to Mephibosheth, and Ziba’s sizable household is assigned to cultivate it and deliver the produce for Mephibosheth’s household, while Mephibosheth himself eats continually at the royal table (9:9-10). Ziba accepts the charge (9:11), and he is later still identified as Mephibosheth’s servant and the steward of Saul’s house (16:1; 19:17).

2 Samuel 9 Study Notes: David's Kindness to Mephibosheth

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