2 Samuel 9:9 - Meaning and Application

The matter is now settled concerning Mephibosheth. His father’s estate is confirmed to him, and Ziba is called as a witness to it (2 Samuel 9:9). Saul must have been a very wealthy man, because his family had fields and vineyards to give away (1 Samuel 9:1; 1 Samuel 22:7). Whatever the size of the estate, Mephibosheth now owns it all.

The care of the property is put into Ziba’s hands. He knew the estate and how to manage it well, and as Saul’s former servant, he seemed like someone David could trust. He also had many sons and servants, enough hands to work the land and handle its business (2 Samuel 9:10). In this way, Mephibosheth is made comfortable, with a rich estate and little burden, while he continues to eat at David’s table.

Still, he would need more than his own bread. He had to provide food for his son and servants, and Ziba’s large household would also share in the income. That is likely why the text mentions fifteen sons and twenty servants, because so many mouths would eat up much of the produce. As wealth grows, so do the people who live off it, and the owner often gains little more than looking at it with his eyes (Ecclesiastes 5:11). Everyone in Ziba’s house, in a sense, lived from Mephibosheth’s estate and depended on it, though they were said to serve him (2 Samuel 9:12).

Ziba was pleased, because he loved wealth and wanted plenty. He answered, “As the king has commanded, so your servant will do” (2 Samuel 9:11). He seemed ready to say, “Leave the estate with me, and as for Mephibosheth, he need not trouble the court. He can eat at my table and be treated like one of the king’s sons.” But David would have Mephibosheth at his own table, and Mephibosheth was satisfied with that honor.

Later, we will see how unfaithful Ziba was to him (2 Samuel 16:3). Since David was a picture of Christ, his Lord and son, his root and descendant, his kindness to Mephibosheth helps us see God’s mercy toward fallen people. God owed this kindness to no one, as David owed it to Jonathan. Humanity had rebelled against God and, like Saul’s family, stood under rejection. People were not only brought low and made poor, but also weak and helpless through the fall.

Yet the Son of God looks for this ruined race, even though they do not seek him. He comes to save and rescue them. To those who humble themselves before him and trust themselves to him, he restores what was lost. He gives them a better paradise than the one Adam lost, brings them into fellowship with himself, sets them with his children at his table, and feeds them with the rich gifts of heaven. Lord, what is man, that you should so greatly honor him!