Catholic Commentary on 2 Samuel 9

"Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?" (2 Samuel 9:1)

David and Mephibosheth

David asks: Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake? He is told about Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son, who is crippled in both feet. David sends for him. Mephibosheth comes and falls on his face: what is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me? David says: do not be afraid; I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table. Mephibosheth is settled in Jerusalem and eats at the king's table like one of the king's sons.

Mephibosheth is one of the most powerful figures in the Old Testament as a type of the sinner's reception by God. He is crippled, living in hiding, from the house of a defeated king, calling himself a dead dog. David restores his inheritance, seats him at the royal table, and treats him as a son, for the sake of the covenant made with his father. The Catechism identifies this scene as a figure of the Eucharist: the broken one, brought from Lo-debar (the place of no pasture), seated at the king's table where he always eats, as one of the king's own sons (CCC 1384).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, Mephibosheth called himself a dead dog and David called him a son of the king. The identity we have from our past failure, our crippling, our exile, is not the identity David's greater Son gives us. He says: come to my table. Eat here. You are mine. Stop calling yourself a dead dog.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, for the sake of your covenant with our Father, bring us from Lo-debar and seat us at your table. Restore what was lost. Call us sons and daughters. We come, crippled and afraid, and you feed us at the royal table. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

9
David and Mephibosheth
1 Then David asked, “Is there anyone left from the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for the sake of Jonathan?”
 
2 And there was a servant of Saul’s family named Ziba. They summoned him to David, and the king inquired, “Are you Ziba?”
 
“I am your servant,” he replied.
 
3 So the king asked, “Is there anyone left of Saul’s family to whom I can show the kindness of God?”
 
Ziba answered, “There is still Jonathan’s son, who is lame in both feet.”
 
4 “Where is he?” replied the king.
 
And Ziba said, “Indeed, he is in Lo-debar at the house of Machir son of Ammiel.”
 
5 So King David had him brought from the house of Machir son of Ammiel in Lo-debar. 6 And when Mephibosheth * 9:6 Mephibosheth is also called Merib-baal; see 1 Chronicles 8:34. son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he fell facedown in reverence.
 
Then David said, “Mephibosheth!”
 
“I am your servant,” he replied.
 
7 “Do not be afraid,” said David, “for surely I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”
 
8 Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog like me?”
 
9 Then the king summoned Saul’s servant Ziba and said to him, “I have given to your master’s grandson all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. 10 You and your sons and servants are to work the ground for him and bring in the harvest, so that your master’s grandson may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, is always to eat at my table.”
 
Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11 And Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do all that my lord the king has commanded.”
 
So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table † 9:11 LXX; Hebrew my table like one of the king’s own sons. 12 And Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica,‡ 9:12 Mica is a variant of Micah; see 1 Chronicles 8:34. and all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth. 13 So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table, and he was lame in both feet.

*9:6 9:6 Mephibosheth is also called Merib-baal; see 1 Chronicles 8:34.

†9:11 9:11 LXX; Hebrew my table

‡9:12 9:12 Mica is a variant of Micah; see 1 Chronicles 8:34.

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