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2 Samuel 9

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1 And David said, Is·​·there yet anyone who remains of the house of Saul, that I may do mercy with him for the sake of Jonathan?

2 And there was of the house of Saul a servant, and his name was Ziba. And they called him to David, and the king said to him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant.

3 And the king said, Is there yet no man for the house of Saul, that I may do the mercy of God with him? And Ziba said unto the king, There is yet a son to Jonathan, crippled of both·​·feet.

4 And the king said to him, Where is he? And Ziba said to the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar.

5 And King David sent and took him out·​·of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, out·​·of Lo-debar.

6 And Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came unto David, and he fell upon his face, and bowed·​·down. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he said, Behold, thy servant.

7 And David said to him, Fear not; for doing, I shall do mercy with thee for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will return to thee all the field of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat the bread on my table continually.

8 And he bowed· himself ·down and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest turn· thy ·face to the dead dog who is such·​·as I?

9 And the king called to Ziba, Saul’s lad, and said unto him, All that Saul and all his house had, I have given unto the son of thy lord.

10 And thou shalt till the ground for him, thou and thy sons and thy servants, and thou shalt bring·​·in, and the son of thy lord shall have bread, and he shall eat it; but Mephibosheth the son of thy lord shall eat bread at my table continually. And Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

11 And Ziba said to the king, According·​·to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. And Mephibosheth shall eat at my table as one of the king’s sons.

12 And Mephibosheth had a little son and his name was Micha. And all who were dwelling in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth.

13 And Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem; for he did eat continually at the table of the king; and he was lame in his two feet.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Servant

  

“Servant” literally means “a person who serves another," and its meaning is similar in reference to its spiritual meanings of the Bible. Our lives in their most outward form -- the physical actions we take and the thoughts and feelings directly connected to them -- are in a way “servants” to our deeper, more hidden, internal thoughts and desires. So in most cases, “servants” in the Bible represent things we're doing and thinking on that outward, external level. Servants can have good masters or evil ones, obviously, and a servant doing good work in service of an evil master is actually making the world a more evil place. So the precise meaning of a given servant in the Bible depends on the nature of the master he or she is serving. Finally, when the Bible is addressing the Lord's own spiritual development, “servant” represents the Lord's most outward aspect: the human body he inherited from Mary, with all its frailties and potential for temptation.