There are two men in the Bible named Mephibosheth. The lesser known of the two was one of King Saul’s sons. He, along with six others were handed over to the Gibeonites by King David. They were to be executed to make amends for what Saul had previously done to the Gibeonites when he was king. Saul had many of the Gibeonites put to death in an attempt to wipe them out. (2 Samuel 21:1-6)
The Mephibosheth We Hear The Most About
The other Mephibosheth is the one we hear the most about. He was the son of Jonathan and the grandson of King Saul. The Bible says when he was five years old both his father Jonathan and his grandfather Saul died during a battle with the Philistines. When the young one’s nurse heard the news about Jonathan and Saul, she hurriedly picked him up in an attempt to flee. While doing so, Mephibosheth was dropped and became disabled in both feet. (2 Samuel 4:4)
A number of years later after David became king he asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” Because of the close friendship between David and Jonathan, they had made a covenant that David would show kindness to the family of Jonathan even when God had destroyed all of David’s enemies (1 Samuel 20:15). It is this oath that caused David to spare the life of Jonathan’s son while handing over the other Mephibosheth (Saul’s son) to the Gibeonites to be killed. (2 Samuel 21:7)
A servant from the house of Saul informed David of Mephibosheth, who was living in the house of Machir at this time. Mephibosheth and his infant son were brought to Jerusalem. David gave him all that had belonged to Saul and he was allowed to eat at the king’s table regularly. (2 Samuel 9)
Later on there is an attempt by the servant Ziba to make David believe Mephibosheth had been unfaithful to the king during David’s days as a fugitive (2 Samuel 16 1-4). When confronted by David, Mephibosheth says he had been deceived by Ziba in the situation (2 Samuel 19:24-30).
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