Commentaria in II Regum (II Samuelis)
Chapter 9. Synopsis of the Chapter
David makes Miphiboseth, the son of Jonathan, a guest at his table, and restores to him all the estates of his father Jonathan and his grandfather Saul.
1. And David said: Is there any one remaining of the house of Saul, that I may shew kindness to him for Jonathan’s sake? 2. Now there was of the house of Saul a servant named Siba: and when the king had called him to him, he said to him: Art thou Siba? And he answered: I am thy servant. 3. And the king said: Is there not some one left of the house of Saul, that I may shew the mercy of God to him? And Siba said to the king: There is a son of Jonathan left, who is lame of his feet. 4. Where is he, said he? And Siba said to the king: Behold he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lodabar. 5. So king David sent, and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lodabar. 6. And when Miphiboseth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul was come to David, he fell on his face, and worshipped. And David said: Miphiboseth? He answered: Behold thy servant. 7. And David said to him: Fear not, for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and I will restore thee all the lands of Saul thy father, and thou shalt eat bread at my table always. 8. And he bowing down said: Who am I thy servant, that thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am? 9. Then the king called Siba, the servant of Saul, and said to him: All that was Saul’s, and all his house, I have given to thy master’s son. 10. Thou therefore and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in food for thy master’s son to be nourished: but Miphiboseth the son of thy master shall always eat bread at my table. Now Siba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11. And Siba said to the king: As thou, my lord the king, hast commanded thy servant, so will thy servant do: and Miphiboseth shall eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons. 12. And Miphiboseth had a young son named Micha: and all that dwelt in the house of Siba served Miphiboseth. 13. But Miphiboseth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he ate always of the king’s table: and he was lame of both feet.
1. FOR JONATHAN’S SAKE?—Behold how faithful and constant David was in friendship to Jonathan, who did good not only to him living but also dead, by enriching his son. For, as Theodoret says: “He who was kind to enemies never forgot his friends;” and, as Josephus says, “he was most mindful of those who had done him good.”
7. I WILL RESTORE THEE ALL THE LANDS OF SAUL THY FATHER.—which, before he became king, he had from his paternal inheritance, or had acquired for himself; for those which he got when king, as royal goods, passed by common law to the successor king, namely David.
8. THAT THOU SHOULDST LOOK UPON SUCH A DEAD DOG AS I AM?—as if to say: Thou hast looked upon a dead dog, such as I am: so Vatablus; for he likens himself, and calls himself a dead dog, to humble himself and to indicate his vileness, as one who, his grandfather and father being dead, was left an orphan, nay a little child, lame, wretched and needy, and neglected by all, and despised like a dead dog. So lately a youth forsaken and wretched, when asked who he was, answered that he was the son of a dead counsellor. The Chaldee renders, thou hast looked upon a plain man, such as I am. Miphiboseth seems at this time to have been about twenty years old; for when Saul and Jonathan died he was five years old; add about 15 years of David’s reign, at the end of which David summoned Miphiboseth to himself, thou wilt have twenty years.
9. I HAVE GIVEN TO THY MASTER’S SON,—that is, I have given to Miphiboseth, who is the son of Jonathan, formerly thy master.
10. AND THOU SHALT BRING IN FOOD FOR THY MASTER’S SON.—Here another master is understood, namely the present and living one, Miphiboseth, since the former, namely Jonathan, of whom in verse 9, was already dead. The sense, therefore, is, as if to say: Thou shalt gather the fruits of Saul’s fields for “thy master’s son,” that is, for Micha the son of Miphiboseth: for he was now master to Siba, “that he may be nourished,” namely Micha with his servants. For Miphiboseth, Micha’s father, was nourished at David’s table, not by Siba, as follows. So Sanchez.
11. AND SIBA SAID TO THE KING: AS THOU, MY LORD THE KING, HAST COMMANDED THY SERVANT (me), SO WILL THY SERVANT DO: AND MIPHIBOSETH SHALL EAT BREAD AT MY TABLE AS ONE OF THE KING’S SONS.—There is here an antilogy; for how does Siba here say that Miphiboseth shall eat at his table, when David had a little before assigned him to his own table? Various persons reconcile this variously: First, Abulensis and the author of the Traditions in St. Jerome, for “my table,” read “thy table.” But the Hebrew and the Roman have, “my table.” Second, Vatablus, Cajetan, Lyranus and others insert and repeat from verse 9, I say therefore that “and” is here taken for “yea,” as elsewhere it is taken by auxesis, as if to say: Siba: As thou hast commanded, O king, so will thy servant do, that he may nourish Micha the son of Miphiboseth; nay more, if thou wilt, “Miphiboseth shall eat at my table,” as if to say: If thou wilt, I will go on nourishing Miphiboseth himself as magnificently as if he were the son of a king. So Sanchez.
Allegorically, David, raising up the outcast and lame Miphiboseth, represents Christ, who chooses the weak and contemptible things of the world to confound the strong, 1 Corinthians 1, since he himself, says Angelomus, “chooses for the divine ministry him whom he sees weak in speech and action for exercising the ministries of the world and worldly business; for him whom the world spurns through the pride of arrogance, God acquires on account of the devotion of humility. For Miphiboseth is interpreted, the beauty of ignominy. He therefore whose speech and presence the pride of the world despises, will by God’s gift appear useful for spiritual ministry in the Church.” And after many intervening things: “He raiseth up the needy from the earth, and lifteth up the poor from the dunghill, that he may sit with princes and hold the throne of glory. Taking contemptible persons out of the world, he makes them possessors of virtues, and refreshes them daily with himself by spiritual knowledge at the table of the holy Scriptures. Whence it comes about that such beget offspring who is called Micha. For Micha in Latin sounds ‘who is’; because such frequently come to the admiration of the people: those who lately were taken from the contempt of the world will appear glorious in the Church by the gift of God.”