Mephibosheth son of Jonathan מְפִיבֹשֶׁת בֶּן־יְהוֹנָתָן
Saul's lame grandson, seated by David at the king's table
Son of Jonathan, grandson of Saul. "Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled; and as she hurried to flee, he fell and became lame" (II Samuel 4:4).
At the king's table. David asks: "Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" Mephibosheth is brought from Lo-debar. The king restores to him all Saul's land and says: "You shall eat bread at my table always." The chapter ends: "And he was lame in both his feet" (II Samuel 9).
A dispute never settled. When David fled from Absalom, his servant Ziba came out with provisions and said his master had stayed in Jerusalem expecting the kingdom for himself. The king at once gave Ziba everything. On the return Mephibosheth came out—unshaven, his feet unwashed, his clothes untended from the very day the king had left—and said his servant had deceived him. David divided the land in two. Mephibosheth answered: "Let him take it all, since my lord the king has come home in peace" (19:31).
On the timeline
Related
Sources
Tanakh
- Shmuel II 4:4 — the five years, the nurse's flight, and the lameness
- Shmuel II 9 — the kindness for Jonathan's sake and the place at the king's table
- Shmuel II 19:25–31 — the meeting on the king's return and the dividing of the land
Basis: stated in the Tanakh.