“And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred bunches of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine. And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for the king's household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink. And the king said, And where is thy master's son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: for he said, To day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father. Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertained unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech thee that I may find grace in thy sight, my lord, O king” (2 Samuel 16:1-4).
Introduction
On the face of it, this meeting between David and Ziba appears to be straightforward and honest, but the fact is that it was actually a well-planned scheme to trick David.
The plan
After Jonathan died and his son Mephibosheth became lame, Ziba was given the responsibility of looking after everything that belonged to him (2 Samuel 4:4, 9:9). Ziba was blessed in many ways, but he wanted more than he was given, so this meeting was engineered to swindle Mephibosheth out of his inheritance. It was only later that David learned that the wool had been pulled over his eyes by Ziba, for Mephibosheth would say of him, “He hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king” (2 Samuel 19:27). Even so, it seems that David was never totally convinced of Ziba’s disloyalty and dishonesty, for he seems to reprimand Mephibosheth when he said, “Thou and Ziba divide the land”, when really Ziba ought to have been executed (2 Samuel 19:29).
We see then that Ziba was no friend of David despite the show of generosity and loyalty he put on. He simply waited on the other side of the Mount of Olives until David appeared, so that he could use the king’s trouble to get what he wanted. Ziba’s timing and preparation was perfect.
The provision
It is doubtful that David and those with him brought much in the way of provisions with them as they fled from Jerusalem, so the sight of all this good food and drink must have seemed like a blessing from God. This is exactly what Ziba intended David to believe. He was willing to invest a little to gain an abundance, but he probably used what belonged to Mephibosheth anyway, so was being generous with what did not belong to him. Did Ziba know about the story of how Abigail had sent provisions to David to win his heart and was using the same means but in a deceitful way? (1 Samuel 25:18).
The plausibility
Ziba
claimed that Mephibosheth was in Jerusalem asking Absalom to restore the dynasty
of Saul, but this was nothing but a wicked lie to cut deep into David’s heart.
The opposite of this was true, as Mephibosheth would later explain, “And it came to
pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto
him, Wherefore wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth? And he answered, My lord,
O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass,
that I may ride thereon, and go to the king; because thy servant is lame” (2 Samuel 19:25-26). “There are no viler traitors than they, who under the
pretence of friendship accuse others” (Geneva Bible Notes). So in reality Mephibosheth was at home, for the asses
that Ziba was using were meant to take him to David. How could this disabled
man have stage a revolt against David anyway? Was not Absalom of David’s
dynasty and unlikely to abdicate in favour of Mephibosheth? This lame man would
have to defeat both David and Absalom to get to the throne himself, therefore
Ziba’s tall story was a fairy tale. He knew that the servants of Saul, of whom
he was one, had not completely committed themselves to David so was suggesting
that Mephibosheth was providing a rallying point to resurrect the old order. His
news sounded plausible to David and so he accepted it without question. “No
wonder, therefore, that in the excitement of momentary feeling, believing, on
the report of a slanderer, Mephibosheth to be among the number, he pronounced a
rash and unrighteous judgment by which a great injury was inflicted on the
character and interests of a devoted friend” (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown
Bible Commentary).
The
property
In
ordinary circumstances David would have been able to see through the foolishness
of Ziba’s words, but because his mind was full of the evil events of the day,
he fell for the lies that were told him. He did not realise that Ziba was using
his misfortune to gain someone else’s riches. Ziba was no friend of David or
Mephibosheth but was a deceiver that desired to get his greedy hands on great
wealth by any means. David gave him everything that belonged to Mephibosheth
because he believed him to be a loyal and trustworthy servant. David was no
doubt hurt by the news that Jonathan’s son was rebelling against him and
trying to take the throne. John Wesley states that David gave “a
rash sentence” and was “unrighteous to condemn a man unheard, upon the
single testimony of his accuser, and servant.” “One
witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any
sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three
witnesses, shall the matter be established” (Deuteronomy 19:15).
The
pretence
Ziba’s
final words in our text sound truly humble as he showers David with hypocritical
respect and flattery. If Ziba was really a loyal servant of David would he not
have feared for his life and followed him? In fact he had no fear about going to
Jerusalem until David returned to take back the throne (2 Samuel 19:17).
Conclusion
© 5/7/2010