2 Samuel 19:29

And the king said unto him, why speakest thou any more of thy matters?.... Of his father's family, and the injuries done by them to David, and of the benefits and favours which he had received from

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? No JFB commentary on these verses.

Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? For as Ziba was present, so doubtless he was not silent, but said and did what he could to make good his former charge; which must needs occasion many words before the king. And the king was not now at leisure for long debates, and therefore makes an end of the matter. I have said, to wit, within myself; I have considered the matter as far as now I can, and upon the whole am come to this resolution, wherein I expect that thou and he do both acquiesce. Or, I do now say; I pronounce this sentence in the cause. Thou and Ziba divide the land: the meaning is either, 1. The land shall be divided between thee and him, as it was by my first order, ; he and his sons managing it, and supporting themselves out of it, as they did before, and giving the rest of the profits thereof to thee. And to this the following words may well enough be accommodated, Yea, let him take all, to wit, to his own sole use. Or, 2. The right and profits of the land shall be equally divided between you. It seems a very rash and harsh sentence, and very unbecoming David’ s wisdom, and justice, and gratitude to Jonathan; and Ziba seems to have deserved death for falsely accusing his master of treason, rather than a recompence. But the whole transaction of the matter is not here set down. Possibly Ziba might bring plausible pretences to justify his accusation; and it might be pretended that Mephibosheth neglected the trimming and dressing himself only in policy, and that for a season, till David and his family had destroyed one another by their civil wars, and given him a fit opportunity to take the crown. So that David might really be at a loss what to determine. And Ziba had given proof of his affections to David by an act of kindness which could not be without hazard to himself, ,2, which Mephibosheth had not done. And possibly this was only a present sentence, and David resolved to examine things more thoroughly when he had more leisure, and then to make a more full and final determination of the business; which also he might do, though it be not here recorded; for we must not think that nothing was done and said about such things but what is mentioned in Scripture. Besides, Ziba being a powerful man, and the crown not yet firmly fixed upon the king’ s head, David might think fit to suspend his final sentence till a more convenient season, and not now to provoke him too much by taking away all his estate from him at once, but to proceed against him by degrees. Howsoever, this is certain, we cannot pass a right judgment upon this action of David’ s, unless we understood all the circumstances of it, which we cannot pretend to do.

2 Samuel 19:29 And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land.Ver. 29. I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land.] Condemnatur hic Mephiboshethus ex asse. David now, in haste, and full of business, passeth an unjust sentence; intending, perhaps, to be better informed hereafter: and not willing at present to displease Ziba, by taking back from him all that he had given him. The Hebrews say, that because David broke his oath made to Jonathan, and divided Mephibosheth’ s land, that afterward his kingdom was divided in Rehoboam’ a days. Abulensis thinketh that David made Mephibosheth amends for this wrong some other way.

(29) Divide the land.—When Ziba came to David with his false report about Mephibosheth, David had instantly transferred to him all his master’s possessions (2 Samuel 16:4); he now saw the injustice of his hasty action, and ought at least to have reversed it, if not to have punished Ziba besides. Either, however, because he had still some doubt of the real merits of the case, or more probably because he was unwilling for political reasons to offend Ziba, he resorts to that halfway and compromise course which was both weak and unjust. The circumstances of the case, the continued mourning of Mephibosheth, the silence of Ziba, concur with the physical infirmity of Mephibosheth to show the truth of his story.

Verse 29. I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land.] At first, David gave the land of Saul to Mephibosheth; and Ziba, his sons, and his servants, were to work that land; and to Mephibosheth, as the lord, he was to give the half of the produce. Ziba met David in his distress with provisions, and calumniated Mephibosheth: David, too slightly trusting to his misrepresentation, and supposing that Mephibosheth was actually such a traitor as Ziba represented him, made him on the spot a grant of his master's land. Now he finds that he has acted too rashly, and therefore confirms the former grant; i.e. that Ziba should cultivate the ground, and still continue to give to Mephibosheth, as the lord, the half of the produce. This was merely placing things in statu quo, and utterly annulling the gift that he had made to Ziba. But why did he leave this treacherous man any thing? Answer, 1. He was one of the domestics of Saul, and David wished to show kindness to that house. 2. He had supplied him with the necessaries of life when he was in the greatest distress; and he thinks proper to continue him in his old office, by way of remuneration. But it was certainly too great a compensation for his services, however then important, when all the circumstances are considered.

29. Thou and Ziba divide the land] This is usually supposed to be a compromise between the two claimants, either because David suspected the truth of Mephibosheth’s story, or because he was unwilling to alienate Ziba, and possibly a considerable party of Benjamites, by entirely revoking the grant to him (ch. 2 Samuel 16:4). But it may be a confirmation of the original arrangement by which Ziba was to be Mephibosheth’s tenant, and as he certainly did not cultivate the land for nothing, might be said to share it with him.

Unable to get to the bottom of the story, and perhaps unwilling to make an enemy of Ziba, David compromised the matter by dividing the land, thus partially revoking his hasty sentence 2 Samuel 16:4.

29. Why speakest thou any more of thy matters — David evidently felt that Mephibosheth had been injured, and yet it is possible he may have had some suspicion.