Mephibosheth
Also called Merib-baal
Mentioned 1199–1017 BC traditional (Jones)
The son of Jonathan, and grandson of Saul (2 Sam. 4:4). He was but five years old when his father and grandfather fell on Mount Gilboa.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897).
- Mentioned in the era of the Judges, 1450–1051 BC.
- Named in the same verses as Jonathan, Ziba, David, Micah, and Saul.
Computed from the data. Years are traditional (Jones).
Family
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Places
Places named in the same verses as Mephibosheth, with the number of verses they share; a larger marker means more. Locations follow OpenBible.info, which grades each identification.
Timeline
The strip runs from Creation to AD 100; the shaded part, 1245–971 BC, is drawn below at a larger scale around these mentions, with 4 contemporaries. Years are traditional (Jones), shown as recorded, not as settled fact.
Mentions
Begat counts Mephibosheth in 14 tagged verses across 2 books.
Select a book to read its verses.
The name in each translation
| Text | Occurrences of each name |
|---|---|
| BSB | Mephibosheth 16Merib-baal 3 |
| KJV | Mephibosheth 15Merib-baal 0 |
| ASV | Mephibosheth 15Merib-baal 4 |
Whole-word, case-sensitive count of the name string (regex \bName\b, so possessives like "Abraham's" count) across the whole Bible text of each translation; this counts the string, not the person, so other people who share the name are included and pronoun references are not. How Begat counts
Every verse
All 14 tagged verses, by book, in canonical order. The Berean Standard Bible is shown; switch to the King James or American Standard Version.
2 Samuel12 verses
- 4:4
And Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to escape, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.
- 9:6
And when Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he fell facedown in reverence. Then David said, “Mephibosheth!” “I am your servant,” he replied.
- 9:10
You and your sons and servants are to work the ground for him and bring in the harvest, so that your master’s grandson may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, is always to eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
- 9:11
And Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do all that my lord the king has commanded.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s own sons.
- 9:12
And Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica, and all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth.
- 9:13
So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table, and he was lame in both feet.
- 16:1
When David had gone a little beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth was there to meet him. He had a pair of saddled donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred clusters of raisins, a hundred summer fruits, and a skin of wine.
- 16:4
So the king said to Ziba, “All that belongs to Mephibosheth is now yours!” “I humbly bow before you,” said Ziba. “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king!”
- 19:24
Then Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, went down to meet the king. He had not cared for his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king had left until the day he returned safely.
- 19:25
And he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, who asked him, “Mephibosheth, why did you not go with me?”
- 19:30
And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Instead, since my lord the king has safely come to his own house, let Ziba take it all!”
- 21:7
Now the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD between David and Jonathan son of Saul.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
The full entry, public domain, as printed in 1897.
The son of Jonathan, and grandson of Saul (2 Sam. 4:4). He was but five years old when his father and grandfather fell on Mount Gilboa. The child’s nurse hearing of this calamity, fled with him from Gibeah, the royal residence, and stumbling in her haste, the child was thrown to the ground and maimed in both his feet, and ever after was unable to walk (19:26). He was carried to the land of Gilead, where he found a refuge in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar, by whom he was brought up.
Some years after this, when David had subdued all the adversaries of Israel, he began to think of the family of Jonathan, and discovered that Mephibosheth was residing in the house of Machir. Thither he sent royal messengers, and brought him and his infant son to Jerusalem, where he ever afterwards resided (2 Sam. 9).
When David was a fugitive, according to the story of Ziba (2 Sam. 16:1-4) Mephibosheth proved unfaithful to him, and was consequently deprived of half of his estates; but according to his own story, however (19:24-30), he had remained loyal to his friend. After this incident he is only mentioned as having been protected by David against the vengeance the Gibeonites were permitted to execute on the house of Saul (21:7). He is also called Merib-baal (1 Chr. 8:34; 9:40).