Topic
Ziba
13 passages cited, from 4 classic reference works.
These works date from 1884–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- 2 Samuel 16:1–4Smith · ISBE · Nave His faithfulness to David
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…
- 2 Samuel 19:17Smith · ISBE · Nave His faithfulness to David
And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went over Jordan before the king.
- 1 Samuel 20:14ISBE
And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not:
- 2 Samuel 9:1ISBE
And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?
- 2 Samuel 9:1–13Nave His fidelity to Mephibosheth
And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake? And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art…
- 2 Samuel 9:2Easton
And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he.
- 2 Samuel 9:10ISBE
Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master’s son may have food to eat: but Mephibosheth thy master’s son shall eat bread alway at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and…
- 2 Samuel 16:4ISBE
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 19:18ISBE
And there went over a ferry boat to carry over the king’s household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was come over Jordan;
- 2 Samuel 19:24–30ISBE
¶ And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace. And it came to pass, when he was come to…
- 2 Samuel 19:26ISBE
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 19:26–29Nave His faithfulness to David
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. And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the king…
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- 2 Samuel 19:29 Smith
In the reference works
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 1 references
Post; statue, “a servant of the house of Saul” (2 Sam. 9:2), who informed David that Mephibosheth, a son of Jonathan, was alive. He afterwards dealt treacherously toward Mephibosheth, whom he slanderously misrepresented to David.
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884) · 3 references
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 14 references
zi'-ba (tsibha', tsibha' (2Sa 16:4 a), meaning unknown; Seiba): A former servant or probably dependent of Saul's house (2Sa 9:1), who was brought to David when the king inquired if there was not a member of Saul's family that he could show kindness to (compare David's oath to Jonathan in 1Sa 20:14 ff). Ziba tells David of Mephibosheth (Meribbaal), Jonathan's son, who is thereupon taken to the king from Lodebar, East of the Jordan, and given Saul's estate. Ziba is also bidden to till the land and bring in its produce, and "it shall be food for thy master's son," according to Massoretic Text in 2Sa 9:10 b; but the Septuagint and Lucian have a better reading, "thy master's household." Mephibosheth himself is to eat at David's table. Ziba is to be assisted in this by his sons and servants; he had 15 sons and 20 servants (9:10).
When David has to leave Jerusalem at the time of Absalom's revolt, Ziba (2Sa 16:1-4) takes two asses for members of the king's household to ride on, and 200 loaves and 100 clusters of raisins as provisions for the youths. When asked where Mephibosheth is, he accuses his master of remaining behind purposely in hopes that his father's kingdom would be restored to him. David then confers upon Ziba his master's estate.
After Absalom's death, David sets out to return to Jerusalem from Mahanaim, East of Jordan. Ziba with his sons and servants, as we are told in a parenthesis in 2Sa 19:17,18 a (Hebrew verses 18,19a), by means of a ferry-boat goes backward and forward over Jordan, and thus enables the king's household to cross. But he has wrongly accused his master of treacherous lukewarmness toward David, for Mephibosheth meets the king on his return journey to Jerusalem (2Sa 19:24-30 (Hebrew verses 25-31)) with signs of grief. When he is asked why he had not joined the king at the time of the latter's flight, he answers that Ziba deceived him, "for thy servant said to him, Saddle me (so read in 2Sa 19:26 (Hebrew text, verse 27) with Septuagint and Syriac for Massoretic Text `I will have saddled me') the ass." He then accuses Ziba of falsehood, and David divides the estate between the two, although Mephibosheth is quite willing that Ziba should retain the whole of it.
David Francis Roberts
In the topical indexes
Nave's Topical Bible (1896) · 4 references, grouped by sub-topic
- → (King Saul' s servant)
- → His fidelity to Mephibosheth 2Sa 9
- → His faithfulness to David 2Sa 16:1-4; 19:17,26-29
Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915); Nave's Topical Bible (1896), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.