Phone Call Bible Class Notes FOR THE LESSON ON SUNDAY, JULY 1, 2018 (6/29/2018) 2 Samuel 9: NOTES (based on NASB) “Valued” 2 Samuel 9:1-13 (BACKGROUND TEXT: 2 Samuel 8:1-10:19) OUTLINE and BACKGROUND: • Background and Outline for 2 Samuel o The Books of 1 and 2 Samuel center primarily around David. ▪ The ancient Hebrew text combines 1 and 2 Samuel into one book. ▪ It was divided into two books by the Septuagint (Greek translation) and the Vulgate (Latin translation) and by all following English translations. ▪ The books seemed to have been compiled from source records, maybe from the annals of King David, the records of Samuel the seer, of Nathan the prophet, and of Gad the seer. There is no way of knowing who the author/editor of the books of Samuel may have been. o 1 Samuel recounts the life of Samuel, the great prophet and last of the judges. ▪ It was he who anointed both Saul and David as kings. ▪ When Saul became reprobate, Samuel anointed David. ▪ Afterward Saul pursued David for several years trying to kill him, but God continually delivered David from his hand. ▪ Finally, the end of the book records the death of Saul in battle. o 2 Samuel can roughly be divided into five sections: ▪ David Establishes his Kingdom (1-5) ▪ David Extends his Kingdom (6-9) ▪ David Commits Adultery and Murder (10-12) ▪ David Encounters Terrible Consequences (13-20) ▪ David’s Closing Years as King (21-24) • The immediate context of Today’s Lesson o After the death of Saul, David and his army went to Hebron and he was crowned king over the tribe of Judah and eventually over all Israel and becomes mighty in his military exploits. o David proposes to build a temple but is told by Nathan that God does not want him to do it, but he will be blessed enormously as king for his faithfulness to the Lord. o In today’s lesson, we learn the following: David determined to keep his promise to his friend Jonathan and show kindness to his family. He demonstrated profound mercy for his day in showing such kindness to Jonathan’s crippled grandson, Mephibosheth. We learn the love of God for those who are weakest among us, and we learn the great importance of showing kindness and compassion toward those who are weak. Passage leading up to today’s verses: • (8:1-18) – David continued to expand his kingdom by military conquest with great success. He defeated the Philistines, the Moabites, and the Aramaeans and brought back great wealth in precious metals. SEARCHED (9:1-5) Verse 1: • Anyone left of the house of Saul – Anyone remaining from the family of Saul. • Show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake – David had promised Jonathan he would be kind to his descendants. (1 Sam. 20:12-17, 42) Verse 2: • Ziba – Like the “head butler” he was the primary servant in charge of all of Saul’s estate. Verse 3: • Son of Jonathan – Normally, Mephibosheth would have been next in line to become king in the dynasty of Saul, since Jonathan was the oldest son of Saul. • Crippled in both feet – Mephibosheth was disqualified for contending for kingship since he was lame. Verse 4: • Makir the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar – Makir was evidently a wealthy man who was kind and compassionate in providing for Mephibosheth. Makir also provided for David in his flight from Absalom many years later (2 Sam. 17:27). Verse 5: • Lo-debar – The word “Lo-debar” (in verses 4 and 5) literally means “nothing”. It was a disparaging term that was evidently used to describe a village for which little respect was given. It was deep in the land of Gilead on the other side of the Jordan. Mephibosheth may have been taken there for hiding when Ish-bosheth was crowned king after the death of Saul. EXTENDED (9:6-8) Verse 6: • Mephibosheth – His name was originally “Merib-baal” according to 1 Chron. 8:34, which means “opponent of Baal”, but the author of Samuel seems to have changed it to Mephibosheth, which means “from the mouth of the shameful thing.” 2 Samuel 4:4 describes how he became crippled. When the news of Saul and Jonathan’s death came to Saul’s house, the nurse picked up 5-year- old Mephibosheth and started to run with him, but dropped him, and he became lame in both feet. • Fell on his face and prostrated himself – Mephibosheth probably believed that David was about to enact some form of vengeance on him, since he was the last heir of Saul. Bowing and paying homage to David may have been extremely difficult for Mephibosheth. Verse 7: • Do not fear – David assured him that his intentions were to show kindness and compassion. • Restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul – Evidently the land had been acquired by David, or else Ziba had taken control of it and began using it for his own purposes. • You shall eat at my table regularly – A great honor for Mephibosheth, but also an opportunity for David to look after him. Verse 8: • A dead dog like me – An expression of great self-deprecation. Wild dogs were despicable nuisances and any dead one, seen on occasion, was particularly nasty. PLANNED (9:9-13) Verse 9: • I have given to your master’s grandson – This was a formal decree by which Mephibosheth was reinstated as true heir and lord over what was formerly the house of Saul. Ziba would lie to David at a later time regarding Mephibosheth and would try to take back the property (16:1-4), but David would afterward correct the error (19:16-30) Verse 10: • Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants – It is possible that Ziba was working the land and paying the proceeds to David. Either way, David was reassigning all of the proceeds to Mephibosheth, and Ziba and all his family and servants were now to serve Mephibosheth. Verse 11: • Ate at David’s table as one of the king’s sons – Mephibosheth was adopted by David for practical purposes, and treated as one of the king’s sons. Verse 12: • A young son whose name was Mica – Mica was also listed to have descendants in 1 Chron. 8:35-39. Verse 13: • He was lame in both feet – The repetition of this fact is stressing how amazing it was that David was showing such kindness to one who would normally be treated with such disrespect and pity at that time in history. Further passages of the background text: • (10:1-19) – David moves to show kindness to Hanun, the new king of the Ammonites. But when a delegation arrived in Ammon, Hanun mistreated them and provoked a war. The Ammonites were seriously defeated by David’s army. .