2 Samuel 16:1

1 When David had gone a little beyond the summit of the Mount of Olives, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, was waiting there for him. He had two donkeys loaded with 200 loaves of bread, 100 clusters of raisins, 100 bunches of summer fruit, and a wineskin full of wine.

2 Samuel 16:1 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 16:1

And when David was a little past the top [of the hill]
Of the mount of Olives, the ascent of which he is said to go up by, and to come to the top of it, ( 2 Samuel 15:30 2 Samuel 15:32 ) ;

behold, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, met him;
of whom see ( 2 Samuel 9:2 ) ;

with a couple of asses saddled:
and so fit to ride on, but for the present he used them to another purpose:

and upon them two hundred [loaves] of bread;
an hundred on each ass very probably:

and an hundred bunches of raisins;
or dried grapes, as the Targum: and an hundred of summer fruits:
not in number, but in weight, as apples, pears, plums, apricots so the Targum, an hundred pounds of figs: and a bottle of wine:
a cask or flagon of wine; for a bottle, such as is in use with us, would have signified nothing in such a company.

2 Samuel 16:1 In-Context

1 When David had gone a little beyond the summit of the Mount of Olives, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, was waiting there for him. He had two donkeys loaded with 200 loaves of bread, 100 clusters of raisins, 100 bunches of summer fruit, and a wineskin full of wine.

2 “What are these for?” the king asked Ziba. Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for the king’s people to ride on, and the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat. The wine is for those who become exhausted in the wilderness.”

3 “And where is Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson?” the king asked him. “He stayed in Jerusalem,” Ziba replied. “He said, ‘Today I will get back the kingdom of my grandfather Saul.’”

4 “In that case,” the king told Ziba, “I give you everything Mephibosheth owns.” “I bow before you,” Ziba replied. “May I always be pleasing to you, my lord the king.”

5 As King David came to Bahurim, a man came out of the village cursing them. It was Shimei son of Gera, from the same clan as Saul’s family.

Footnotes

• [a]. Mephibosheth is another name for Merib-baal.