2 Samuel 16:3

3 And the king said, Where is the son of thy lord? And Ziba answered to the king, He dwelled [still] in Jerusalem, and said, Today the Lord of the house of Israel shall restore to me the realm of my father. (And the king said, Where is the grandson of thy lord? And Ziba answered to the king, He remaineth in Jerusalem, and said, Today the house of Israel shall restore my grandfather's kingdom to me.)

2 Samuel 16:3 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 16:3

And the king said, and where [is] thy master's son?
&c.] The son of Saul, who was Ziba's master, meaning Mephibosheth:

and Ziba said unto the king, behold, he abideth at Jerusalem;
as there was reason for it, since he was lame of both his feet, ( 2 Samuel 9:13 ) , though he could have rode upon an ass, and followed the king, as he proposed to do; but his servant deceived him, and carried off the asses to serve a purpose for himself, see ( 2 Samuel 19:26 ) ;

for he said, today shall the house of Israel restore unto me the
kingdom of my father;
his father Saul; which was far from his thoughts; and a most wicked suggestion of his servant to blacken his character, and get his estate from him; nor was there the least probability of the kingdom coming to him, but all the reverse; for let it go how it would with David, Absalom, and not Mephibosheth, stood fair for the kingdom.

2 Samuel 16:3 In-Context

1 And when David had passed a little (by) the top of the hill, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, appeared into his coming, with twain asses, that were charged with two hundred loaves, and with an hundred bundles of dried grapes, and with an hundred gobbets/an hundred pieces of pressed figs, and with two vessels of wine. (And after David had just left the hilltop, Mephibosheth's servant Ziba appeared before him, with two donkeys that were loaded with two hundred loaves, a hundred bundles of dried grapes, a hundred pieces of pressed figs, and two vessels of wine.)

2 And the king said to Ziba, What will these things to themselves? And Ziba answered, My lord the king, the asses be to the menials of the king, that they sit on them; and the loaves and the pressed figs be to thy children to eat; forsooth the wine is, that if any man fail in desert, he (may) drink. (And the king said to Ziba, What doest thou with these things? And Ziba answered, My lord the king, the donkeys be for the king's menials to sit on; and the loaves and the pressed figs be for thy young men to eat; and the wine, so that if any man feel faint in the wilderness, he hath something to drink.)

3 And the king said, Where is the son of thy lord? And Ziba answered to the king, He dwelled [still] in Jerusalem, and said, Today the Lord of the house of Israel shall restore to me the realm of my father. (And the king said, Where is the grandson of thy lord? And Ziba answered to the king, He remaineth in Jerusalem, and said, Today the house of Israel shall restore my grandfather's kingdom to me.)

4 And the king said to Ziba, All things that were of Mephibosheth be thine. And Ziba said, I pray, find I grace before thee, my lord the king. (And the king said to Ziba, All the things that were Mephibosheth's now be thine. And Ziba said, I pray thee, that I may find favour before thee, my lord the king.)

5 Therefore king David came to Bahurim, and lo! a man of the family of the house of Saul, Shimei by name, [the] son of Gera, went out from thence; he went forth going out, and cursed (and he cursed David as he went forth).