2 Samuel 16:2

2 The king said to Ziba, "{What do you want to accomplish by bringing these}?" And Ziba said, "The donkeys [are] for the king's household to ride [on]; the bread and the summer fruit [are] for the young men to eat, and the wine [is] for the faint in the wilderness to drink.

2 Samuel 16:2 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 16:2

And the king said unto Ziba, what meanest thou by these?
&c.] Are they to be said, or are they presents?

and Ziba said, the asses [be] for the king's household to ride on;
for himself, his wives, and children, his courtiers, and the principal officers of his house; it being usual in those times and countries for great personages to ride on asses, see ( Judges 5:10 ) ;

and the bread and summer fruits for the young men to eat;
the king's menial servants, his guards and his soldiers:

and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink;
where no water was to be had, that their fainting spirits might be revived, and they be able whether to fight or march.

2 Samuel 16:2 In-Context

1 Now David passed a little from beyond the summit, and suddenly Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth [was] there to meet him [with] a pair of saddled donkeys; on them [were] two hundred loaves of bread and a hundred raisin cakes, [with] a hundred summer fruits and a skin of wine.

2 The king said to Ziba, "{What do you want to accomplish by bringing these}?" And Ziba said, "The donkeys [are] for the king's household to ride [on]; the bread and the summer fruit [are] for the young men to eat, and the wine [is] for the faint in the wilderness to drink.

3 Then the king said, "Where [is] the son of your lord?" And Ziba said to the king, "He [is] living in Jerusalem for he said, 'Today the house of Israel shall return the kingdom of my father to me.'"

4 The king said to Ziba, "Look, all that [was] Mephibosheth's is yours." Ziba said, "I hereby do obeisance; may I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king."

5 King David came up to Bahurim and suddenly a man from there [was] coming out from the family of the house of Saul, and his name [was] Shimei the son of Gera. {He was cursing as he came out}.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "What are these to you?"