New English Translation
2 Samuel 9:8
8Then Mephibosheth bowed and said, “Of what importance am I, your servant, that you show regard for a dead dog like me?”
2 Samuel 9:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?
- New International Version (NIV)Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”
- English Standard Version (ESV)And he paid homage and said, "What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?"
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then he bowed himself, and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?”
Context of 2 Samuel 9:8
6When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed low with his face toward the ground. David said, “Mephibosheth?” He replied, “Yes, at your service.” 7David said to him, “Don’t be afraid, because I will certainly extend kindness to you for the sake of Jonathan your father. You will be a regular guest at my table.” Then Mephibosheth bowed and said, “Of what importance am I, your servant, that you show regard for a dead dog like me?” 9Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s attendant, and said to him, “Everything that belonged to Saul and to his entire house I hereby give to your master’s grandson. 10You will cultivate the land for him – you and your sons and your servants. You will bring its produce and it will be food for your master’s grandson to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, will be a regular guest at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)
Read all of 2 Samuel 92 Samuel 9:8 word by word
וַיִּשְׁתַּ֕חוּ וַיֹּ֖אמֶר מֶ֣ה עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ כִּ֣י פָנִ֔יתָ אֶל־הַכֶּ֥לֶב הַמֵּ֖ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר כָּמֽוֹנִי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 2 Samuel 9:8
- 2 Samuel 3:8These words of Ish-bosheth really angered Abner and he said, “Am I the head of a dog that belongs to Judah? This very day I am demonstrating loyalty to the house of Saul your father and to his relatives and his friends! I have not betrayed you into the hand of David. Yet you have accused me of sinning with this woman today!
- 2 Samuel 16:9Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!”
- 1 Samuel 24:14Who has the king of Israel come out after? Who is it that you are pursuing? A dead dog? A single flea?
- 1 Samuel 26:20Now don’t let my blood fall to the ground away from the Lord’s presence, for the king of Israel has gone out to look for a flea the way one looks for a partridge in the hill country.”
- Matthew 15:26“It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” he said.
Commentaries on 2 Samuel 9:8
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8Mephibosheth‘s humility of expression, even in the mouth of an Oriental, is painful. It was perhaps in part the result of his helpless lameness, and of the other misfortunes of his life. A dead dog - The wild dogs of the East, which still abound in every town, are the natural objects of contempt and dislike.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8a dead dog like me: Mephibosheth understood that anyone who might claim the throne could be killed as a potential threat to the king.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-122Sa 9:1-12. David Sends for Mephibosheth. 1-7. David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul--On inquiry, Saul's land steward was found, who gave information that there still survived Mephibosheth, a son of Jonathan who was five years old at his father's death, and whom David, then wandering in exile, had never seen. His lameness (2Sa 4:4) had prevented him from taking any part in the public contests of the time. Besides, according to…Read the comment
Topics related to 2 Samuel 9:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 2 Samuel 9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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