New International Version
2 Samuel 9:8
8Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice 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?
- 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?”
- New Living Translation (NLT)Mephibosheth bowed respectfully and exclaimed, “Who is your servant, that you should show such kindness to a dead dog like me?”
Context of 2 Samuel 9:8
6When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, “Mephibosheth!” “At your service,” he replied. 7“Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.” Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?” 9Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat 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 3:8Abner was very angry because of what Ish-Bosheth said. So he answered, “Am I a dog’s head—on Judah’s side? This very day I am loyal to the house of your father Saul and to his family and friends. I haven’t handed you over to David. Yet now you accuse me of an offense involving this woman!
- 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 24:14“Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Who are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea?
- 1 Samuel 26:20Now do not let my blood fall to the ground far from the presence of the Lord. The king of Israel has come out to look for a flea—as one hunts a partridge in the mountains.”
- Matthew 15:26He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
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
New International Version — © NIV® 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica
Commentaries