Stealing from a Lame Man

Reflections on 2 Samuel 16:1-4
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The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
-- 1 Timothy 6:10

Ziba had managed Saul's estate for years. He managed it after Saul's death, and he continued to manage it when David gave Saul's estate to Saul's grandson Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9:1-12) to keep a promise he had made to Jonathan. Ziba's life was in the estate, and his heart was in it, too. The only problem was that it was not his. In this episode, Ziba revealed himself to be both shrewd and greedy. His greed led him into sin.

SHREWD. If Absalom was able to secure the throne, he would undoubtedly confiscate Saul's property and make it part of his royal estate. Ziba astutely perceived that the best hope for preserving the estate was to gamble that the rebellion would fail, so he cast his lot with David. He quickly gathered donkeys and supplies that would be useful during flight and brought them to David. In this way, he obtained David's favor. Ziba knew that "a gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the great" (Proverbs 18:16).

GREEDY. What Ziba really wanted was to make the estate his own, and he saw his opportunity in the confusion of the moment. In David's hurry to leave Jerusalem, he would not have time to investigate an accusation thoroughly, so Ziba slandered Mephibosheth accusing him of staying in Jerusalem in hope that Saul's kingdom would be given to him (cf. 19:26-27). He guessed correctly. David gave the estate to Ziba without a second witness or thorough investigation as required by Law (Deuteronomy 19:15; see also Proverbs 18:17; 25:2).

It would have been absurd for Mephibosheth, crippled as he was, to expect restoration of the throne to Saul's family, but Ziba's accusation was believable because a pathetic character like Mephibosheth might be expected to entertain such a fantasy. Furthermore, Ziba gambled that, in the confusion of Absalom taking over the city, Mephibosheth would be killed or neglected and left to die. Hopefully, when David finally returned to the city, no one would be able to prove his slander, and the estate would be secured for himself and his children forever.