Ziba

AI summary: Ziba matters because the cross references present him as a man whose usefulness and opportunism are difficult to separate. He appears first as a source of access to Mephibosheth and then as the accuser who influences David during the chaos of Absalom's rebellion. Whether viewed as shrewd survivor or manipulative servant, he helps create one of the more morally ambiguous property disputes in the David story. Taken together, the material presents Ziba as a secondary court figure whose words materially affect the fate of Saul's remaining household.¹

Post; statue, “a servant of the house of Saul” (2 Sam. 9:2), who informed David that Mephibosheth, a son of Jonathan, was alive. He afterwards dealt treacherously toward Mephibosheth, whom he slanderously misrepresented to David. ³