shall eat bread: The eating at courts was of two kinds; the one public and ceremonious, the other private. Sir John Chardin understands those passages which speak of a right to eat at the royal table, as pointing out a right to a seat there, when the repast was public and solemn.
So in a manuscript Note on 1 Kings 2:7, he tells us that it was to be understood of the majilis:, (the term for an assembly of lords, or a public feast), and not of the daily and ordinary repast. Hence, though Mephibosheth was to eat at all public times at the king's table, yet he would want the produce of his lands for food at other times, which it was necessary for Ziba to understand.