Bible Commentary

2 Samuel 4:4

2 Samuel 4:4

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible · John Gill (1697–1771) · Public Domain

And Jonathan, Saul's son,.... His eldest son, who died at the same time with him:had a son [that was] lame of [his] feet; of both feet, which were broken or bruised by a fall, as later related: andhe was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel: that is, when the tidings of their death came from Jezreel, the place where the battle was fought in which they died, to Gibeah, and the royal palace there; so that he was now twelve years of age:and his nurse took him up and fled; fearing the Philistines would come thither and destroy the family of Saul; and this child being the son of Jonathan, the eldest son of Saul, was by birth heir to the crown, his father and grandfather being both dead, and which might make the nurse the more solicitous to save his life by flight:and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame; in her hurry and fright he dropped out of her arms, and had some bone broken or dislocated, which was never rightly replaced, or had some contusion, of which he was never cured,and his name [was] Mephibosheth, called Meribbaal, 1Ch 8:34; of the change of such names See Gill on "2Sa 2:8".

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