Ziba (ציבא) is a man in

2 Samuel The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Book ...

in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

. He was a servant of

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...

, and then later of Saul's grandson,

Mephibosheth Mephibosheth (Biblical Hebrew: , ''Məfīḇōšeṯ'', also called Meribaal, , ''Mərīḇ-Baʻal'') was the son of Jonathan—and, thus, a grandson of Saul—mentioned in the Biblical Books of Samuel and Chronicles. Mephibosheth was five yea ...

. Ziba is mentioned in three places. In 2 Samuel 9,

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

speaks to him and tells him how Mephibosheth will be his master. In 2 Samuel 16, when David flees

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

after

Absalom Absalom ( he, ''ʾAḇšālōm'', "father of peace") was the third son of David, King of Israel with Maacah, daughter of Talmai, King of Geshur. 2 Samuel 14:25 describes him as the handsomest man in the kingdom. Absalom eventually rebelled ag ...

's conspiracy, Ziba comes to David with provisions, and claims that Mephibosheth has broken faith with David. David responds by giving all that belonged to Mephibosheth to Ziba instead. Finally, in 2 Samuel 19, when David returns to Jerusalem, Mephibosheth tells David that Ziba had been lying, David responds by saying "You and Ziba shall divide the land." David seems not to know whom to believe, but most commentators have concluded that Ziba was lying in order to "make himself appear to be the only loyal subject worthy of David's benefactions, and of title to Saul's property."

Robert Alter Robert Bernard Alter (born 1935) is an American professor of Hebrew and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He published his translation of the Hebrew Bible in 2018. Biography Rober ...

, ''The David Story'' (New York: W. W. Norton, 2000), p. 291. Ziba had fifteen sons, and although he was a servant of the house of Saul, he had twenty servants of his own ().

References

{{Authority control People of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy) 11th-century BCE Hebrew people Servants