2 Samuel 9:8
 2 Samuel 9:8 
New International Version (©2011)
Mephibosheth bowed down and said, "What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?"

New Living Translation (©2007)
Mephibosheth bowed respectfully and exclaimed, "Who is your servant, that you should show such kindness to a dead dog like me?"

English Standard Version (©2001)
And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Again he prostrated himself and said, "What is your servant, that you should regard a dead dog like me?"

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
Mephibosheth bowed down and said, "What is your servant that you take an interest in a dead dog like me?"

International Standard Version (©2012)
Mephibosheth bowed low again and asked, "Who am I, your servant, that you would pay attention to a dead dog like me?"

NET Bible (©2006)
Then Mephibosheth bowed and said, "Of what importance am I, your servant, that you show regard for a dead dog like me?"

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Mephibosheth bowed down [again] and answered, "Who am I that you would look at a dead dog like me?"

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
And he bowed himself, and said, What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I am?

American King James Version
And he bowed himself, and said, What is your servant, that you should look on such a dead dog as I am?

American Standard Version
And he did obeisance, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?

Douay-Rheims Bible
He bowed down to him, and said: Who am I thy servant, that thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am?

Darby Bible Translation
And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?

English Revised Version
And he did obeisance, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?

Webster's Bible Translation
And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am?

World English Bible
He did obeisance, and said, "What is your servant, that you should look on such a dead dog as I am?"

Young's Literal Translation
And he boweth himself, and saith, 'What is thy servant, that thou hast turned unto the dead dog -- such as I?'

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

9:1-8 Amidst numerous affairs we are apt to forget the gratitude we owe, and the engagements we are under, not only to our friends, but to God himself. Yet persons of real godliness will have no rest till they have discharged them. And the most proper objects of kindness and charity, frequently will not be found without inquiry. Jonathan was David's sworn friend, therefore he shows kindness to his son Mephibosheth. God is faithful to us; let us not be unfaithful to one another. If Providence has raised us, and our friends and their families are brought low, we must look upon that as giving us the fairer opportunity of being kind to them.


Pulpit Commentary

Verse 8. - A dead dog. At first sight this extreme self-humiliation makes us look on Mephibosheth as a poor creature, whom early misfortune and personal deformity had combined to depress But really this is to impose on an Oriental hyperbole a Western exactness of meaning. When in the East your entertainer assures you that everything he has to his last dirhem is yours, he nevertheless expects you to pay twice the value foreverything you consume; but he makes his exaction pleasant by his extreme courtliness. So Ephron offered his cave at Machpelah to Abraham as a free gift, but he took care to obtain for it an exorbitant price (Genesis 23:11, 15). Mephibosheth described himself in terms similar to those used by David of himself to Saul (1 Samuel 24:14); but he meant no more than to express great gratitude, and also to acknowledge the disparity of rank between him and the king.


Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he bowed himself,.... In token of gratitude, and as a sign of humility, and of the sense he had of his unworthiness to enjoy such a favour:

and said, what is thy servant, that thou shouldest look on such a dead dog as I am? one so mean, and base, and worthless; which he might say with respect to the infirmities of his body, the rejection of his family by the Lord, their attainder of high treason for rebellion against David, and the low circumstances he was brought into and now under; though one of the royal family, the son of a prince, and grandson of a king; such was his humility, and the sense he had of his being undeserving of any favour from the king, and says this with admiration and astonishment.


2 Samuel 9:8 Parallel Commentaries

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David and Mephibosheth
7And David said to him, Fear not: for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake, and will restore you all the land of Saul your father; and you shall eat bread at my table continually. 8And he bowed himself, and said, What is your servant, that you should look on such a dead dog as I am? 9Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, I have given to your master's son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house. …

1 Samuel 24:14 "Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Who are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea?
2 Samuel 3:8 Abner was very angry because of what Ish-Bosheth said. So he answered, "Am I a dog's head--on Judah's side? This very day I am loyal to the house of your father Saul and to his family and friends. I haven't handed you over to David. Yet now you accuse me of an offense involving this woman!
2 Samuel 16:9 Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head."
2 Samuel 24:14 David said to Gad, "I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands."
2 Kings 8:13 Hazael said, "How could your servant, a mere dog, accomplish such a feat?" "The LORD has shown me that you will become king of Aram," answered Elisha.