Bible Strands
2 Samuel 16:2
“Why do you have these?” asked the king. Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride, the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat, and the wine is to refresh those who become exhausted in the wilderness.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — King David asks Ziba what the loaded donkeys, bread, summer fruit, and wine are for while fleeing Jerusalem. Ziba answers by assigning each item to a specific group: the royal household, the young men, and exhausted travelers.
The words — The Hebrew מָה־אֵלֶּה (mah-'elleh) literally translates to "what [are] these," forcing a practical inventory. David’s use of הַמֶּלֶךְ (ha-melekh) for "the king" anchors the question in his official capacity during flight.
The thread — Provision lists recur in 2 Samuel 17:29, where supporters bring food to sustain David’s weary people. Donkeys appear as transport and status markers in Judges 10:4 and Judges 5:10.
Why it lands — The text records a transaction where material goods are explicitly mapped to logistical needs. It requires a reader to track how supplies are allocated and to assess whether the giver’s stated purposes align with the political reality of the moment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for the king’s household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 17:29 honey, curds, sheep, and cheese from the herd for David and his people to eat. For they said, “The people have become hungry, exhausted, and thirsty in the wilderness.”
- Judges 10:4 He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. And they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth-jair.
- Judges 5:10 You who ride white donkeys, who sit on saddle blankets, and you who travel the road, ponder
- Genesis 21:29 and Abimelech asked him, “Why have you set apart these seven ewe lambs?”
- Genesis 33:8 “What do you mean by sending this whole company to meet me?” asked Esau. “To find favor in your sight, my lord,” Jacob answered.
- Judges 8:4 Then Gideon and his three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it, exhausted yet still in pursuit.
- 1 Samuel 14:28 Then one of the soldiers told him, “Your father bound the troops with a solemn oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food today.’ That is why the people are faint.”
- 1 Samuel 25:27 Now let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow you.
- 2 Samuel 15:1 Some time later, Absalom provided for himself a chariot with horses and fifty men to run ahead of him.
- 2 Samuel 15:23 Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly as all the people passed by. And as the king crossed the Kidron Valley, all the people also passed toward the way of the wilderness.