Said: once again the verb said may be more naturally rendered “asked.”

Ziba’s response is introduced with the Hebrew particle that is often translated “behold” (King James Version, New American Standard Bible). Neither Revised Standard Version nor Good News Translation translate that particle here. But compare Fox, who says “Here, he is at the house of Makhir.”

In the house of Machir: it is generally assumed that Machir was a person who was loyal to Saul, and that Mephibosheth lived with him either because he was afraid of David or because he had no other place to go. In any case the expression He is in the house of Machir may be translated as “He is living with Machir” or “He is staying at Machir’s place.” On Machir see also 17.27.

Ziba’s response to David is made up of several elements that may need to be restructured in some languages. There is the name of the person to whom the house belonged, a reference to his lineage, and the name of the town in which the house was located. In some cases it will be more natural for the name of the town to come first as, for example, in the following model: “He is in the town of Lodebar, in the house of Machir, who is the son of Ammiel.” Others may structure these elements quite differently: “He is living with the son of Ammiel whose name is Machir. His house is in the town of Lodebar.” Naturalness in the receptor language should determine the order of these elements.

Lo-debar was a non-Israelite city-state located north of the Yarmuk River on the east of the Jordan River. Translators may need to add a classifier term to indicate that this is a city. The same city is mentioned again in 2 Sam 17.27 and Amos 6.13 (where the spelling in Hebrew is slightly different). The name means “nothing” or “no palaver.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .