Nach Yomi A Deeper Look: Shmuel Bet 19: "The benefit of the doubt"

And as David HaMelech regains control over his melucha, slowly he starts to recall who was helpful and who was not.

And so he allows Shimi Ben Gera, although he was not, he gives him a reprieve.

But when it comes to Mephibosheth, whom he meets, uh, he challenges Mephibosheth to see if Mephibosheth, the son of his beloved friend Yehonasan, uh, who did not come out to go, uh, argue with him, was he really indeed disloyal? The question has to be raised, of course, why would he have assumed that he was being disloyal? Why would he have, uh, taken it up? And the answer is he didn't show up to go ahead and go with David into exile.

Well, Me-Mephibosheth came along and he said, "What do you want from me?" He comes, uh, disheveled.

He said, "I was prepared to go.

I asked my-- I'm lame, I couldn't saddle the donkey by myself, and so I asked my, uh, servant to go ahead and do so for me.

And guess what? He turned on me, and it wasn't a possibility.

And, uh, he took the donkeys, and he went instead in my stead." Well, David HaMelech couldn't figure out which way to go, and so he said, [speaking in foreign language].

He decides that you and Sibaa, you guys-- uh, that Sibaa had-- o-o-uh, originally David HaMelech had given everything that Mephibosheth had over to Sibaa, and now he takes, uh, he says, "I can't figure out which way to go." So [speaking in foreign language], you and Sibaa will together go ahead and divide the field.

So you guys have to figure it out among yourselves, uh, what's gonna happen, but that's, that's pretty much where I'm going with this, says David HaMelech.

[speaking in foreign language] So of course, this raises all sorts of exciting debates as to how they are to proceed and in what way they are to proceed.