Lo Debar
“No pasture, or without pasture”
Summary
A town in Gilead, east of the Jordan, where Mephibosheth lived before being brought to David's court.
☩Mephibosheth's Refuge
Lo-debar was a town in Gilead, not far from Mahanaim, where Mephibosheth, the lame son of Jonathan, found refuge in the house of Machir son of Ammiel (2 Samuel 9:4-5). When David sought to show kindness to any remaining member of Saul's house for Jonathan's sake, he learned of Mephibosheth's location in Lo-debar and brought him to Jerusalem to eat at the king's table.
☩Later Significance
During Absalom's rebellion, when David fled across the Jordan, Machir of Lo-debar was among those who brought provisions to the king at Mahanaim (2 Samuel 17:27). This act of loyalty may have been prompted by gratitude for David's kindness to Mephibosheth. The name Lo-debar means 'without pasture,' possibly indicating a barren area, though some connect it with the Debir mentioned in Joshua 13:26.
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Lo-debar," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. V (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Lodebar," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).