2 Samuel 9:4

‘ And the king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar.” ’

When David enquired of his whereabouts Ziba informed him that he was under the protection of, and in the house of, Machir, the son of Ammiel (my kinsman is God), in Lo-debar (possibly the Lidebir of Joshua 13:26 RV margin). Machir was a very wealthy man living in Transjordan (probably not far from Mahanaim - 2 Samuel 17:27-29; compare Joshua 13:26), who would later prove his genuine loyalty to David by helping to provision him and his men when David himself was fleeing from Absalom (2 Samuel 17:27-29), an act of generosity and loyalty that could also have landed him in trouble if Absalom had been victorious. But when the news reached his house that Mephibosheth had been summoned into the kings presence he too must have felt some trepidation, both for himself (he would know that he himself could only too easily be accused of harbouring a rival claimant to the throne) and for Mephibosheth. Indeed it is very probable that the depth of his love and admiration for David was increased by this incident, even though David would have been totally unaware that he was casting his bread upon the waters which would in future return manifold (Ecclesiastes 11:1).