ZIBA zī bə (צִיבָא׃֙; LXX, Σειβα). Ziba was a servant of Saul whose life and activities are known in the Biblical record only during the reign of David. Knowledge of Ziba is limited to 2 Samuel 9, 16 and 19.

Ziba in response to the king’s request introduced Mephibosheth, a crippled son of Jonathan, to David. By royal provision the land that formerly belonged to King Saul was given to Mephibosheth and placed under the management of Ziba. Even though Mephibosheth received personal provisions from the king’s table, the produce of the land was allotted to Mephibosheth’s family. This may have been an estate of considerable size, since Ziba employed his fifteen sons and twenty servants to cultivate the land (2 Sam 9:2-12).

When David fled during Absalom’s rebellion, Ziba brought supplies to David and reported falsely that Mephibosheth was disloyal (2 Sam 16:1-4). David responded by assigning Mephibosheth’s estate to Ziba. Subsequently when David met Mephibosheth it became apparent that Ziba had betrayed his master. By royal decree half of the estate was returned to Mephibosheth while Ziba retained the remainder.