or loyalty to any surviving Saulide (cf. vv 1, 3, 7). At the same time, the author may well be attempting to placate the sympathizers of the house of Saul. It is impossible to say whether or not David was guided by any ulterior motives. More than one exegete has argued that David did not summon Mephibosheth to Jerusalem for humanitarian reasons (see Hertzberg, 299) but that the latter was politely interned, somewhat like Shimei in 1 Kgs 2:36. It is not impossible that the final editor was anticipating