2 Samuel 19:37

37 Please let your servant return so that I may die in my own city near the tomb of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham: let him cross over with my lord the king. Do for him what seems good to you."[a]

2 Samuel 19:37 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 19:37

Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again
To his own city, after he is gone ever Jordan, and seen the king a little way on his journey:

that I may die in my own city:
the city of Rogelim, where perhaps he was born, and had lived all his days, and where it is natural for people to desire to die, even in their native place:

[and be buried] by the grave of my father, and of my mother:
or "in" their grave, as Kimchi and Ben Melech, in the sepulchre of his fathers, where men usually choose to be buried:

but behold, thy servant Chimham:
who was his son; and so the Syriac and Arabic versions express it, my son Chimham:

let him go over with my lord the king;
not only over Jordan, but to Jerusalem with him:

and do to him what shall seem good unto thee;
advance him, and put him into any post or office the king should think fit, or bestow a pension upon him, or give him an estate to live upon, or whatever he pleased.

2 Samuel 19:37 In-Context

35 I'm now 80 years old. Can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or drinks? Can I still hear the voice of male and female singers? Why should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?
36 Since your servant is only going with the king a little way across the Jordan, why should the king repay me with such a reward?
37 Please let your servant return so that I may die in my own city near the tomb of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham: let him cross over with my lord the king. Do for him what seems good to you."
38 The king replied, "Chimham will cross over with me, and I will do for him what seems good to you, and whatever you desire from me I will do for you."
39 So all the people crossed the Jordan, and then the king crossed. The king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and Barzillai returned to his home.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Lit what is good in your eyes
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