2 Samuel 19:32

32 Now Barzillai was very old, being eighty years old; and he had ¹sustained the king while he stayed at Mahanaim, for he was a very great man.

2 Samuel 19:32 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 19:32

Now Barzillai was a very aged man, [even] fourscore years old,
&c.] Which was ten years beyond the common term of man's life, and reckoned a very great age in David's time, and has been ever since, and still is, see ( Psalms 90:10 ) ;

and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim:
had supported him and his family, furnished him with provisions, and all the necessaries of life, during his stay there:

for he [was] a very great man;
in wealth and riches, and was a very liberal man, and a man of great wisdom and good sense; and very probably was a man of great grace, which taught him his duty to his prince, and influenced him to show mercy to him in distress.

2 Samuel 19:32 In-Context

30 Mephibosheth said to the king, "Let him even take it all, since my lord the king has come safely to his own house."

31 Now Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim; and he went on to the Jordan with the king to escort him over the Jordan.

32 Now Barzillai was very old, being eighty years old; and he had sustained the king while he stayed at Mahanaim, for he was a very great man.

33 The king said to Barzillai, "You cross over with me and I will sustain you in Jerusalem with me."

34 But Barzillai said to the king, "How long have I yet to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?

Cross References

• 1. 2 Samuel 17:27-29

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "provided food for"