2 Samuel 19:36

36 "Your servant would merely cross over the Jordan with the king. Why should the king compensate me with this reward?

2 Samuel 19:36 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 19:36

Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king,
&c.] That is, go a little way after he was over Jordan with him, and then return to his own city:

and why should the king recompense it with such a reward?
the sense is, why should the king recompense so trifling a thing as I have done, and which was but my duty, with such a reward, as to maintain me in so grand a manner at his court?

2 Samuel 19:36 In-Context

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

35 "I am now eighty years old. Can I distinguish between good and bad? Or can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Or can I hear anymore the voice of singing men and women? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?

36 "Your servant would merely cross over the Jordan with the king. Why should the king compensate me with this reward?

37 "Please let your servant return, that I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother. However, here is your servant Chimham, let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what is good in your sight."

38 The king answered, "Chimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him what is good in your sight; and whatever you require of me, I will do for you."