Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what seems good to thee.
Barzillai has crossed the Jordan with the returning king, who offered him a place at the royal table in Jerusalem. The old man turns the offer down and asks to die near his parents' grave, but he sends Chimham over in his place.
David's offer was generous, and Barzillai had earned it many times over. His refusal exposes what had driven him all along — not the hope of a return, but care for a king in trouble.
Barzillai raises an objection to this offer. He had not worked with any thought of reward, richly though he deserved it. He had thought of the king in his rejection, and had done what he could to help him. He had come, too, to honour David as he returned to his capital. But court life did not suit a man like him. His age would not let him enjoy the pleasures of the king's house... Most people act very differently. They make an excuse to avoid the service, but grab eagerly at the reward! Barzillai was not like this; he thought of the king and acted at once.
Commentators read his request as sound judgement about what an eighty-year-old needs.
But Barzillai wisely declines this. He was eighty years old. At that age there was no good reason to leave his familiar home and seek the pleasures of royal living. He would cross the Jordan to enjoy the king's company for this short time, but he wanted to return to his own home.
The verse names his own town and his parents' grave. The reason behind that request is plain.
Barzillai wanted to stay and die among his own people. Old age, with death not far off, effectively blocked the king's wish.
What Barzillai will not take for himself, he asks for another. He names no terms and sets no price.
He would return home himself. But he offers his son Chimham to go with the king: "do for him whatever seems good to you." And the king answered, "Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do for him whatever seems good to you."
Commentators differ on who Chimham was. One calls him Barzillai's son; another calls him his servant, and looks at what the move would mean for the young man.
He asks that the king's kindness go to his servant Chimham instead. The younger man would no doubt have opportunity of advancement when brought to the king's court. But David answers that he would do for Chimham whatever Barzillai desired, and anything more that he might ask.
One writer traces the young man's name back to its Hebrew root.
The name Chimham means "Great Desire", "Longing". It comes from a Hebrew root meaning "to long for" anything; it occurs only once in the Bible, in Psalm 63:1 — "my flesh longs for you", which the ESV renders "my flesh faints for you"... And so it came about that although Barzillai himself could not go to Jerusalem with David, his "Longing" did go over, and lived there with the king.
Barzillai never enjoyed the king's table himself. His sons did — and the arrangement outlived him by decades.
He rewards that devoted old man far beyond his desires in the person of his sons. At first the offer covered Chimham alone. Now all the sons of Barzillai have a right at the king's table in return for the faithfulness of their father. They enjoyed the glory of the kingdom in a particular position of honour and intimacy. Let us be mindful of this in our families. The devotion of parents to Christ is rewarded in their children.
Barzillai asked only for a grave at home. He got a lasting memorial in the king's own birthplace.
For not only did David give Chimham a place before him, but he assigned him a portion in the city of the king's birth. In the city of his father's house Chimham owned a possession. Barzillai was of the tribe of Gad... but Chimham from then on had a portion in Judah... The kingdom of Judah lasted until Babylon carried the people away. All that time, Chimham's portion by Bethlehem stood as a lasting witness to Barzillai's faithfulness, and to David's acknowledgment of it.
- Motive — Barzillai served a rejected king with no thought of reward. So refusing a reward cost him no struggle.
- Limit — At eighty he knew what he could no longer enjoy. He asked only to die at home, among his own people, near his parents' grave.
- Substitute — What he would not take for himself he handed to Chimham. He left the terms to the king.
- Longing — Chimham's name means "longing". Barzillai stayed home, but his longing crossed the Jordan and lived beside the king.
- Reward — David gave far more than Barzillai asked. All his sons sat at the king's table, and land by Bethlehem outlasted him.
And the king said, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which seems good to thee; and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee.
David's reply at the Jordan closes an exchange with Barzillai, an eighty-year-old man who had fed the king while he was driven from his throne. It asks how a king repays love shown to him in his rejection, and why the reward goes to a younger man.
Barzillai asked only that David treat Chimham as he thought fit. One writer notes that David gave the old man's own words back to him enlarged, and added something Barzillai had not asked for.
Who could refuse such a touching request? "Do for him what seems good to you" had been Barzillai's request. "I will do for him whatever seems good to you" was David's promise, reaching beyond the modest request of his servant. And more than this, he told him he had gained the king's ear. What a place was this to occupy! Honour, wealth, rank, are nothing compared with this. To be with the king was David's wish for him, to have the king's ear was that of which David now assured him.
David first made this offer to Barzillai, who turned it down. He refused because he had never served for payment.
In contrast to Mephibosheth, the offer of earthly blessings puts Barzillai to the test. He was very rich, but very different from the young man whom "Jesus loved." He had placed his fortune at the king's disposal during his stay at Mahanaim. His great age had not hindered him from giving himself, body and goods, in service to David... But Barzillai had not laboured for a reward, and judging himself unworthy of it, he refuses... Let his son Chimham profit from the fruit of his labour: far from opposing this, Barzillai rejoices in it.
David's answer also settles a practical problem. Barzillai had nothing to gain from palace life. A younger man had everything to gain.
At 80 years old, he had no good reason to leave the home he knew for the pleasures of royal living. He would cross the Jordan to enjoy the king's company for that short time, but he wanted to return to his own home. However, he asks the king to show this kindness to his servant Chimham instead. The younger man would surely have a chance to rise at the king's court.
The promise did not stay at its original size. David later widened it, and one writer draws a lesson from that for families.
He rewards that devoted old man far beyond his desires in the person of his sons. At first only Chimham was involved. Now all the sons of Barzillai have a right at the king's table, in return for their father's faithfulness. They enjoyed the glory of the kingdom in a particular position of honour and intimacy. Let us be mindful of this in our families. The devotion of parents to Christ finds its reward in their children.
David's word to Chimham did not evaporate when the two men died. It left a mark on the map of Judah that lasted for centuries.
For not only did David give Chimham a place before him, but he assigned him a portion in the city of the king's birth. In the city of his father's house Chimham owned a possession (Jer. 41:17). Barzillai was of the tribe of Gad... but Chimham had from then on a portion in Judah... And Chimham's portion by Bethlehem remained a lasting witness of Barzillai's faithfulness, and of David's recognition of it. It stood until the Babylonian captivity ended the kingdom of Judah.
The same writer is careful not to make David flawless. Age limited what he could give Barzillai. An earlier hasty decision had already shown he was only a man. That is where the picture turns to someone greater.
Barzillai's age kept David from doing all he wanted for him. And his hasty action about Mephibosheth tells us we have only a man like ourselves before us. But nothing can stop the Lord Jesus from rewarding as He will all who have followed Him in His rejection. No one will suffer injustice on that day.
- Service first. Barzillai gave the king his wealth, "body and goods," while the king was driven out. He never worked for a reward.
- Reward answered. David gives more than Barzillai asked: a place with the king for Chimham, and the promise that Barzillai had the king's ear.
- Reach widened. It began with one son. It ended with all Barzillai's sons at the king's table — a parent's devotion repaid in the children.
- Record kept. The portion by Bethlehem stood as a lasting witness to one man's faithfulness and one king's memory of it.
- Limit removed. Age and his own mistakes limited what David could repay. Nothing limits Christ, who will reward all who followed Him in His rejection.