Lives of Scripture

Barzillai, a wealthy Gileadite from Rogelim, appears at one of the lowest points of David's reign, when David fled Jerusalem barefoot and weeping ahead of his own son Absalom's rebellion (2 Samuel 15:30). Along with two other men, Barzillai brought beds, basins, pottery, and abundant food -- wheat, barley, honey, curds, sheep, and cheese -- to David and his exhausted, hungry followers in the wilderness, reasoning simply that the people with David would be famished after their flight (17:27-29). After Absalom's defeat, as David returned to cross the Jordan back toward Jerusalem, Barzillai came to escort him across (19:31). David, in gratitude, invited Barzillai to come live with him in Jerusalem, promising to provide for him there (19:32-33). Barzillai declined with striking humility, noting he was eighty years old, could no longer taste food or hear the voices of singers, and would only be a burden to the king; he asked instead that his son Chimham receive whatever favor David wished to extend, and David granted it (19:34-40). David did not forget this loyalty: on his deathbed, he specifically instructed Solomon to show continued kindness to Barzillai's sons, letting them eat at the king's table, because of how Barzillai had supported David when he fled from Absalom (1 Kings 2:7). Barzillai's brief story is a clear picture of loyalty and generosity offered freely at a king's most vulnerable moment, without any expectation of personal reward.