Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 19:31-39
David had already graced the triumphs of his restoration with the generous remission of the injuries that had been done to him; we have him here gracing them with a no less generous reward of the kindnesses that had been shown to him. Barzillai, the Gileadite, who had a noble seat at Rogelim, not far from Mahanaim, was the man who, of all the nobility and gentry of that country, had been most kind to David in his distress. If Absalom had prevailed, it is likely he would have suffered for his loyalty; but now he and his shall be no losers by it. Here is,
I. Barzillai's great respect to David, not only as a good man, but as his righteous sovereign: He provided him with much sustenance, for him…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 19:31
Barzillai the Gileadite--The rank, great age, and chivalrous devotion of this Gileadite chief wins our respect. His declining to go to court, his recommendation of his son, his convoy across the Jordan, and his parting scene with the king, are interesting incidents. What mark of royal favor was bestowed on Chimham has not been recorded; but it is probable that David gave a great part of his personal patrimony in Beth-lehem to Chimham and his heirs in perpetuity (Jer 41:17).
Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 19:32
Barzillai was a very aged man - This venerable person had given full proof of his attachment to David by the supplies he had given him when he lay at Mahanaim, where his case was all but desperate; the sincerity of his congratulations now none can suspect. David's offer to him was at once noble and liberal: he wished to compensate such a man, and he wished to have at hand such a friend.
John Gill on 2 Samuel 19:32
Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old,.... 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 Psalm 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.
