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Nach YomiII Samuel · שמואל ב׳Chapter 19

II Samuel 19

שמואל ב׳ פרק י״ט

Section: נביאים · נביאים ראשונים | Book: II Samuel | Chapter: 19 of 24 | Day: 95 of 742

Date: May 17, 2026

קלאוד על הנ״ך

Few chapters in Sefer Shmuel match II Samuel 19 for emotional and political density. It opens with one of the most piercing cries in all of Tanakh — “בני אבשלום בני בני אבשלום, מי יתן מותי אני תחתיך” — as Dovid ascends to the chamber over the gate and weeps for the son who tried to kill him. Radak observes that the eightfold repetition of “בני” corresponds to the eight stages of redemption Dovid wished he could have effected for Avshalom, including, by midrashic reading, rescue from the seven chambers of Gehinnom. Whatever the count signifies, the lament transforms a military triumph into a national mourning. The soldiers slip into the city as if defeated, the victory itself made shameful by the king’s grief, and into this paralyzed silence strides Yoav. His rebuke is one of the harshest speeches ever directed at a Davidic king by a subject: you have shamed the faces of all your servants, you love those who hate you and hate those who love you, “כי לוא אבשלום חי והיום כולנו מתים, כי אז ישר בעיניך.” Metzudat David softens the words slightly as zealous candor born of necessity, but the text itself does not soften them, and the chapter never resolves whether Yoav speaks as Israel’s most clear-eyed servant or as the man who has just defied his king’s explicit order to deal gently with the young man for his sake.

From this opening confrontation the chapter pivots sharply from private grief to public statecraft, and the seam shows. Dovid composes himself, sits in the gate, and the people pass before him; meanwhile the tribes north of Yehuda begin debating whether to bring the king back, recognizing with sober realism that the army that anointed Avshalom now has no king at all. What follows is one of the most calculated political moves of Dovid’s reign: rather than wait for Israel’s invitation, he sends through Tzadok and Evyatar to his own tribe of Yehuda, asking pointedly why his own flesh and bone has been the slowest to act, and offering the captaincy of the host to Amasa — Avshalom’s own general — in place of Yoav. Rashi reads this as Dovid simultaneously securing Yehuda’s loyalty and answering Yoav’s insubordination by demoting him without a confrontation. The political genius is real, but so is the cost: Yoav will not forget, and Amasa will not survive chapter 20.

The crossing at the Jordan becomes a procession of judgments, each one testing what restoration means. Shim’i ben Gera, who hurled stones and curses at the fleeing king in chapter 16, now hurries with a thousand men of Binyamin to throw himself before Dovid, and Avishai — true to character — demands his execution: “should not Shim’i be put to death because he cursed the LORD’s anointed?” Dovid’s reply is a constitutional declaration as much as a personal one: “מה לי ולכם בני צרויה כי תהיו לי היום לשטן? היום יומת איש בישראל? כי הלוא ידעתי כי היום אני מלך על ישראל.” Today is not a day for blood; today the kingship is being restored, and an execution would convert a coronation into a purge. He swears Shim’i shall not die — though every reader of I Kings 2 knows that Dovid will hand the unfinished account to Shlomo on his deathbed, a deferred justice rather than a true pardon. Then Mefivoshet appears, unwashed and unshaven since the day the king fled, and offers his account: my servant Tziva slandered me, I commanded my donkey to be saddled, my lord the king is like a messenger of God. Dovid’s verdict — “you and Tziva shall divide the land” — is one of the most contested rulings in Tanakh. The Gemara in Shabbat 56b famously hears in it a heavenly echo: when Dovid divided the field, a bat kol declared that Rechav’am and Yarov’am would one day divide the kingdom. Some commentators read the split as Solomon-like compromise under epistemic uncertainty; others, with the Gemara, as a moment of failed discernment whose consequences the dynasty will pay for centuries later. Mefivoshet’s reply — let him take it all, for my lord the king has come safely to his house — only deepens the ambiguity about who was telling the truth.

The chapter’s most beautiful interlude breaks this run of fraught judgments. Barzilai HaGil’adi, who had provisioned Dovid in his exile at Machanayim (17:27-29), descends to the Jordan to escort the king across, and Dovid offers him the royal table in Jerusalem. Barzilai’s refusal is a small masterpiece of Hebrew prose on aging: “בן שמונים שנה אנכי היום, האדע בין טוב לרע? אם יטעם עבדך את אשר אכל ואת אשר אשתה, אם אשמע עוד בקול שרים ושרות?” Why should your servant be a burden? Let me return to die in my own city near the grave of my father and mother. Take Kimham, my son, in my place. Radak notes the dignity of the speech — Barzilai will not trade the contemplative end of life for a courtier’s noise — and Chazal cite the passage as a paradigm of how the elderly should reckon honestly with diminishing capacities while still bestowing what they can on the next generation. Dovid kisses him and blesses him, and Kimham crosses over; centuries later Yirmiyahu will mention “גרות כמהם” near Bet Lechem (Yirmiyahu 41:17), a small toponym that preserves this old man’s gift to his son.

The chapter ends, however, with the bitterness that will detonate the next one. The men of Israel arrive at Gilgal to find Yehuda has already escorted the king across without them, and the quarrel breaks out in the open: “מדוע גנבוך אחינו איש יהודה?” Yehuda answers from blood — “קרוב המלך אלי” — and Israel from numbers and merit: “עשר ידות לי במלך וגם בדוד אני ממך.” The narrator’s verdict in the closing verse is decisive and ominous: “ויקש דבר איש יהודה מדבר איש ישראל.” Metzudat David explains that Yehuda’s words were harder, more cutting, more dismissive — and into that crack steps Sheva ben Bichri at the start of chapter 20 with the cry that will one day become Yarov’am’s slogan: “אין לנו חלק בדוד ולא נחלה לנו בבן ישי.” The chapter that began with a father weeping for his son ends with the kingdom of Israel beginning, almost imperceptibly, to tear along the seam between Yehuda and the northern tribes. Restoration, the chapter teaches, is not the undoing of a rebellion; it is the moment when all the wounds the rebellion opened must be bound up at once, and the king who binds them imperfectly leaves the next tear for his successors.

פרק י״ט · Chapter 19

פסוק א׳ · Verse 1

Hebrew:

וַיִּרְגַּ֣ז הַמֶּ֗לֶךְ וַיַּ֛עַל עַל־עֲלִיַּ֥ת הַשַּׁ֖עַר וַיֵּ֑בְךְּ וְכֹ֣ה ׀ אָמַ֣ר בְּלֶכְתּ֗וֹ בְּנִ֤י אַבְשָׁלוֹם֙ בְּנִ֣י בְנִ֣י אַבְשָׁל֔וֹם מִֽי־יִתֵּ֤ן מוּתִי֙ אֲנִ֣י תַחְתֶּ֔יךָ אַבְשָׁל֖וֹם בְּנִ֥י בְנִֽי׃

English:

aIn some versions, this verse is labeled as 18.33, and chapter 19 starts with the next verse. The king was shaken. He went up to the upper chamber of the gateway and wept, moaning these words as he went,bwent Some Septuagint mss. read “wept.” “My son Absalom! O my son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you! O Absalom, my son, my son!”

Dovid retreats to the upper chamber over the gate and pours out the most famous lament of parental grief in Tanakh, repeating 'beni' (my son) eight times and wishing he had died in Avshalom's place. Chazal in Sotah 10b read the eightfold cry as the prayer that drew Avshalom up through the seven levels of Gehinnom into Olam HaBa. Rashi notes the upper chamber over the gate as the place a king ascends to weep apart from his people.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
בְּנִי בְנִי. שְׁמוֹנֶה פְּעָמִים, אָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ (סוטה י ב): שִׁבְעָה דְּאַסְקֵיהּ מִשִּׁבְעָה מְדוֹרֵי גֵּיהִנֹּם, וְחַד דְּאַיְיתֵיהּ לְעָלְמָא דְּאָתֵי:
My son, my son. Eight times.1Dovid said the word בְּנִי eight times, five times in this verse and another three times later in verse 5. Our Rabbis said,2Sotah 10b. Seven of those times to lift him out of the seven levels of Gehennom and one to to bring him into the World to Come.

פסוק ב׳ · Verse 2

Hebrew:

וַיֻּגַּ֖ד לְיוֹאָ֑ב הִנֵּ֨ה הַמֶּ֧לֶךְ בֹּכֶ֛ה וַיִּתְאַבֵּ֖ל עַל־אַבְשָׁלֽוֹם׃

English:

Joab was told that the king was weeping and mourning over Absalom.

פסוק ג׳ · Verse 3

Hebrew:

וַתְּהִ֨י הַתְּשֻׁעָ֜ה בַּיּ֥וֹם הַה֛וּא לְאֵ֖בֶל לְכׇל־הָעָ֑ם כִּֽי־שָׁמַ֣ע הָעָ֗ם בַּיּ֤��ֹם הַהוּא֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר נֶעֱצַ֥ב הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ עַל־בְּנֽוֹ׃

English:

And the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the troops, for that day the troops heard that the king was grieving over his son.

The day's deliverance turns to communal mourning as the soldiers learn that the king is grieving over his son rather than celebrating their rescue. Radak emphasizes how unbearable it is for an army to triumph in battle and find that their king mourns the very enemy they slew at risk of their own lives.

פסוק ד׳ · Verse 4

Hebrew:

וַיִּתְגַּנֵּ֥ב הָעָ֛ם בַּיּ֥וֹם הַה֖וּא לָב֣וֹא הָעִ֑יר כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר יִתְגַּנֵּ֗ב הָעָם֙ הַנִּכְלָמִ֔ים בְּנוּסָ֖ם בַּמִּלְחָמָֽה׃

English:

The troops stole into town that day like troops ashamed after running away in battle.

The troops slip into the city like a beaten force creeping home in disgrace, the inversion of victors moving with the posture of the routed. The image, as Metzudat David notes, captures how the king's grief has stripped his soldiers of every honor their valor earned.

פסוק ה׳ · Verse 5

Hebrew:

וְהַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ לָאַ֣ט אֶת־פָּנָ֔יו וַיִּזְעַ֥ק הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ ק֣וֹל גָּד֑וֹל בְּנִי֙ אַבְשָׁל֔וֹם אַבְשָׁל֖וֹם בְּנִ֥י בְנִֽי׃ {ס}        

English:

The king covered his face and the king kept crying aloud, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”

Dovid covers his face in the conventional posture of mourning and cries out again, the words 'beni Avshalom, Avshalom beni beni' repeating with the cadence of inconsolable grief. Metzudat David explains the covered face as the standard sign of the avel, and Rashi adds that he hid his face in shame before his people while still unable to stop weeping.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
לָאַט אֶת פָּנָיו. (תרגום:) ״כְּרִיךְ יָת צַזְפּוֹהִי״, כְּמִשְׁפָּט הָאֲבֵלִים: לָאַט. כְּמוֹ ״וַיָּלֶט פָּנָיו בְּאַדַּרְתּוֹ״ (מלכים א יט:יג); ״הִנֵּה הִיא לוּטָה בַשִּׂמְלָה״ (שמואל א כא:י):
Covered his face. [Yononson translates:] "Covered his face" in the manner of mourners. Covered. As [we find]: "He wrapped his face with his coat",3Melochim I, 19:13. "It is wrapped up in a cloth".4Shmuel I, 21:10.

פסוק ו׳ · Verse 6

Hebrew:

וַיָּבֹ֥א יוֹאָ֛ב אֶל־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ הַבָּ֑יִת וַיֹּ֩אמֶר֩ הֹבַ֨שְׁתָּ הַיּ֜וֹם אֶת־פְּנֵ֣י כׇל־עֲבָדֶ֗יךָ הַֽמְמַלְּטִ֤ים אֶֽת־נַפְשְׁךָ֙ הַיּ֔וֹם וְאֵ֨ת נֶ֤פֶשׁ בָּנֶ֙יךָ֙ וּבְנֹתֶ֔יךָ וְנֶ֣פֶשׁ נָשֶׁ֔יךָ וְנֶ֖פֶשׁ פִּלַגְשֶֽׁיךָ׃

English:

Joab came to the king in his quarters and said, “Today you have humiliated all your followers, who this day saved your life, and the lives of your sons and daughters, and the lives of your wives and concubines,

Yoav storms into the king's house with a fierce rebuke, accusing Dovid of having shamed today the faces of all the servants who saved his life and the lives of his sons, daughters, wives, and concubines. The deliberate catalogue of those Dovid still has, as Radak notes, is meant to wrench him out of single-minded grief for the one son he has lost.

פסוק ז׳ · Verse 7

Hebrew:

לְאַֽהֲבָה֙ אֶת־שֹׂ֣נְאֶ֔יךָ וְלִשְׂנֹ֖א אֶת־אֹהֲבֶ֑יךָ כִּ֣י ׀ הִגַּ֣דְתָּ הַיּ֗וֹם כִּ֣י אֵ֤ין לְךָ֙ שָׂרִ֣ים וַעֲבָדִ֔ים כִּ֣י ׀ יָדַ֣עְתִּי הַיּ֗וֹם כִּ֠י (לא) [ל֣וּ] אַבְשָׁל֥וֹם חַי֙ וְכֻלָּ֤נוּ הַיּוֹם֙ מֵתִ֔ים כִּי־אָ֖ז יָשָׁ֥ר בְּעֵינֶֽיךָ׃

English:

by showing love for those who hate you and hate for those who love you. For you have made clear today that the officers and servicemen mean nothing to you. I am sure that if Absalom were alive today and the rest of us dead, you would have preferred it.

Yoav charges that Dovid loves those who hate him and hates those who love him, and that if Avshalom were alive and all his men dead it would have pleased the king. No figure in Tanakh speaks so harshly to a reigning monarch and survives, a measure both of Yoav's standing and of the gravity of the moment.

פסוק ח׳ · Verse 8

Hebrew:

וְעַתָּה֙ ק֣וּם צֵ֔א וְדַבֵּ֖ר עַל־לֵ֣ב עֲבָדֶ֑יךָ {ס}        כִּי֩ בַיהֹוָ֨ה נִשְׁבַּ֜עְתִּי כִּֽי־אֵינְךָ֣ יוֹצֵ֗א אִם־יָלִ֨ין אִ֤ישׁ אִתְּךָ֙ הַלַּ֔יְלָה וְרָעָ֧ה לְךָ֣ זֹ֗את מִכׇּל־הָרָעָה֙ אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֣אָה עָלֶ֔יךָ מִנְּעֻרֶ֖יךָ עַד־עָֽתָּה׃ {ס}        

English:

Now arise, come out and placate your followers! For I swear by GOD that ifcif So Septuagint, 4QSamᵃ, and some other Heb. mss., and an ancient masoretic tradition; ordinary texts omit “if.” you do not come out, not a single man will remain with you overnight; and that would be a greater disaster for you than any disaster that has befallen you from your youth until now.”

Yoav demands that the king rise and speak to his servants' hearts, swearing by Hashem that not a man will remain with him by morning otherwise, a disaster worse than every evil from his youth until now. Radak reads this as a calibrated warning of mass desertion that would unravel the throne, language pitched to a king who knows the full arc of his own history.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
כִּי אֵינְךָ יוֹצֵא. אִם אֵינְךָ יוֹצֵא:
That [if] you do not go out [to the people]. If you do not go out.5Rashi is adding the word "if" to the verse.

פסוק ט׳ · Verse 9

Hebrew:

וַיָּ֥קׇם הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ וַיֵּ֣שֶׁב בַּשָּׁ֑עַר וּֽלְכׇל־הָעָ֞ם הִגִּ֣ידוּ לֵאמֹ֗ר הִנֵּ֤ה הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ יוֹשֵׁ֣ב בַּשַּׁ֔עַר וַיָּבֹ֤א כׇל־הָעָם֙ לִפְנֵ֣י הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וְיִ֨שְׂרָאֵ֔ל נָ֖ס אִ֥ישׁ לְאֹהָלָֽיו�� {ס}        

English:

So the king arose and sat down in the gateway; and when all the troops were told that the king was sitting in the gateway, all the troops presented themselves to the king.Now the Israelites had fled to their homes.

Dovid yields, takes his place in the gate, and the army gathers before him to perform restored kingship in public, while the rebel forces of 'Israel' scatter home. Metzudat David notes that sitting in the gate is the formal posture of a reigning king, the deliberate sign that he has resumed his throne.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וְיִשְׂרָאֵל נָס. אוֹתָם שֶׁהָיוּ עִם אַבְשָׁלוֹם:
[As the people of] Yisroel fled. Those people that were with Avsholom.

פסוק י״ · Verse 10

Hebrew:

וַיְהִ֤י כׇל־הָעָם֙ נָד֔וֹן בְּכׇל־שִׁבְטֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ הִצִּילָ֣נוּ ׀ מִכַּ֣ף אֹיְבֵ֗ינוּ וְה֤וּא מִלְּטָ֙נוּ֙ מִכַּ֣ף פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים וְעַתָּ֛ה בָּרַ֥ח מִן־הָאָ֖רֶץ מֵעַ֥ל אַבְשָׁלֽוֹם׃

English:

All the people throughout the tribes of Israel were arguing: Some said, “The king saved us from the hands of our enemies, and he delivered us from the hands of the Philistines; and just now he had to flee the country because of Absalom.

All the tribes of Israel begin debating among themselves: the king saved us from our enemies and from the Plishtim, yet now he has fled the land because of Avshalom. Radak observes how recognition of Dovid's achievements quietly turns popular opinion back toward him once the rebellion has collapsed.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
כָּל הָעָם נָדוֹן. מִתְוַכְּחִים זֶה עִם זֶה:
The people were reproaching each other. Reproaching each other.

פסוק י״א · Verse 11

Hebrew:

וְאַבְשָׁלוֹם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר מָשַׁ֣חְנוּ עָלֵ֔ינוּ מֵ֖ת בַּמִּלְחָמָ֑ה וְעַתָּ֗ה לָמָ֥ה אַתֶּ֛ם מַחֲרִשִׁ֖ים לְהָשִׁ֥יב אֶת־הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ {ס}        

English:

But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle; why then do you sit idle instead of escorting the king back?”

The text exposes the brevity and shallowness of Avshalom's coronation by having the people themselves ask why they remain silent about bringing back the king now that the one they anointed has died in battle. Metzudat David notes that the rhetorical question is a sign of collective regret, the tribes embarrassed by how quickly they had abandoned Dovid.

פסוק י״ב · Verse 12

Hebrew:

וְהַמֶּ֣לֶךְ דָּוִ֗ד שָׁ֠לַ֠ח אֶל־צָד֨וֹק וְאֶל־אֶבְיָתָ֥ר הַכֹּהֲנִים֮ לֵאמֹר֒ דַּבְּר֞וּ אֶל־זִקְנֵ֤י יְהוּדָה֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר לָ֤מָּה תִֽהְיוּ֙ אַחֲרֹנִ֔ים לְהָשִׁ֥יב אֶת־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ אֶל־בֵּית֑וֹ וּדְבַר֙ כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בָּ֥א אֶל־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ אֶל־בֵּיתֽוֹ׃

English:

The talk of all Israel reached the king in his quarters. So King David sent this message to the priests Zadok and Abiathar: “Speak to the elders of Judah and say, ‘Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his palace?

Dovid deploys his intelligence assets, the kohanim Tzadok and Evyatar, to lobby the elders of Yehuda with a pointed question: why be the LAST to bring back the king when all Israel is already moving. Metzudat David explains that Dovid feared Yehuda's embarrassment at being slow would harden into resistance, so he intervened before the gap widened.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וּדְבַר כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל בָּא אֶל הַמֶּלֶךְ. כָּל זֶה מִדִּבְרֵי שְׁלִיחוּתוֹ:
While the messages of all Yisroel are coming to the king. All this was part of the message he was charged to bring [to the elders].

פסוק י״ג · Verse 13

Hebrew:

אַחַ֣י אַתֶּ֔ם עַצְמִ֥י וּבְשָׂרִ֖י אַתֶּ֑ם וְלָ֧מָּה תִֽהְי֛וּ אַחֲרֹנִ֖ים לְהָשִׁ֥יב אֶת־הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃

English:

You are my kin, my own flesh and blood! Why should you be the last to escort the king back?‘

Dovid presses his appeal on the ground of kinship rather than politics, calling Yehuda 'my brothers, my bone and my flesh' and asking why they should be last to bring back the king. Radak notes that as a Yehudi himself, Dovid had standing to invoke tribal solidarity that no other appeal could match.

פסוק י״ד · Verse 14

Hebrew:

וְלַֽעֲמָשָׂא֙ תֹּֽמְר֔וּ הֲל֛וֹא עַצְמִ֥י וּבְשָׂרִ֖י אָ֑תָּה כֹּ֣ה יַעֲשֶׂה־לִּ֤י אֱלֹהִים֙ וְכֹ֣ה יוֹסִ֔יף אִם־לֹ֠א שַׂר־צָבָ֞א תִּהְיֶ֧ה לְפָנַ֛י כׇּל־הַיָּמִ֖ים תַּ֥חַת יוֹאָֽב׃

English:

And to Amasa say this, ‘You are my own flesh and blood. May God do thus and more to me if you do not become my army commander permanently in place of Joab!’”

To Amasa, Avshalom's defeated general and Dovid's own nephew, the king swears a stunning oath that Amasa shall be commander of the army before him forever in place of Yoav. Rashi and Radak both read this as Dovid simultaneously buying Yehuda's allegiance through their kinsman and punishing Yoav for killing Avshalom against orders.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וְלַעֲמָשָׂא. שֶׁהוּא שַׂר צָבָא, תֹּאמְרוּ; הֲלֹא בֶּן אֲחוֹתִי אַתָּה:
To Amosoh. Who is [Avsholom's] commanding officer you should say, 'You are my own sister's son.'6The son of Avigail. See 17:25.

פסוק ט״ו · Verse 15

Hebrew:

וַיַּ֛ט אֶת־לְבַ֥ב כׇּל־אִישׁ־יְהוּדָ֖ה כְּאִ֣ישׁ אֶחָ֑ד וַֽיִּשְׁלְחוּ֙ אֶל־הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ שׁ֥וּב אַתָּ֖ה וְכׇל־עֲבָדֶֽיךָ׃

English:

So [Amasa] swayed the hearts of Judah’s entire contingent without opposition; and they sent a message to the king: “Come back with all your followers.”

The strategy succeeds: Yehuda's heart turns 'as one man' and they send word for the king to return with all his servants. The unanimity Radak highlights is striking precisely because it follows the divisions of the rebellion, and Metzudat David notes how the appeal through kinship and through Amasa together produced what political pressure alone could not.

פסוק ט״ז · Verse 16

Hebrew:

וַיָּ֣שׇׁב הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וַיָּבֹ֖א עַד־הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן וִיהוּדָ֞ה בָּ֣א הַגִּלְגָּ֗לָה לָלֶ֙כֶת֙ לִקְרַ֣את הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ לְהַעֲבִ֥יר אֶת־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּֽן׃

English:

The king started back and arrived at the Jordan; and the Judahites went to Gilgal to meet the king and to conduct the king across the Jordan.

The king's return reaches the Jordan, and Yehuda gathers at Gilgal to escort him across -- deliberately restaging Yehoshua's original entry into the Land at the very same threshold. Metzudat David notes that Gilgal was chosen as the symbolic gateway of restored kingship, transforming the crossing into a renewal of covenantal entry.

פסוק י״ז · Verse 17

Hebrew:

וַיְמַהֵ֗ר שִׁמְעִ֤י בֶן־גֵּרָא֙ בֶּן־הַיְמִינִ֔י אֲשֶׁ֖ר מִבַּחוּרִ֑ים וַיֵּ֙רֶד֙ עִם־אִ֣ישׁ יְהוּדָ֔ה לִקְרַ֖את הַמֶּ֥לֶךְ דָּוִֽד׃

English:

Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, hurried down with Judah’s contingent to meet King David,

Shim'i ben Gera, the same Binyamini who had cursed Dovid in chapter 16, hurries down with the men of Yehuda to meet the king. Radak emphasizes the urgency conveyed by 'vayemaher' -- Shim'i understands that his life depends on reaching Dovid before any official accounting can be taken.

פסוק י״ח · Verse 18

Hebrew:

וְאֶ֨לֶף אִ֣ישׁ עִמּוֹ֮ ��ִבִּנְיָמִן֒ וְצִיבָ֗א נַ֚עַר בֵּ֣ית שָׁא֔וּל וַחֲמֵ֨שֶׁת עָשָׂ֥ר בָּנָ֛יו וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים עֲבָדָ֖יו אִתּ֑וֹ וְצָלְח֥וּ הַיַּרְדֵּ֖ן לִפְנֵ֥י הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃

English:

accompanied by a thousand Benjaminites. dMeaning of parts of the rest of vv. 18 and 19 uncertain. And Ziba, the servant of the House of Saul, together with his fifteen sons and twenty slaves, rushed down to the Jordan ahead of the king

Shim'i arrives with a thousand men of Binyamin, joined by Tziva (Sha'ul's former servant) with his fifteen sons and twenty servants, all crossing the Jordan before the king. The crowd is staged for political effect: Shim'i has assembled a tribal delegation to demonstrate Binyamin's reconciliation and dilute his personal guilt within a collective gesture.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וְצָלְחוּ הַיַּרְדֵּן. (תרגום:) ״בְּקָעוּהוּ בִּתְרִיסֵיהוֹן״:
They crossed the Yardein. They crossed it with their rafts.

פסוק י״ט · Verse 19

Hebrew:

וְעָבְרָ֣ה הָעֲבָרָ֗ה לַֽעֲבִיר֙ אֶת־בֵּ֣ית הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וְלַעֲשׂ֥וֹת הַטּ֖וֹב בְּעֵינָ֑ו וְשִׁמְעִ֣י בֶן־גֵּרָ֗א נָפַל֙ לִפְנֵ֣י הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ בְּעׇבְר֖וֹ בַּיַּרְדֵּֽן׃

English:

while the crossing was being made, to escort the king’s family over, and to do whatever he wished. Shimei son of Gera flung himself before the king as he was about to cross the Jordan.

A ferry crosses to bring the king's household over, and Shim'i throws himself down before Dovid at the very moment of the crossing. Metzudat David observes that the timing is calculated -- appealing at the threshold itself, when the king's mood of restoration is at its peak.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וְעָבְרָה הָעֲבָרָה. סְפִינַת הַמַּעְבָּרָה שֶׁעוֹבְרִים בָּהּ אֶת עֵבֶר רֹחַב הַנַּחַל:
The ferry crossed over. The ferry boat that was used to cross over to the other side of the river's width.

פסוק כ׳ · Verse 20

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֶל־הַמֶּ֗לֶךְ אַל־יַחֲשָׁב־לִ֣י אֲדֹנִי֮ עָוֺן֒ וְאַל־תִּזְכֹּ֗ר אֵ֚ת אֲשֶׁ֣ר הֶעֱוָ֣ה עַבְדְּךָ֔ בַּיּ֕וֹם אֲשֶׁר־יָׄצָ֥אׄ אֲדֹנִֽי־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ מִירוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם לָשׂ֥וּם הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ אֶל־לִבּֽוֹ׃

English:

He said to the king, “Let not my lord hold me guilty, and do not remember the wrong your servant committed on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem; let Your Majesty give it no thought.

Shim'i pleads that the king not impute iniquity to him nor remember what his servant did on the day Dovid went out from Jerusalem. Metzudat David notes that Shim'i specifies 'the day' precisely to acknowledge full guilt rather than minimize it -- a sign of complete confession rather than evasion.

פסוק כ״א · Verse 21

Hebrew:

כִּ֚י יָדַ֣ע עַבְדְּךָ֔ כִּ֖י אֲנִ֣י חָטָ֑אתִי וְהִנֵּה־בָ֣אתִי הַיּ֗וֹם רִאשׁוֹן֙ לְכׇל־בֵּ֣ית יוֹסֵ֔ף לָרֶ֕דֶת לִקְרַ֖את אֲדֹנִ֥י הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ {ס}        

English:

For your servant knows that he has sinned; so here I have come down today, the first of all the House of Joseph, to meet my lord the king.”

'Your servant knows that I have sinned, and behold, I have come today first of all the house of Yosef to come down toward my lord the king.' Rashi explains that 'house of Yosef' here represents the northern tribes generally; Shim'i positions himself as leading the tribal reconciliation, hoping his speed will count as a form of atonement.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
רִאשׁוֹן לְכָל בֵּית יוֹסֵף. כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל חָטְאוּ לְךָ, וַאֲנִי יוֹתֵר מִכֻּלָּם, וְהִנְנִי בָּאתִי לְבַקֵּשׁ מְחִילָה, אִם תְּקַבְּלֵנִי, בְּטוּחִים כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁתְּקַבְּלֵם, וְאִם לָאו, יִהְיוּ יְרֵאִים לָשׁוּב אֵלֶיךָ עוֹד:
First from among all the House of Yoseif. All of Yisroel wronged you, I more then everyone. I have come to ask you forgiveness, if you accept me then all of Yisroel will be confident that you will accept them but if you do not [accept me] they will be afraid to return to you.

פסוק כ״ב · Verse 22

Hebrew:

וַיַּ֨עַן אֲבִישַׁ֤י בֶּן־צְרוּיָה֙ וַיֹּ֔אמֶר הֲתַ֣חַת זֹ֔את לֹ֥א יוּמַ֖ת שִׁמְעִ֑י כִּ֥י קִלֵּ֖ל אֶת־מְשִׁ֥יחַ יְהֹוָֽה׃ {ס}        

English:

Thereupon Abishai son of Zeruiah spoke up, “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death for that—insulting GOD’s anointed?”

Avishai ben Tzeruyah, true to character, demands execution: 'shall not Shim'i be put to death for this, because he cursed the anointed of the LORD?' Avishai had wanted to kill Shim'i back in 16:9, and his position has not softened -- Radak notes that for Avishai the curse against the king's anointed is a capital matter regardless of subsequent repentance.

פסוק כ״ג · Verse 23

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר דָּוִ֗ד מַה־לִּ֤י וְלָכֶם֙ בְּנֵ֣י צְרוּיָ֔ה כִּֽי־תִֽהְיוּ־לִ֥י הַיּ֖וֹם לְשָׂטָ֑ן הַיּ֗וֹם י֤וּמַת אִישׁ֙ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל כִּ֚י הֲל֣וֹא יָדַ֔עְתִּי כִּ֥י הַיּ֖וֹם אֲנִי־מֶ֥לֶךְ עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

English:

But David said, “What has this to do with you,eWhat has this to do with you See note at 16.10. you sons of Zeruiah, that you should cross me today? Should even a single Israelite be put to death today? Don’t IfI Some Septuagint mss. read “you.” know that today I am again king over Israel?”

Dovid sharply rebukes the sons of Tzeruyah for becoming a 'satan' (adversary) to him on this day, declaring that no man shall be put to death in Israel today, for 'do I not know that today I am king over Israel?' The day of national restoration is no day for executions; Metzudat David explains that mercy now serves political consolidation more than vengeance ever could.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
הַיּוֹם יוּמַת אִישׁ. בִּתְמִיהָ, כִּי הַיּוֹם אֲנִי מֶלֶךְ, עַד עַכְשָׁיו הָיִיתִי סָבוּר, לֹא זִלְזֵל בִּי אָדָם גָּדוֹל כָּזֶה אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן נִפְסְקָה מַלְכוּתִי מֵאֵת הַמָּקוֹם וְהוּא אָמַר לוֹ קַלֵּל אֶת דָּוִד, אֲבָל עַכְשָׁיו שֶׁהוּא מִתְחָרֵט, יָדַעְתִּי כִּי מֶלֶךְ אֲנִי:
Should a man die today? This is a question. Because today I am [truly] king. Until now I thought A great man as this [Shimi] would not have shamed me unless God had decreed to end my kingdom, and He had told him, 'Curse Dovid.' But now that he regrets it I know that I am [truly] king.

פסוק כ״ד · Verse 24

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֧אמֶר הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ אֶל־שִׁמְעִ֖י לֹ֣א תָמ֑וּת וַיִּשָּׁ֥בַֽע ל֖וֹ הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ {ס}        

English:

Then the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die”; and the king gave him his oath.

'You shall not die,' the king tells Shim'i, sealing the pardon with an oath. Yet Chazal observe that the oath bound only Dovid himself -- on his deathbed in I Kings 2 he will charge Shlomo to find a way to settle the account that he himself could not.

פסוק כ״ה · Verse 25

Hebrew:

וּמְפִבֹ֙שֶׁת֙ בֶּן־שָׁא֔וּל יָרַ֖ד לִקְרַ֣את הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ וְלֹא־עָשָׂ֨ה רַגְלָ֜יו וְלֹא־עָשָׂ֣ה שְׂפָמ֗וֹ וְאֶת־בְּגָדָיו֙ לֹ֣א כִבֵּ֔ס לְמִן־הַיּוֹם֙ לֶ֣כֶת הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ עַד־הַיּ֖וֹם אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֥א בְשָׁלֽוֹם׃

English:

Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul, also came down to meet the king. He had not pared his toenails, or trimmed his mustache, or washed his clothes from the day that the king left until the day he returned safe.

Mefivoshet, Yehonatan's son, comes down to meet the king bearing every visible sign of mourning: he had not tended his feet (Rashi: not trimmed his nails), not trimmed his mustache, and not washed his clothes from the day Dovid left until his return. The picture flatly contradicts Tziva's earlier slander in 16:1-4 -- a man who mourned this completely could not have been celebrating Dovid's downfall.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וְלֹא עָשָׂה רַגְלָיו. לְשׁוֹן תִּקּוּן הוּא, הַעֲבָרַת שֵׂעָר שֶׁבֵּין הָרַגְלַיִם: שְׂפָמוֹ. גרנו״ן בלע״ז:
He had not tended to the hair [between] his legs. Denoting fixing up, the removing of the hair between his legs. His moustache. Grenon in O.F.

פסוק כ״ו · Verse 26

Hebrew:

וַיְהִ֛י כִּי־בָ֥א יְרוּשָׁלַ֖͏ִם לִקְרַ֣את הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לוֹ֙ הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ לָ֛מָּה לֹא־הָלַ֥כְתָּ עִמִּ֖י מְפִיבֹֽשֶׁת׃

English:

When he came [from]gcame [from] So Septuagint. Heb. “entered.” Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, “Why didn’t you come with me, Mephibosheth?”

As Mefivoshet arrives, Dovid asks bluntly, 'why did you not come with me, Mefivoshet?' Radak notes that the very form of the question shows Dovid still gives some credence to Tziva's accusation -- he is putting Mefivoshet on the defensive rather than greeting him as an injured loyalist.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
לָמָּה לֹא הָלַכְתָּ עִמִּי. לָצֵאת מִירוּשָׁלַיִם כְּשֶׁיָּצָאתִי:
Why did you not you go with me? To leave Yerusholoyim when I left.

פסוק כ״ז · Verse 27

Hebrew:

וַיֹּאמַ֕ר אֲדֹנִ֥י הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ עַבְדִּ֣י רִמָּ֑נִי כִּי־אָמַ֨ר עַבְדְּךָ֜ אֶחְבְּשָׁה־לִּי֩ הַחֲמ֨וֹר וְאֶרְכַּ֤ב עָלֶ֙יהָ֙ וְאֵלֵ֣ךְ אֶת־הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ כִּ֥י פִסֵּ֖חַ עַבְדֶּֽךָ׃

English:

He replied, “My lord the king, my own servanthmy own servant I.e., Ziba (cf. v. 30 and 9.2ff.). deceived me. Your servant planned to saddle his donkey and rideiYour servant planned to saddle his donkey and ride Ancient versions read “Your servant said to him, ‘Saddle my donkey, that I may ride…’” on it and go with Your Majesty—for your servant is lame.

Mefivoshet's defense: 'my servant deceived me. I said, saddle the donkey for me that I may ride and go with the king -- for your servant is lame.' Metzudat David explains that Mefivoshet's lameness, going back to 4:4 when his nurse dropped him, made him entirely dependent on Tziva to prepare a mount; without that help he physically could not have followed the king.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
כִּי פִסֵּחַ עַבְדֶּךָ. וְאֵינִי יָכוֹל לֵילֵךְ בְּרַגְלִי:
Because your servant is lame. And I can not walk on foot.

פסוק כ״ח · Verse 28

Hebrew:

וַיְרַגֵּ֣ל בְּעַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶל־אֲדֹנִ֖י הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ וַֽאדֹנִ֤י הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ כְּמַלְאַ֣ךְ הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים וַעֲשֵׂ֥ה הַטּ֖וֹב בְּעֵינֶֽיךָ׃

English:

[Ziba] has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like an angel of GOD; do as you see fit.

'He slandered your servant to my lord the king, but my lord the king is like an angel of God -- do what is good in your eyes.' The phrase 'like an angel of God' had been used by the woman of Tekoa in 14:17 and 14:20; Mefivoshet's deferential surrender of judgment to Dovid is total, refusing even to press his obvious case.

פסוק כ״ט · Verse 29

Hebrew:

כִּי֩ לֹ֨א הָיָ֜ה כׇּל־בֵּ֣ית אָבִ֗י כִּ֤י אִם־אַנְשֵֽׁי־מָ֙וֶת֙ לַאדֹנִ֣י הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וַתָּ֙שֶׁת֙ אֶֽת־עַבְדְּךָ֔ בְּאֹכְלֵ֖י שֻׁלְחָנֶ֑ךָ וּמַה־יֶּשׁ־לִ֥י עוֹד֙ צְדָקָ֔ה וְלִזְעֹ֥ק ע֖וֹד אֶל־הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ {פ}

English:

For all the members of my father’s family deserved only death from my lord the king; yet you set your servant among those who ate at your table. What right have I to appeal further to Your Majesty?”

Mefivoshet acknowledges that all his father's house could rightfully have been condemned to death before the king, yet Dovid had placed him among those who eat at his table -- 'what right have I left to cry out to the king?' Radak notes that this is a remarkable renunciation: Mefivoshet refuses to claim any standing beyond the chesed Dovid had already shown him.

פסוק ל׳ · Verse 30

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לוֹ֙ הַ��ֶּ֔לֶךְ לָ֛מָּה תְּדַבֵּ֥ר ע֖וֹד דְּבָרֶ֑יךָ אָמַ֕רְתִּי אַתָּ֣ה וְצִיבָ֔א תַּחְלְק֖וּ אֶת־הַשָּׂדֶֽה׃

English:

The king said to him, “You need not speak further. I decree that you and Ziba shall divide the property.”

Dovid's famously ambiguous ruling: 'why speak more -- I have said, you and Tziva shall divide the field.' Chazal in Shabbat 56b faulted Dovid sharply for this judgment, with a heavenly Bat Kol declaring that because Dovid divided Mefivoshet's field, his own kingdom would one day be divided between Yarov'am and Rechav'am.

פסוק ל״א · Verse 31

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר מְפִיבֹ֙שֶׁת֙ אֶל־הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ גַּ֥ם אֶת־הַכֹּ֖ל יִקָּ֑ח אַ֠חֲרֵי אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֞א אֲדֹנִ֥י הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ בְּשָׁל֖וֹם אֶל־בֵּיתֽוֹ׃ {ס}        

English:

And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him take it all, as long as my lord the king has come home safe.”

Mefivoshet's reply is one of the most generous lines in Tanakh: 'let him take it all, since my lord the king has come safely to his house.' He places Dovid's safe return above his own property and his own vindication, and Radak notes that this very response convinces Dovid of his sincerity. The contrast with Tziva's calculation could not be more total.

פסוק ל״ב · Verse 32

Hebrew:

וּבַרְזִלַּי֙ הַגִּלְעָדִ֔י יָרַ֖ד מֵרֹֽגְלִ֑ים וַיַּעֲבֹ֤ר אֶת־הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ן לְשַׁלְּח֖וֹ אֶת־[הַיַּרְדֵּֽן] (בירדן)׃

English:

Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim and passed on to the Jordan with the king, to see him off atjpassed on … to see him off at Meaning of Heb. uncertain. the Jordan.

Barzilai HaGil'adi, the wealthy old man who provisioned Dovid at Machanayim during the flight from Avshalom, now comes down from Rogelim to escort the king across the Jordan. The verb 'l'shalcho' carries the weight of deferential honor, the kind of escort one gives a king departing from one's territory.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
לְשַׁלְּחוֹ. לְלַוּוֹתוֹ:
Accompanying him. To accompany him.

פסוק ל״ג · Verse 33

Hebrew:

וּבַרְזִלַּי֙ זָקֵ֣ן מְאֹ֔ד בֶּן־שְׁמֹנִ֖ים שָׁנָ֑ה וְהֽוּא־כִלְכַּ֤ל אֶת־הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ בְּשִׁיבָת֣וֹ בְמַחֲנַ֔יִם כִּי־אִ֛ישׁ גָּד֥וֹל ה֖וּא מְאֹֽד׃

English:

Barzillai was very old, eighty years of age; and he had provided the king with food during his stay at Mahanaim, for he was a very wealthy man.

The text emphasizes Barzilai's age (eighty) and his sustenance of the king during the stay at Machanayim, explaining that he could afford this because he was 'a very great man.' Radak clarifies that 'gadol' here means rich rather than powerful, the kind of wealth that could feed a king's household and army.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
כִּי אִישׁ גָּדוֹל הוּא. בְּעֹשֶׁר:
Because he was a very great man. In terms of wealth.

פסוק ל״ד · Verse 34

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ אֶל־בַּרְזִלָּ֑י אַתָּה֙ עֲבֹ֣ר אִתִּ֔י וְכִלְכַּלְתִּ֥י אֹתְךָ֛ עִמָּדִ֖י בִּירוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃

English:

The king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me, and I will provide for you in Jerusalem at my side.”

פסוק ל״ה · Verse 35

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר בַּרְזִלַּ֖י אֶל־הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ כַּמָּ֗ה יְמֵי֙ שְׁנֵ֣י חַיַּ֔י כִּי־אֶעֱלֶ֥ה אֶת־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ יְרוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃

English:

But Barzillai said to the king, “How many years are left to me that I should go up with Your Majesty to Jerusalem?

Barzilai's response opens one of the most beautiful old-age speeches in Tanakh: 'how many are the days of my years that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?' The elderly man begins by asking what time he has left to enjoy the journey at all.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
כַּמָּה יְמֵי שְׁנֵי חַיַּי. אֲשֶׁר יֵשׁ לִי לִחְיוֹת: כִּי אֶעֱלֶה וגו׳. הֲלֹא מְעַט הֵם, וּמָה הֲנָיָה יֵשׁ לִי בְּכִלְכּוּלְךָ:
How many more years of life [do I have]. That I have to live. That I should go up. There are only a few left, [therefore] what pleasure will I have from your providing for me.

פסוק ל״ו · Verse 36

Hebrew:

בֶּן־שְׁמֹנִ֣ים שָׁנָה֩ אָנֹכִ֨י הַיּ֜וֹם הַאֵדַ֣ע ׀ בֵּֽין־ט֣וֹב לְרָ֗ע אִם־יִטְעַ֤ם עַבְדְּךָ֙ אֶת־אֲשֶׁ֤ר אֹכַל֙ וְאֶת־אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶשְׁתֶּ֔ה אִם־אֶשְׁמַ֣ע ע֔וֹד בְּק֖וֹל שָׁרִ֣ים וְשָׁר֑וֹת וְלָ֩מָּה֩ יִֽהְיֶ֨ה עַבְדְּךָ֥ עוֹד֙ לְמַשָּׂ֔א אֶל־אֲדֹנִ֖י הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃

English:

I am now eighty years old. Can I tell the difference between good and bad? Can your servant taste what he eats and drinks? Can I still listen to the singing of men and women? Why then should your servant continue to be a burden to my lord the king?

Barzilai catalogues the diminished pleasures of advanced age: he can no longer distinguish flavors, hear the voices of singers, or fully savor what he eats and drinks, so why be a burden to the king? Rashi and Radak both read 'know between good and evil' as dulled sensory discrimination rather than moral confusion, the palate and ear of an eighty-year-old failing him.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
הַאֵדַע בֵּין טוֹב לְרָע. בֵּין מַאֲכָל טוֹב לְמַאֲכָל רַע, וְאָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ ז״ל (שבת קנב א): שָׁטוּף בְּזִמָּה הָיָה, לְפִיכָךְ קָפְצָה עָלָיו זִקְנָה:
Between something good or bad? Between good food and bad food. Our Rabbis of blessed memory said, He overindulged in sexual relations causing old age to overtake him.7Shabbos 152a. Otherwise even an eighty year old man would not have deteriorated to that extent.

פסוק ל״ז · Verse 37

Hebrew:

כִּמְעַ֞ט יַעֲבֹ֧ר עַבְדְּךָ֛ אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּ֖ן אֶת־הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ וְלָ֙מָּה֙ יִגְמְלֵ֣נִי הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ הַגְּמוּלָ֖ה הַזֹּֽאת׃

English:

Your servant could barely cross the JordankYour servant could barely cross the Jordan Meaning of Heb. uncertain. with Your Majesty! Why should Your Majesty reward me so generously?

'Your servant will go just a little way across the Jordan with the king, so why should the king reward me with such a recompense?' Barzilai will accompany Dovid only the short distance across the river and then turn home, refusing the disproportionate honor of Jerusalem.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
כִּמְעַט יַעֲבֹר עַבְדֶּךָ. הַלְּוָיָה מוּעֶטֶת יַעֲבֹר עַבְדְּךָ לְלַוּוֹתְךָ, אַחַר שֶׁתַּעֲבֹר אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן: הַגְּמוּלָה הַזֹּאת. שֶׁאֵינָהּ טוֹבָה לִי:
Your servant will just cross over. You servant will accompany you a little further after you cross the Yardein. This type of reward. That is not good for me.

פסוק ל״ח · Verse 38

Hebrew:

יָשׇׁב־נָ֤א עַבְדְּךָ֙ וְאָמֻ֣ת בְּעִירִ֔י עִ֛ם קֶ֥בֶר אָבִ֖י וְאִמִּ֑י וְהִנֵּ֣ה ׀ עַבְדְּךָ֣ כִמְהָ֗ם יַֽעֲבֹר֙ עִם־אֲדֹנִ֣י הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וַעֲשֵׂה־ל֕וֹ אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר־ט֖וֹב בְּעֵינֶֽיךָ׃ {ס}        

English:

Let your servant go back, and let me die in my own town, near the graves of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham; let him cross with my lord the king, and do for him as you see fit.”

Barzilai asks to die in his own city beside the grave of his father and mother, but offers a substitute: 'here is your servant Kimham, let him cross with my lord the king.' Some traditions identify Kimham as Barzilai's son, and centuries later Yirmiyahu 41:17 mentions 'Geruth Kimham' near Bet Lechem, suggesting that Dovid gave Kimham land from his ancestral patrimony, a gift that left a lasting mark on the map.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
עַבְדְּךָ כִּמְהָם. בְּנוֹ הָיָה:
Your servant Kimhom. It was his son.

פסוק ל״ט · Verse 39

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר הַמֶּ֗לֶךְ אִתִּי֙ יַעֲבֹ֣ר כִּמְהָ֔ם וַאֲנִי֙ אֶֽעֱשֶׂה־לּ֔וֹ אֶת־הַטּ֖וֹב בְּעֵינֶ֑יךָ וְכֹ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־תִּבְחַ֥ר עָלַ֖י אֶעֱשֶׂה־לָּֽךְ׃

English:

And the king said, “Chimham shall cross with me, and I will do for him as you see fit; and anything you want me to do, I will do for you.”

Dovid agrees graciously: 'Kimham shall cross with me, and I will do for him what is good in your eyes, and whatever you choose I will do for you.' The king accepts the substitute and offers Barzilai a blank check in return for the kindness shown at Machanayim.

פסוק מ׳ · Verse 40

Hebrew:

וַיַּעֲבֹ֧ר כׇּל־הָעָ֛ם אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּ֖ן וְהַמֶּ֣לֶךְ עָבָ֑ר וַיִּשַּׁ֨ק הַמֶּ֤לֶךְ לְבַרְזִלַּי֙ וַיְבָ֣רְכֵ֔הוּ וַיָּ֖שׇׁב לִמְקֹמֽוֹ׃ {ס}        

English:

lMeaning of parts of vv. 40–44 uncertain. All the troops crossed the Jordan; and when the king was ready to cross, the king kissed Barzillai and bade him farewell; and [Barzillai] returned to his home.

פסוק מ״א · Verse 41

Hebrew:

וַיַּעֲבֹ֤ר הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ הַגִּלְגָּ֔לָה וְכִמְהָ֖ן עָבַ֣ר עִמּ֑וֹ וְכׇל־עַ֤ם יְהוּדָה֙ (ויעברו) [הֶעֱבִ֣ירוּ] אֶת־הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וְגַ֕ם חֲצִ֖י עַ֥ם יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

English:

The king passed on to Gilgal, with ChimhammChimham Heb. Chimhan. accompanying him; and all the Judahite soldiers and part of the Israelite army escorted the king across.

The king crosses to Gilgal, the same Gilgal where Yehoshua first led Israel into the Land, accompanied by Kimham, all the men of Yehuda, and only half of the men of Israel. The asymmetry already signals the brewing tribal tension that will erupt in the next two verses.

פסוק מ״ב · Verse 42

Hebrew:

וְהִנֵּ֛ה כׇּל־אִ֥ישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בָּאִ֣ים אֶל־הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֶל־הַמֶּ֡לֶךְ מַדּ֩וּעַ֩ גְּנָב֨וּךָ אַחֵ֜ינוּ אִ֣ישׁ יְהוּדָ֗ה וַיַּעֲבִ֨רוּ אֶת־הַמֶּ֤לֶךְ וְאֶת־בֵּיתוֹ֙ אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ן וְכׇל־אַנְשֵׁ֥י דָוִ֖ד עִמּֽוֹ׃ {ס}        

English:

Then Israel’s entire contingent came to the king—and said to the king, “Why did our kindred, Judah’s contingent, steal you away and escort the king and his family across the Jordan, along with all David’s men?”

All the men of Israel come and protest: 'why have our brothers the men of Yehuda stolen you, bringing the king and his household across the Jordan?' The verb 'gnav' is loaded with grievance, and Radak reads it as the bitterness of a tribe that feels excluded from the king's restoration after carrying the weight of the rebellion's defeat.

פסוק מ״ג · Verse 43

Hebrew:

וַיַּ֩עַן֩ כׇּל־אִ֨ישׁ יְהוּדָ֜ה עַל־אִ֣ישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל כִּֽי־קָר֤וֹב הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ אֵלַ֔י וְלָ֤מָּה זֶּה֙ חָרָ֣ה לְךָ֔ עַל־הַדָּבָ֖ר הַזֶּ֑ה הֶאָכ֤וֹל אָכַ֙לְנוּ֙ מִן־הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ אִם־נִשֵּׂ֥את נִשָּׂ֖א לָֽנוּ׃ {ס}        

English:

Judah’s side replied to Israel’s side, “Because the king is our relative! Why should this upset you? Have we consumed anything that belongs to the king? Has he given us any gifts?”

Yehuda answers that the king is their close kinsman, so why be angry, and besides, did we eat any of the king's food or receive any gift? The claim of kinship without spoils is partly disingenuous, since Yehuda's position had clearly improved with Amasa now installed as commander-in-chief over Yoav.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
כִּי קָרוֹב הַמֶּלֶךְ אֵלַי. מִשִּׁבְטִי הוּא: אִם נִשֵּׂאת. כְּמוֹ ״מַשְׂאֵת״ (בראשית מג:לד), פְּרָס מִבֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ:
Because the king is close to us. He is from our tribe. Have any presents. As we find, "A present".8Bereishis 43:34. A present from the king's palace.

פסוק מ״ד · Verse 44

Hebrew:

וַיַּ֣עַן אִֽישׁ־יִשְׂרָאֵל֩ אֶת־אִ֨ישׁ יְהוּדָ֜ה וַיֹּ֗אמֶר עֶשֶׂר־יָד֨וֹת לִ֣י בַמֶּ֘לֶךְ֮ וְגַם־בְּדָוִד֮ אֲנִ֣י מִמְּךָ֒ וּמַדּ֙וּעַ֙ הֱקִלֹּתַ֔נִי וְלֹא־הָיָ֨ה דְבָרִ֥י רִאשׁ֛וֹן לִ֖י לְהָשִׁ֣יב אֶת־מַלְכִּ֑י וַיִּ֙קֶשׁ֙ דְּבַר־אִ֣ישׁ יְהוּדָ֔ה מִדְּבַ֖ר אִ֥ישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ {ס}        

English:

But Israel’s side answered Judah’s side, “We have ten shares in the king, and in David, too, we have more than you.nin David, too, we have more than you Septuagint reads “we are the first-born, rather than you.” Why then have you slighted us? Were we not the first to propose that our king be brought back?” However, Judah’s side prevailed over Israel’s side.

Israel retorts, 'I have ten parts in the king, and even in Dovid I have more than you,' counting the ten tribes against Yehuda's one and protesting that their voice was first to bring back the king. The narrator closes with the ominous observation that the words of Yehuda were harsher than the words of Israel, and this bitter exchange is the immediate seed of Sheva ben Bichri's rebellion in chapter 20 and, more distantly, of the kingdom's split under Rechav'am.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
עֶשֶׂר יָדוֹת לִי בַּמֶּלֶךְ. שֶׁאָנוּ עֲשָׂרָה שְׁבָטִים: וְגַם בְּדָוִד. אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהוּא קָרוֹב לָכֶם, אֲנִי מָשׁוּךְ בּוֹ יוֹתֵר מִמְּךָ, שֶׁאֲנִי עֶשֶׂר יָדוֹת: וּמַדּוּעַ הֱקִלֹּתַנִי. לִהְיוֹת אַתָּה קוֹדֵם, וְכִי לֹא הָיָה דְבָרִי רִאשׁוֹן לְהָשִׁיב אֶת מַלְכִּי, וְקֹדֶם לָכֵן בָּא דְּבָרֵינוּ אֵלָיו לַהֲשִׁיבוֹ, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב לְמַעְלָה (פסוק יב): ״וּדְבַר כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל בָּא אֶל הַמֶּלֶךְ״: וַיִּקֶשׁ דְּבַר אִישׁ יְהוּדָה. לְשׁוֹן ״הִתְקוֹשְׁשׁוּ״ (צפניה ב:א), נִרְאֶה וְהֻשְׁוָה דְּבַר אִישׁ יְהוּדָה, שֶׁהֶרְאָם אִגֶּרֶת שֶׁשָּׁלַח לָהֶם דָּוִד, ״לָמָּה תִהְיוּ אַחֲרוֹנִים לְהָשִׁיב אֶת הַמֶּלֶךְ וְגוֹ׳״ (לעיל פסוק יב), כָּךְ מְפֹרָשׁ בָּאַגָּדָה. וְיֵשׁ לְפָרֵשׁ, ׳וַיִּקֶשׁ׳, לְשׁוֹן ׳קֹשִׁי וְחֹזֶק׳, וְכֵן תִּרְגֵּם יוֹנָתָן: ״וְתַקִּיף״:
We have ten parts of the king. Because we are altogether ten tribes. And also more right in Dovid. Although he is a closer relative of yours nevertheless we have more ownership of him then you do because we have ten parts [of him]. Why have you made light of me? That you should be first, was I not the first to request to have my king return? Prior to this our request came to him to have him return as it is written earlier,9 "while the messages of all Yisroel are coming to the king." The words of men of Yehudah overpowered. Language similar to "Improve".10Tsaphania 2:1. The words of the men of Yehudah were more logical and they prevailed because they showed [as evidence] the letter Dovid had sent them [saying] "Why should you be the last to request" that the king return etc." This is what is explained in Agadah. Some explain וַיִקֶשׁ to denote hard and strong and that is Yonoson's translation, "overpowered."

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