What Does 2 Samuel 19:38 Mean?
And the king answered, Chimham will cross over with me, and I will do for him what is good in your eyes. And whatever you choose from me, I will do for you.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee: and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee.THE KEY
The promise gives the recipient a hand in defining the good: the king offers what is good in Barzillai’s eyes and acts on what he chooses.
THE MEANING
The person receiving care has a voice in what counts as good for him. His choice is met with an answer made of action, so generosity here takes a shape that belongs to the person being cared for. The verse holds particular judgment and willingness together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It loosens the belief that naming a preference makes you ungrateful: here, the recipient’s own judgment helps define the gift.
THE ROOT
תִּבְחַר
tivḥar
GROWS FROM
בחר
b-ḥ-r
To choose or select.
The word translated “require” is the verb “you choose” or “you select.” Barzillai’s choice shapes what the king promises to do, giving the recipient’s judgment a place inside the offer of care.
ALSO GROWS
bāḥîr: Chosen one; one selected.
בָּחִיר
This branch can describe a person as chosen, showing how choosing can identify someone as the object of another’s regard.
mibḥār: Choice; the choicest part.
מִבְחָר
A selection can name a particular portion, echoing the verse’s promise to act on what Barzillai chooses from the king.
הַטּוֹב
hatov
GROWS FROM
טוב
ṭ-w-b
Good, pleasant, or beneficial.
The phrase is “the good in your eyes”: what is good is seen from the recipient’s perspective. Beside “you choose from me,” it makes the offer responsive to another person’s own discernment.
ALSO GROWS
ṭûḇ: Goodness, good things, or well-being.
טוּב
This noun can refer to well-being, giving “good” the sense of what benefits a person.
ṭôḇāh: A good thing, benefit, or welfare.
טוֹבָה
This form keeps the focus on the good that can be done for someone, as the king promises to do for Barzillai.
THE PATTERN
Generosity becomes concrete when another person’s expressed good guides what is done.
In Gibeon the LORD showed himself to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, Ask what I shall give you.Do not hold back good from its owners, when your hand has the reach to do it.Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.THE THREAD
Curds and honey shall he eat, that he may perceive how to refuse the evil and choose the good.The word “choose” comes from בחר, the same root behind “require” in 2 Samuel 19:38. Isaiah pairs that choice with “the good,” echoing the king’s offer to act on the good seen in another’s eyes.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us