ARCHIVES
DIVISION
Gilead District
| Name | BARZILLAI |
| Aliases | THE GILEADITE / WHO SUSTAINED DAVID IN EXILE / THE GENEROUS OLD MAN |
| Status | DECEASED / AIDED THE FLEEING KING / DECLINED THE COURT AND WENT HOME IN PEACE |
| Birth | UNRECORDED | Marks & Identifiers | THE WEALTHY OLD MAN WHO FED THE KING'S ARMY |
| Place of Birth | ROGELIM IN GILEAD | Hair | UNRECORDED |
| Tribe | GAD (GILEAD) | Eyes | UNRECORDED |
| Parentage | A GILEADITE OF ROGELIM | People | ISRAEL |
| Occupation | WEALTHY LANDOWNER / BENEFACTOR | Species | HUMAN |
| Affiliation | THE FRIENDS OF DAVID | Calling | THE GENEROUS SUPPORTER OF THE KING IN NEED |
| Primary Mission | SUSTAIN DAVID DURING ABSALOM'S REVOLT | Known Signs | THE PROVISION AT MAHANAIM / THE DECLINED REWARD |
| Covenant Role | A FRIEND WHOSE KINDNESS DAVID REMEMBERED | Divine Access | INDIRECT / SERVED THE LORD'S ANOINTED IN HIS EXILE |
| Divine Encounter Level | INDIRECT | Monarchic Classification | THE GENEROUS BENEFACTOR |
| Covenant Status | COVENANT KINDNESS SHOWN | Known Miracles | NONE RECORDED |
| Divine Commission | CONFIRMED | Threat Assessment | THE HARDSHIP OF THE KING'S EXILE |
| Mission Status | FAITHFUL / HIS SONS REMEMBERED BY DAVID | Archive Category | MONARCHY / GENEROSITY |
What he brought to David at Mahanaim: BEDS, FOOD, AND SUPPLIES FOR THE WEARY ARMY
Why he declined to go to the king's court: HE WAS EIGHTY, AND WISHED TO DIE IN HIS OWN CITY
The subject was a very wealthy old man of Rogelim in Gilead. When David fled across the Jordan from Absalom, weary and hungry with his people, the subject and others brought beds, bowls, wheat, barley, flour, honey, curds, and sheep to sustain them at Mahanaim.
His generosity in the king's dark hour, when it was dangerous to be David's friend, marked him as a man of loyal and open heart.
After Absalom's defeat, as David returned in triumph, the subject came down to escort the king across the Jordan.
David invited him to come and live at his court in Jerusalem and be provided for, but the subject, being eighty years old, declined, saying he could no longer taste his food or hear the singers, and asked only to go home and die near the graves of his parents.
He commended his servant Chimham to go in his place. David kissed and blessed him, and on his deathbed charged Solomon to show kindness to the sons of the subject and let them eat at the royal table, for the loyalty they had shown.
EYES ONLYRestricted // Sacred Record
- True friends give most freely in another's hour of danger and need.
- Generosity shown to God's people is remembered and repaid in kindness.
- There is wisdom in knowing one's season and finishing well at home.
