2 Samuel 19:39

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

All the people went over the Jordan, and the king went over: and the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned to his own place.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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לְבַרְזִלַּי֙

Barzillay

H1271

“to/for · Barzillai”

Preposition + Noun, Proper

Appears 12× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at 2 Samuel 17:27

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H1270

TWOT: None

Barzillai = "my iron" - a Gileadite leader who helped David defeat Absalom's rebellion - a priest, son-in-law to Barzillai the Gileadite - an Israelite from Mahalath whose son Adriel married Michal, Saul's daughter

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

13: words
11: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is לְבַרְזִלַּי֙ Barzillai H1271 — appearing just 12 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

לְבַרְזִלַּי֙ Barzillai H1271 occurs in 10 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

5 verbs
7 nouns
1 particle

Verb forms

וַיַּעֲבֹ֧ר Qal · Sequential Imperfect
עָבָ֑ר Qal · Perfect
וַיִּשַּׁ֨ק Qal · Sequential Imperfect
וַיְבָ֣רֲכֵ֔הוּ Piel · Sequential Imperfect
וַיָּ֖שָׁב Qal · Sequential Imperfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

וַיַּעֲבֹ֧ר to pass over H5674 ×2
וְהַמֶּ֣לֶךְ king H4428 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 27 words from the Hebrew and 26 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 13 Hebrew tokens and 24 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to 2 Samuel 19:39 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Genesis 31:55 Early in the morning, Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them. Laban departed and returned to his place.
Ruth 1:14 They lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth joined with her.
Genesis 47:7 Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
Genesis 14:19 He blessed him, and said, "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth:
Genesis 28:3 May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a company of peoples,
Genesis 45:15 He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him.
Genesis 47:10 Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.
Numbers 24:25 Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.

1 Samuel 24:22 David swore to Saul. Saul went home; but David and his men got them up to the stronghold.
2 Samuel 6:18 When David had made an end of offering the burnt offering and the peace-offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh of Hosts.
2 Samuel 6:20 Then David returned to bless his household. Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!
2 Samuel 13:25 The king said to Absalom, No, my son, let us not all go, lest we be burdensome to you. He pressed him: however he would not go, but blessed him.
2 Samuel 14:33 So Joab came to the king, and told him; and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.
1 Kings 19:20 He left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray you, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you. He said to him, Go back again; for what have I done to you?
Luke 2:34 and Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, "Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against.
Acts 20:37 They all wept a lot, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him,

1 Thessalonians 5:26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew 2 Samuel 19:39 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיַּעֲבֹ֧ר כָּל הָעָ֛ם אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּ֖ן וְהַמֶּ֣לֶךְ עָבָ֑ר וַיִּשַּׁ֨ק הַמֶּ֤לֶךְ לְבַרְזִלַּי֙ וַיְבָ֣רֲכֵ֔הוּ וַיָּ֖שָׁב לִמְקֹמֽוֹ

All the people went over the Jordan, and the king went over: and the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned to his own place.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 2 Samuel 19:39 Septuagint · lemma form

καί εἶπον ὁ βασιλεύς μετά ἐγώ διαβαίνω χαμααμ καΐἐγώ ποιέω αὐτός ὁ ἀγαθός ἐν ὀφθαλμός σύ καί πᾶς ὅσος ἐκλέγω ἐπί ἐγώ ποιέω σύ

And all the people went over Jordan, and the king went over; and the king kissed Berzelli, and blessed him; and he returned to his place.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)

וַאֲמַר מַלְכָּא עִמִי יֶעְבַּר כִּמְהָם וַאֲנָא אַעְבֵּיד לֵיהּ יַת דְתַקִין בְּעֵינָךְ וְכָל דְתִרְמֵי עָלַי אַעְבֵּיד לָךְ:

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on 2 Samuel 19:39 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

2Sa 19:39 And all the people went over Jordan. And when the king was come over, the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned unto his own place.

Ver. 39. And blessed him.] Benedixit, i.e., valedixit ei. At parting he prayed hard for him, and so dismissed him, not without many thanks for his great courtesy.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Tyndale Open Resources

19:39 kissed him: This was a genuine and affectionate kiss, in contrast with David’s cold kiss for Absalom (14:33) and Absalom’s calculating one for the people (15:5).

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Or, bade him farewell.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 39. The king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him] The kiss was the token of friendship and farewell; the blessing was a prayer to God for his prosperity, probably a prophetical benediction.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(39) All the people.—As “Israel” has been used throughout this narrative for Absalom’s supporters, so “the people” is used for those faithful to David.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

39. all the people] David’s followers, who are repeatedly termed the people in this narrative.

kissed Barzillai, and blessed him] A farewell salute. Cp. Gen_31:55.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And all the people went over Jordan,.... That were with David:

and when the king was come over; over Jordan, had got to the other side of it, whither Barzillai accompanied him:

the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; took his leave of him with a kiss, as friends were wont to do at parting, thanked him for all his favours, wished him well, and prayed to God to bless him with all blessings temporal and spiritual:

and he returned to his own place: his own city Rogelim, having crossed over again the river Jordan.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The “people” is the term especially applied in this narrative to David’s followers 2Sa 15:17; 2Sa 16:14; 2Sa 17:2; 2Sa 18:1-2; 2Sa 19:2-3. They crossed by the ford, while David and his household, accompanied by Barzillai and Chimham, came over in the ferry.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

2 Samuel, in the Historical, opens this verse with 13 words (11 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is Barzillay (“Barzillai”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “Barzillai” (Barzillay) shape what this verse is saying?
How does 2 Samuel 17:27, which shares the word «Barzillai», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “to pass over” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
«וַיַּעֲבֹ֧ר» is a Qal Sequential Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Tyndale Open Study Notes read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 13 Hebrew ↔ 24 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 6 words in this verse.
“to pass over” occurs 2× in this single verse.
11 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 13 words in this verse.