38 The king answered, "Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good to you. Whatever you require of me, that I will do for you."
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me,.... He admitted of him instead of his father:
and I will do unto him that which shall seem good unto thee; he puts it to Barzillai, and leaves it with him to ask what he would for his son, and he would grant it. We nowhere read what it was that Barzillai asked, or whether he asked anything; only this we read, that some hundreds of years afterward there was a place called the habitation of Chimham near Bethlehem, Jeremiah 41:17; which makes it probable that David gave him a paternal estate of his there, since Bethlehem was his city; and the Targum on that place is expressly for it; See Gill on Jeremiah 41:17,
and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee; whatever suit he should make to him, or whatever favour he should ask of him hereafter, when returned to his own city, he would grant it to him, if it could be possibly done; such a sense should he always retain of his kindness to him.
David consented to this, and said, "All that thou desirest of me I will do to him." בּחר with על is a pregnant construction, signifying to choose and impose, "choose upon me," i.e., the thing for me to grant thee.
*More commentary available at chapter level.