Who was Barzillai in the Bible?

from the old testament

• Barzillai means "iron-hearted" in Hebrew.
• Barzillai from Mehola had a son who married King Saul's daughter. Barzillai may have hoped to gain influence and power or create a legacy by aligning with Israel's first king. However, King Saul broke a generations-long treaty with the Gibeonites, and his descendants were executed (which included Barzillai's grandsons) in order to atone for Saul's sin and bring peace between Israel and the Gibeonites (2 Samuel 21:1–14).
• Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim showed great generosity and loyalty to King David. He hosted the king and his men when David fled the coup initiated by his son Absalom. Barzillai the Gileadite bravely aligned with God's chosen king, David. He was already an aged, wealthy, and influential man (2 Samuel 19:32) and when he saw "the people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness" (2 Samuel 17:29), he "brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans and lentils, honey and curds and sheep and cheese from the herd, for David and the people with him to eat" (2 Samuel 17:28–29). Barzillai generously shared from his bounty to care for those in need.
• When King David returned to power and offered to repay Barzillai's kindness, Barzillai asked that the reward be given to his servant Chimham who could benefit from the king's attention more than he would himself (2 Samuel 19:33–38). In both instances, Barzillai the Gileadite generously gave away his wealth and influence to people who needed it more than he did. This generous attitude left a strong legacy that benefitted Barzillai's descendants.
• When King David gave his final instructions to his son and successor, Solomon, he said, "deal loyally with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for with such loyalty they met me when I fled from Absalom your brother" (1 Kings 2:7).
• One of Barzillai's sons-in-law took his name for himself (Ezra 2:61, Nehemiah 7:63). This Barzillai’s descendants continued to serve the Lord when the Israelites returned to Jerusalem from their exile in Babylon.

from the new testament

• Barzillai is only mentioned in the Old Testament.

implications for today

Every person has the choice to live a life that grasps for power, wealth, and influence or to live a life of humility, actively seeking those in need and giving generously. Either choice can have far-reaching effects as younger generations observe these actions and experience their consequences and outcomes. God called the Israelites to live generously. He said, "You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, 'You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land'" (Deuteronomy 15:10–11). He calls believers to do the same (2 Corinthians 9:6–15; 1 Timothy 6:18; 1 John 3:16–18). Jesus set the ultimate example of not grasping for power but instead giving in a self-sacrificial way. Paul exhorts us: "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:5–8). May we live as generously as Barzillai the Gileadite as we continue to allow God to conform us to the humble and generous likeness of His Son.