I am now eighty years old. Can I discern what is good and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or drinks? Can I still hear the voice of singing men and women? Why should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?
Parallel translations
- WEB I am eighty years old, today. Can I discern between good and bad? Can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I hear the voice of singing men and singing women any more? Why then should your servant be a burden to my lord the king?
- KJV I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?
- NKJV I am today eighty years old. Can I discern between the good and bad? Can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I hear any longer the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be a further burden to my lord the king?
- NASB I am now eighty years old. Can I distinguish between good and bad? Or can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Or can I still hear the voice of men and women singing? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?
- NLT I am eighty years old today, and I can no longer enjoy anything. Food and wine are no longer tasty, and I cannot hear the singers as they sing. I would only be a burden to my lord the king.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Barzillai explained that at eighty his senses were dulled, so court pleasures would be wasted on him and he would only burden the king. It matters because he wisely declined honor he could no longer enjoy.
Overview
Barzillai candidly described how age had dimmed his taste and hearing, making the delights of Jerusalem meaningless to him. His honesty reflects humble self-knowledge and reluctance to be a burden. The verse offers a portrait of contented aging, free from grasping after pleasures that no longer satisfy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 2 Sam 15:33David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me.
- Ezra 2:65in addition to their 7,337 menservants and maidservants, as well as their 200 male and female singers.
- Ps 90:10The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty if we are strong—yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
- Exod 2:8“Go ahead,” Pharaoh’s daughter told her. And the girl went and called the boy’s mother.
- Job 12:11Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes its food?
- 1 Pet 2:3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
- Exod 12:4If the household is too small for a whole lamb, they are to share with the nearest neighbor based on the number of people, and apportion the lamb accordingly.
- 2 Sam 13:25“No, my son,” the king replied, “we should not all go, or we would be a burden to you.” Although Absalom urged him, he was not willing to go, but gave him his blessing.
- Isa 5:11–12Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine.
- Eccl 2:8and I accumulated for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered to myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men—many concubines.
- Eccl 12:1–5Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,”
- Heb 5:14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.
- Job 6:30Is there iniquity on my tongue? Can my mouth not discern malice?
- Neh 7:67in addition to their 7,337 menservants and maidservants, as well as their 245 male and female singers.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
God's covenant with David — a son whose throne and kingdom would last forever (7:12–16) — finds its yes in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns without end.
How 2 Samuel 19:35 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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