Nachschlagewerk zu Schemuel II 17:28

As we have said Rav traveled a great deal in Palestine as well as in Babylonia, and even though he considered his voyages burdensome and would say that “A man’s traveling is more difficult than a woman’s traveling,”¹⁷²⁾172) כתובות כ״ה א׳, סנהדרין כ״ו א׳. he loved the work of spreading the Torah with which he occupied himself on his travels. It seemed to him that “the Almighty has made everyone’s trade delightful in his own eyes.”¹⁷³⁾173) ברכות מ״ג ב׳. Still it seems that he grew tired of the traveling and consequently he said: “Any town where the roads go up and down hills makes man and beast old too soon.”¹⁷⁴⁾174) ערובין נ״ו א׳. Rav learned the value of hospitality on the road, he would often speak about the Patriarchs and their behavior towards strangers and wanderers. He praised Barzilai the Gileadite who brought king David various utensils and foodstuffs when he was in flight before his son Absalom (Samuel II, 17:28). Since the verse mentions the word ״קלי״ twice, Rav concluded that Barzilai brought two kinds of cooked food and stewed fruits.¹⁷⁵⁾175) עבודה זרה ל״ה ב׳.