Quoting Commentary for II Samuel 15:20

תְּמ֣וֹל ׀ בּוֹאֶ֗ךָ וְהַיּ֞וֹם אנועך [אֲנִֽיעֲךָ֤] עִמָּ֙נוּ֙ לָלֶ֔כֶת וַאֲנִ֣י הוֹלֵ֔ךְ עַ֥ל אֲשֶׁר־אֲנִ֖י הוֹלֵ֑ךְ שׁ֣וּב וְהָשֵׁ֧ב אֶת־אַחֶ֛יךָ עִמָּ֖ךְ חֶ֥סֶד וֶאֱמֶֽת׃

Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us, seeing I go whither I may? return thou, and take back thy brethren with thee in kindness and truth.’

Chizkuni

קטונתי מכל החסדים, “I have not been worthy of all the acts of kindness;” Yaakov explains what prompts him to be so fearful; he says that G-d has already done more for him than he could have expected, seeing that he did not feel worthy of it. As a result of his unworthiness he was afraid thatEsau who had performed the commandment of honouring his father and mother all the years when he had been absent, had accumulated sufficient merits to emerge victorious in a military confrontation with him. [After all, his father had blessed him with being successful with his sword. Ed.] Whenever the expression חסד and אמת occur in the Scriptures (together), they refer to someone having performed kind deeds, beyond the call of duty. Examples Genesis 49,29, when Yaakov asks his son Joseph to transport his remains to the land of Canaan and for him to be buried next to his wife Leah, although he had buried Joseph’s mother on the roadside where she had died. We find another example in Samuel II 15,20, where David excuses Gittai, from Gat, a gentile, from endangering himself while remaining in his company while he has to flee from his own son Avshalom.
Ask a RabbiBookmarkShareCopy

Chizkuni

ועשית עמדי חסד ואמת, “and perform for me an act of kindness and truth.” Wherever we find the expression חסד ואמת, it refers to giving someone more than he is entitled to expect, or asking him to do something beyond what he is entitled to demand. One such example is found in Samuel II 15,20: שוב והשב את אחיך עמך חסד ואמת, “go back and take your kinsmen with you and perform an act of loyalty and kindness (with them).” [David was in dire straits and staying with him was likely to result in the death of Ittai and his men. He was not obligated to remain faithful to David. Ed] Yaakov reminds Joseph that while it is his duty to bury his father, he is not entitled to demand of him to bring him to burial in the cave of Machpelah. He therefore pleads with him not to bury him in Egypt.
Ask a RabbiBookmarkShareCopy