1 Kings 2:1

Brenton's Septuagint

And the days of David drew near that he should die: and he addressed his son Solomon, saying, I go the way of all the earth:

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
As the time approached for David to die, he ordered his son Solomon,

Hebrew Names Version
Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he charged Shlomo his son, saying,

King James Version
Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

English Standard Version
When David's time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying,

New Century Version
Since it was almost time for David to die, he gave his son Solomon his last commands.

New English Translation
When David was close to death, he told Solomon his son:

Amplified Bible
When David's time to die approached, he gave instructions to Solomon his son, saying,

New American Standard Bible
As David's time to die drew near, he commanded his son Solomon, saying,

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then the dayes of Dauid drewe neere that he should die, and hee charged Salomon his sonne, saying,

Legacy Standard Bible
Then David's time to die drew near, so he commanded Solomon his son, saying,

Contemporary English Version
Not long before David died, he told Solomon:

Complete Jewish Bible
The time came near for David to die; so he commissioned Shlomo his son as follows:

Darby Translation
And the days of David were at hand that he should die; and he enjoined Solomon his son saying,

Easy-to-Read Version
The time came for David to die, so he gave these commands to Solomon,

George Lamsa Translation
NOW the days of David to die drew near; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

Good News Translation
When David was about to die, he called his son Solomon and gave him his last instructions:

Lexham English Bible
The days of David came near for him to die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

Literal Translation
And the days of David drew near for him to die. And he commanded his son Solomon, saying,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Now whan the tyme came that Dauid shulde dye, he commaunded Salomon his sonne, and sayde:

American Standard Version
Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

Bible in Basic English
Now the time of David's death came near; and he gave orders to Solomon his son, saying,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
The dayes of Dauid drew nie that he should dye, & he charged Solomon his sonne, saying:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying:

King James Version (1611)
Now the dayes of Dauid drew nigh, that he should die, and he charged Solomon his sonne, saying;

English Revised Version
Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

Berean Standard Bible
As the time drew near for David to die, he charged his son Solomon,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe the daies of Dauid neiyiden, that he schulde die; and he comaundide to Salomon, his sone, and seide, Lo!

Young's Literal Translation
And draw near do the days of David to die, and he chargeth Solomon his son, saying,

Update Bible Version
Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

Webster's Bible Translation
Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

World English Bible
Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

New King James Version
Now the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying:

New Living Translation
As the time of King David's death approached, he gave this charge to his son Solomon:

New Life Bible
When David's time to die was near, he told his son Solomon,

New Revised Standard
When David's time to die drew near, he charged his son Solomon, saying:

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, when the days of David drew near that he must die, he charged Solomon his son, saying: -

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the days of David drew nigh that he should die, and he charged his son Solomon, saying:

Revised Standard Version
When David's time to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying,

THE MESSAGE
When David's time to die approached, he charged his son Solomon, saying, "I'm about to go the way of all the earth, but you—be strong; show what you're made of! Do what God tells you. Walk in the paths he shows you: Follow the life-map absolutely, keep an eye out for the signposts, his course for life set out in the revelation to Moses; then you'll get on well in whatever you do and wherever you go. Then God will confirm what he promised me when he said, ‘If your sons watch their step, staying true to me heart and soul, you'll always have a successor on Israel's throne.'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
As David's time to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying,

Contextual Overview

¹ And the days of David drew near that he should die: and he addressed his son Solomon, saying, I go the way of all the earth: ² but be thou strong, and shew thyself a man; ³ and keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep the commandments and the ordinances and the judgements which are written in the law of Moses; that thou mayest understand what thou shalt do in all things that I command thee: ⁴ that the Lord may confirm his word which he spoke, saying, If thy children shall take heed to their way to walk before me in truth with all their heart, I promise thee, saying, there shall not fail thee a man on the throne of Israel. ⁵ Moreover thou knowest all that Joab the son of Saruia did to me, what he did to the two captains of the forces of Israel, to Abenner the son of Ner, and to Amessai the son of Jether, that he slew them, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put innocent blood on his girdle that was about his loins, and on his sandal that was on his foot. ⁶ Therefore thou shalt deal with him according to thy wisdom, and thou shalt not bring down his grey hairs in peace to the grave. ⁷ But thou shalt deal kindly with the sons of Berzelli the Galaadite, and they shall be among those that eat at thy table; for thus they drew nigh to me when I fled from the face of thy brother Abessalom. ⁸ And, behold, there is with thee Semei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Baurim: and he cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went into the camp; and he came down to Jordan to meet me, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword. ⁹ But thou shalt by no means hold him guiltless, for thou art a wise man, and wilt know what thou shalt do to him, and shalt bring down his grey hairs with blood to the grave. ¹⁰ And David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the days: Genesis 47:29, Deuteronomy 31:14, Deuteronomy 33:1, 2 Timothy 4:6, 2 Peter 1:13-15

charged: Numbers 27:19, Deuteronomy 3:28, Deuteronomy 31:23, Acts 20:28-31, 1 Timothy 1:18, 1 Timothy 6:13, 2 Timothy 4:1

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 7:12 - And when Psalms 72:1 - the king's Proverbs 23:24 - father

Cross-References

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.

Genesis 1:10
And God called the dry land Earth, and the gatherings of the waters he called Seas, and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 2:3
And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he ceased from all his works which God began to do.

Genesis 2:4
This is the book of the generation of heaven and earth, when they were made, in the day in which the Lord God made the heaven and the earth,

Genesis 2:5
and every herb of the field before it was on the earth, and all the grass of the field before it sprang up, for God had not rained on the earth, and there was not a man to cultivate it.

Genesis 2:8
And God planted a garden eastward in Edem, and placed there the man whom he had formed.

Genesis 2:11
The name of the one, Phisom, this it is which encircles the whole land of Evilat, where there is gold.

Genesis 2:13
And the name of the second river is Geon, this it is which encircles the whole land of Ethiopia.

Exodus 20:11
For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, and the sea and all things in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it.

Exodus 31:17
It is a perpetual covenant with me and the children of Israel, it is a perpetual sign with me; for in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, and on the seventh day he ceased, and rested.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die,.... The number of his days fixed and determined by the Lord, Job 14:5; and which might be perceived as drawing nigh, both by himself and others, through the growing infirmities of old age, decline of nature, and various symptoms of an approaching dissolution which were upon him; see

Genesis 47:29. Abarbinel observes, that he is called only David, not King David; because Solomon his son was now anointed king, and reigned in his stead; so in 1 Kings 1:10; but there is another reason given by some Jews n, that no man, even a king, has power in the day of death; he is no king then, he has no rule over that, but that rules over him:

and he charged Solomon his son; gave him his last and dying charge:

saying; as follows.

n Bereshit Rabba, sect. 96. fol. 83. 3.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The events related in 1 Chr. 28–29 had occurred in the interval which separates the last and this present chapter.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER II

David leaves his dying charge with Solomon, relative to his own

personal conduct, 1-4;

to Joab, 5, 6;

to Barzillai, 7;

to Shimei, 8, 9.

He dies, and Solomon is established in the kingdom, 10-12.

Adonijah requests to have Abishag to wife, and is put to death

by Solomon, 13-25.

Abiathar the priest is banished to his estate at Anathoth,

26, 27.

Joab, fearing for his life, flees to the horns of the altar, and

is slain there by Benaiah, 28-34.

Benaiah is made captain of the host in his stead, 35.

Shimei is ordered to confine himself to Jerusalem, and never

leave it on pain of death, 36-38.

After three years he follows some of his runaway servants to

Gath, and thereby forfeits his life, 39, 40.

Solomon sends for him, upbraids him, and commands him to be

slain by Benaiah, 41-46.

NOTES ON CHAP. II