1 Kings 2:2

New King James Version

"I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“As for me, I am going the way of all of the earth. Be strong and be a man,

Hebrew Names Version
I am going the way of all the eretz: be you strong therefore, and show yourself a man;

King James Version
I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man;

English Standard Version
"I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man,

New Century Version
David said, "My time to die is near. Be a good and strong leader.

New English Translation
"I am about to die. Be strong and become a man!

Amplified Bible
"I am going the way of all the earth [as dust to dust]. Be strong and prove yourself a man.

New American Standard Bible
"I am going the way of all the earth. So be strong, and prove yourself a man.

Geneva Bible (1587)
I go the way of all the earth: be strong therefore, and shew thy selfe a man,

Legacy Standard Bible
"I am going the way of all the earth. So you shall be strong, and be a man.

Contemporary English Version
My son, I will soon die, as everyone must. But I want you to be strong and brave.

Complete Jewish Bible
"I am going the way of all the earth. Therefore, be strong; show yourself a man.

Darby Translation
I go the way of all the earth: be of good courage therefore, and be a man;

Easy-to-Read Version
"I am about to die, like all men must. But you are growing stronger and becoming a man.

George Lamsa Translation
I go the way of all the earth; be strong therefore, and show yourself a man;

Good News Translation
"My time to die has come. Be confident and determined,

Lexham English Bible
"I am about to go the way of all the world. Be strong and be courageous.

Literal Translation
I am going in the way of all the earth. And you be strong, and be a man,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
I go the waye of all the worlde, Be thou stroge therfore, and shewe thyselfe a man,

American Standard Version
I am going the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man;

Bible in Basic English
I am going the way of all the earth: so be strong and be a man;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
I go the way of al the earth, be thou strong therfore, & shewe thy selfe a man.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
'I go the way of all the earth; be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man;

King James Version (1611)
I goe the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thy selfe a man.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
but be thou strong, and shew thyself a man;

English Revised Version
I go the way of all the earth: he thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man;

Berean Standard Bible
"I am about to go the way of all of the earth. So be strong and prove yourself a man.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Y entre in to the weie of al erthe; be thou coumfortid, and be thou a strong man.

Young's Literal Translation
`I am going in the way of all the earth, and thou hast been strong, and become a man,

Update Bible Version
I am going the way of all the earth: be strong therefore, and show yourself a man;

Webster's Bible Translation
I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man;

World English Bible
I am going the way of all the earth: be you strong therefore, and show yourself a man;

New Living Translation
"I am going where everyone on earth must someday go. Take courage and be a man.

New Life Bible
"I am going the way of all the earth. So be strong. Show yourself to be a man.

New Revised Standard
"I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, be courageous,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
I, am going the way of all the earth, - thou must be strong, therefore, and show thyself a man;

Douay-Rheims Bible
I am going the way of all flesh: take thou courage and shew thyself a man.

Revised Standard Version
"I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man.

Contextual Overview

¹ Now the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying: ² "I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. ³ And keep the charge of the LORD your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; ⁴ that the LORD may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, "If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,' He said, "you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.' ⁵ "Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed. And he shed the blood of war in peacetime, and put the blood of war on his belt that was around his waist, and on his sandals that were on his feet. ⁶ Therefore do according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace. ⁷ "But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother. ⁸ "And see, you have with you Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a malicious curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the LORD, saying, "I will not put you to death with the sword.' ⁹ Now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and know what you ought to do to him; but bring his gray hair down to the grave with blood." ¹⁰ 1 Chronicles 3:4; 29:26-28">[xr] So David rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I go: Joshua 23:14, Job 16:22, Job 30:23, Psalms 89:48, Hebrews 9:27

be thou: Deuteronomy 17:19, Deuteronomy 17:20, Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:6, Joshua 1:7, 1 Chronicles 28:20, Ephesians 6:10, 2 Timothy 2:1

and show: 1 Kings 3:7, 2 Samuel 10:12, Ecclesiastes 12:13, 1 Corinthians 16:13, 1 Timothy 4:12

Reciprocal: Genesis 48:21 - Behold 1 Chronicles 28:7 - constant 1 Timothy 3:15 - know 2 Peter 1:14 - shortly

Cross-References

Genesis 1:31
Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 2:8
The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.

Genesis 2:11
The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.

Exodus 23:12
Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.

Exodus 31:17
It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed."'

Deuteronomy 5:14
but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

Isaiah 58:13
"If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the LORD honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words,

John 5:17
But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."

Hebrews 4:4
For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works"; Genesis 2:2">[fn]

Gill's Notes on the Bible

I go the way of all the earth,.... A path which is the path of death o, which all pass in, kings and peasants, high and low, rich and poor, great and small, good and bad; none are exempted, all must die, and do; it is the appointment of God, a decree which can never be reversed; all experience confirms it: this same phrase is used by Joshua, from whom David seems to have borrowed it, and shows that that book was written in his days, Joshua 23:14;

be thou strong therefore; not discouraged at my death, being a common thing, and to be expected; nor at being left alone, the Lord can give thee wisdom and counsel, assistance and strength, protection, and defence; take heart therefore, and be of good courage:

and show thyself a man; in wisdom and understanding, and in fortitude of mind, though so young a man; which were necessary for the government of so great a people, and to guard against the secret intrigues of some, and the open flatteries of others, and the fear of attempts against his person and government, and the temptations he might be liable to, to do wrong things; and especially they were necessary to enable him to keep the commands of God, as follows; which required great strength of mind and of grace, considering the corruptions of nature, the temptations of Satan, and the snares of men; see Joshua 1:7.

o "------ omnes una manet nox, Et calcanda semel via lethi". Horat. Carmin. l. 1. ode 28. ver. 15, 16.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

David appears to have in his thoughts the divine address to Joshua. Without following it servilely, he reproduces several of its leading expressions and sentiments (compare the margin reference). Solomon’s youth clearly constituted one of the chief difficulties of his position. If he was about nineteen or twenty, and known to be of a pacific disposition 1 Chronicles 22:9, then to have to rule over the warlike and turbulent Hebrew nation, with a strong party opposed to him, and brothers of full age ready to lead it, was evidently a most difficult task. Hence, he is exhorted, though in years a boy, to show himself in Spirit “a man.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 2:2. I go the way of all the earth — I am dying. All the inhabitants of the earth must come to the dust. In life, some follow one occupation, some another; but all must, sooner or later, come to the grave. Death is no respecter of persons; he visits the palace of the king as well as the cottage of the peasant.

Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas,

Regumque turres.

- HOR. Odar. lib. i., od. iv., ver. 13.

"With equal pace, impartial fate

Knocks at the palace as the cottage gate."

FRANCIS.

_________ Sed omnes una manet nox,

Et calcanda semel via lethi.

- Ib. od. xxviii., ver. 15.

"One dreary night for all mankind remains,

And once we all must tread the shadowy plains."

Ibid.

There is no respect to age or youth more than to station or external circumstance: -

Mixta senum ac juvenum densantur funera: nullum

Saeva caput Proserpina fugit.

- Ib. od. xxviii., ver. 19.

Thus age and youth promiscuous crowd the tomb;

No mortal head can shun the impending doom."

Ibid.

And it is not merely man that is subjected to this necessity; all that have in them the breath of life must lose it; it is the way of all the earth, both of men and inferior animals.

__________ Terrestria quando

Mortales animas vivunt sortita, neque ulla est

Aut parvo aut magno lethi fuga.

Vive memor quam sis aevi brevis.

HOR. Sat. l. ii., s. vi., ver. 93.

"All that tread the earth are subject to mortality; neither great nor small can avoid death. Live therefore conscious that your time is short."

It is painful to the pride of the great and mighty that, however decorated their tombs may be, they must undergo the same dissolution and corruption with the vulgar dead; for the grave is the house appointed for all living: man is born to die.

Omnium idem exitus est, sed et idem domicilium.

"For all have the same end, and are huddled together in the same narrow house."

Here emperors, kings, statesmen, warriors, heroes, and butchers of all kinds, with peasants and beggars, meet; however various their routes, they terminate in the same point. This and all other kindred sentiments on the subject are well expressed in that excellent little poem of Mr. Blair, entitled THE GRAVE, which opens with the following lines: -

While some affect the sun, and some the shade;

Some flee the city, some the hermitage;

Their aims as various as the roads they take

In journeying through life; the task be mine

To paint the gloomy horrors of the tomb,

The appointed place of rendezvous, where all

These travellers meet.

Show thyself a man — Act like a rational being, and not like a brute; and remember, that he acts most like a man who is most devoted to his GOD.