1 Kings 2:2

New Life Version

"I am going the way of all the earth. So be strong. Show yourself to be 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 King James Version
"I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man.

New Living Translation
"I am going where everyone on earth must someday go. Take courage and 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 When David's time to die was near, he told his son Solomon, ² "I am going the way of all the earth. So be strong. Show yourself to be a man. ³ Do what the Lord your God tells you. Walk in His ways. Keep all His Laws and His Word, by what is written in the Law of Moses. Then you will do well in all that you do and in every place you go. ⁴ Then the Lord will keep His promise to me. He has said to me, ‘Your sons must be careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and soul. If they do, you will never be without a man on the throne of Israel.' ⁵ Now you know what Zeruiah's son Joab did to me. You know what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel. He killed Abner the son of Ner, and Amasa the son of Jether in the time of peace as if it were in the time of war. He put the blood of war on his belt and on the shoes of his feet. ⁶ So act with wisdom. Do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace. ⁷ But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite. Let them be among those who eat at your table. For they helped me when I ran from your brother Absalom. ⁸ See, there is with you Shimei the son of Gera the Benjamite, of Bahurim. It was he who spoke bad words against me on the day I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to me at the Jordan, I promised him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.' ⁹ So do not let him go without being punished. For you are a wise man. You will know what you should do to him. Bring his gray hair down to the grave with blood." ¹⁰ Then David died 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
God saw all that He had made and it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 2:8
The Lord God planted a garden to the east in Eden. He put the man there whom He had made.

Genesis 2:11
The name of the first is Pishon. It flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.

Exodus 23:12
You will work six days and rest on the seventh day. So your bull and your donkey may rest. And the son of your female servant, and the stranger, may get their strength again.

Exodus 31:17
It is something special between Me and the people of Israel forever. For the Lord made heaven and earth in six days. But He stopped working and rested on the seventh day."

Deuteronomy 5:14
But the seventh day is a Day of Rest to the Lord your God. You, your son, your daughter, your man servant, your woman servant, your bull, donkey or any of your cattle, or the traveler who stays with you, must not do any work on this day. So your man servant and woman servant may rest as well as you.

Isaiah 58:13
"If you keep from doing what pleases you on the Day of Rest, on My holy day and call the Day of Rest a happy time, and respect the holy day of the Lord, and if you honor it by turning from your own ways, and from following your own desire and by not talking in a foolish way,

John 5:17
Jesus said to them, "My Father is still working all the time so I am working also."

Hebrews 4:4
In the Holy Writings He said this about the seventh day when He made the whole world, "God rested on the seventh day from all He had made."

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.