1 Kings 2:2

Webster's Bible Translation

I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and show thyself 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;

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 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 nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying, ² I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man; ³ And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself. ⁴ That the LORD may continue his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel. ⁵ Moreover, thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, [and] what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that [was] about his loins, and in his shoes that [were] on his feet. ⁶ Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoary head go down to the grave in peace. ⁷ But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table: for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom thy brother. ⁸ And behold, [thou hast] with thee Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjaminite of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I swore to him by the LORD, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword. ⁹ Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou [art] a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do to him; but his hoary head do thou bring down to the grave with blood. ¹⁰ So David slept 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
And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 2:8
And 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] Pison, which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where [there is] gold;

Exodus 23:12
Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thy ox and thy ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

Exodus 31:17
[It is] a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.

Deuteronomy 5:14
But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy ox, nor thy ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates; that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou.

Isaiah 58:13
If thou shalt turn away thy foot from the sabbath, [from] doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thy own ways, nor finding thy own pleasure, nor speaking [thy own] words:

John 5:17
But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

Hebrews 4:4
For he spoke in a certain place of the seventh [day] on this wise, And God rested the seventh day from all his works.

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.