1 Kings 2:1

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹As the time drew near for David to die, he charged his son Solomon,²"I am about to go the way of all of the earth. So be strong and prove yourself a man. ³And keep the charge of the LORD your God to walk in His ways and to keep His statutes, commandments, ordinances, and decrees, as is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you turn, ⁴and so that the LORD may fulfill His promise to me: 'If your descendants take heed to walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.' ⁵Moreover, you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me and what he did to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, the two commanders of the armies of Israel. He killed them in peacetime to avenge the blood of war. He stained with the blood of war the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet. ⁶So act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. ⁷But show loving devotion to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, because they stood by me when I fled from your brother Absalom. ⁸Keep an eye on Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite with you from Bahurim who called down bitter curses against me on the day I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the LORD: 'I will never kill you with the sword.' ⁹Now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You know what you ought to do to him to bring his gray head down to Sheol in blood." ¹⁰Then David rested 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 created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:10
God called the dry land "earth," and the gathering of waters He called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 2:3
Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.

Genesis 2:4
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them.

Genesis 2:5
Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted; for the LORD God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.

Genesis 2:11
The name of the first river is Pishon; it winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.

Genesis 2:13
The name of the second river is Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush.

Exodus 20:11
For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

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

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