1 Kings 2:38

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

³⁵And the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in Joab's place over the army, and he appointed Zadok the priest in Abiathar's place. ³⁶Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else. ³⁷On the day you go out and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will die; your blood will be on your own head." ³⁸"The sentence is fair," Shimei replied. "Your servant will do as my lord the king has spoken." And Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.³⁹After three years, however, two of Shimei's slaves ran away to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. And Shimei was told, "Behold, your slaves are in Gath." ⁴⁰So Shimei saddled his donkey and set out to Achish at Gath in search of his slaves, and he brought them back from Gath. ⁴¹When it was reported to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned, ⁴²the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "Did I not make you swear by the LORD and warn you, 'On the day you leave and go elsewhere, know for sure that you will die'? And you told me, 'The sentence is fair; I will comply.' ⁴³So why have you not kept your oath to the LORD and the command that I gave you?" ⁴⁴The king also said, "You know in your heart all the evil that you did to my father David. Therefore the LORD will bring your evil back upon your head.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

The saying: 1 Kings 20:4, 2 Kings 20:19

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Shimei said unto the king, the saying [is] good,.... It was an act of goodness in the king, and what was good, grateful, and acceptable to him; for being sent for by him, and knowing how he had used his father, and hearing of several traitors being put to death, he expected this would have been his case; and wherefore, instead of being put to death, was only obliged to leave his habitation in the country, and come and live at Jerusalem, a pleasant and delightful city, and the metropolis of the nation, it was very agreeable to him:

as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do; and he not only promised, but swore to it, which Solomon obliged him to, 1 Kings 2:42;

and Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days; he accordingly built or purchased a house in Jerusalem, and removed from Bahurim to it, where he lived for the space of three years, as follows.