2 Samuel 16:9

9 Zeruiah's son Abishai said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my master the king? Let me go over and cut his head off!"

2 Samuel 16:9 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 16:9

Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king
A sister's son of his, and a general in the army, who could not bear to hear the king abused in this manner:

why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?
be suffered to do it with impunity; a "dog" he calls him, because of his vileness and baseness, and because of his impudence, and on account of his reproachful and abusive language, aptly signified by the snarling and barking of a dog; and a "dead" dog, as being useless, detestable, and abominable:

let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head;
go over the plain where David and his men were, to the hill on which Shimei was, and strike off his head with his sword; which he could easily do, and soon put an end to his cursing.

2 Samuel 16:9 In-Context

7 This is what Shimei said as he cursed David: "Get out of here! Get out of here! You are a murderer! You are despicable!

8 The LORD has paid you back for all the blood of Saul's family, in whose place you rule, and the LORD has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. You are in this trouble because you are a murderer!"

9 Zeruiah's son Abishai said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my master the king? Let me go over and cut his head off!"

10 But the king said, "My problems aren't yours, you sons of Zeruiah. If he is cursing because the LORD told him to curse David, then who is to question, ‘Why are you doing this?'"

11 Then David addressed Abishai and all his servants: "Listen! My own son, one of my very own children, wants me dead. This Benjaminite can only feel the same—only more! Leave him alone. And let him curse, because the LORD told him to.