2 Samuel 16:8

8 ADONAI has brought back on you all the blood of the house of Sha'ul. You usurped his kingship, but ADONAI has handed over the kingdom to Avshalom your son. Now your own evil has overtaken you, because you are a man of blood!"

2 Samuel 16:8 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 16:8

The Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of
Saul
Which he would suggest was shed by David, or, however, that he was the cause of its being shed; as if he had stirred up the Philistines to that battle in which Saul and his sons were slain, and had an hand secretly in the deaths of Ishbosheth and Abner, all which were false insinuations; and it may be the seven sons of Saul before this time, though after related, were delivered into the hands of the Gibeonites to be hanged, to which respect may be had:

in whose stead thou hast reigned;
not by right, but by usurpation he suggests:

and the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy
son;
in this he seems to contradict himself; for if David had got the kingdom by usurpation, it would rather have, been delivered by the Lord into the hand of one of Saul's family, and not of David's:

and behold, thou [art taken] in thy mischief;
punished for his sins; the mischief he had brought on others was retaliated to him:

because thou [art] a bloody man;
guilty of slaying, as the Targum of shedding innocent blood, and so worthy of death.

2 Samuel 16:8 In-Context

6 and throwing stones at David and all King David's servants; even though all the people, including his bodyguard, surrounded him right and left.
7 When Shim'i cursed, he said, "Get out of here! Get out of here, you killer, you good-for-nothing!
8 ADONAI has brought back on you all the blood of the house of Sha'ul. You usurped his kingship, but ADONAI has handed over the kingdom to Avshalom your son. Now your own evil has overtaken you, because you are a man of blood!"
9 Avishai the son of Tz'ruyah said to the king, "Why allow this dead dog to curse my lord the king? Just let me go over and remove his head!"
10 The king said, "Do you sons of Tz'ruyah and I have anything in common? Let him curse. If ADONAI tells him, 'Curse David,' who has the right to ask, 'Why are you doing it?'"
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.