1 Kings 2:9

9 "Now therefore, do not let him go unpunished, ¹for you are a wise man; and you will know what you ought to do to him, and you will bring his gray hair down to Sheol with blood."

1 Kings 2:9 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 2:9

Now therefore hold him not guiltless
Do not look upon him as an innocent person; and if he commits an offence against thee, as he has against me, do not acquit him as I have done:

for thou [art] a wise man;
so it seems he was before the appearance of the Lord to him at Gibeon, even before his father's death he had given some proofs of it to David himself:

and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him;
to watch and observe him, and, if found offending, to punish him according to the rules of justice, and the laws of the land:

but his hoary head bring thou down to the grave with blood;
spare him not on account of his age, but put him to death whensoever he shall be found guilty, let him not die a natural death.

1 Kings 2:9 In-Context

7 "But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table; for they assisted me when I fled from Absalom your brother.

8 "Behold, there is with you Shimei the son of Gera the Benjamite, of Bahurim; now it was he who cursed me with a violent curse on the day I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD , saying, 'I will not put you to death with the sword.'

9 "Now therefore, do not let him go unpunished, for you are a wise man; and you will know what you ought to do to him, and you will bring his gray hair down to Sheol with blood."

10 Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David.

11 The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years he reigned in Hebron and thirty-three years he reigned in Jerusalem.

Cross References

• 1. 1 Kings 2:6

Footnotes

• [a]. I.e. the nether world