1 Kings 2:44

44 The king also said to Shimei, “You certainly remember all the wicked things you did to my father, David. May the LORD now bring that evil on your own head.

1 Kings 2:44 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 2:44

The king said moreover to Shimei
Not as another reason for his putting him to death, but to remind him of his former sins, and to observe to him the providence of God in suffering him to fall into others, that justice might take place upon him for them also:

thou knowest all the wickedness which thine heart is privy to, that
thou didst to David my father;
which conscience must bear witness to, and accuse him of, not only of the words and actions themselves uttered and done by him, but of the malice and wickedness from whence they sprung:

therefore the Lord shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head;
the punishment of it; which though not directly inflicted for that, yet in providence was brought about as a just retaliation for it.

1 Kings 2:44 In-Context

42 So the king sent for Shimei and demanded, “Didn’t I make you swear by the LORD and warn you not to go anywhere else or you would surely die? And you replied, ‘The sentence is fair; I will do as you say.’

43 Then why haven’t you kept your oath to the LORD and obeyed my command?”

44 The king also said to Shimei, “You certainly remember all the wicked things you did to my father, David. May the LORD now bring that evil on your own head.

45 But may I, King Solomon, receive the LORD ’s blessings, and may one of David’s descendants always sit on this throne in the presence of the LORD .”

46 Then, at the king’s command, Benaiah son of Jehoiada took Shimei outside and killed him. So the kingdom was now firmly in Solomon’s grip.