1 Kings 2:9

9 do not thou suffer him to be unpunished; forsooth thou art a wise man, and thou shalt know what thou shalt do to him, and thou shalt lead forth his hoar hairs with blood to hells. (but now do not thou allow him to go unpunished; thou art a wise man, and thou knowest what thou shalt do to him, and that is, thou shalt lead forth his hoar hairs in blood down to Sheol, or into the grave!)

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 also thou shalt yield grace to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead, and they shall be eating in thy board (and they shall eat at thy table); for they met me, when I fled from the face of Absalom, thy brother.
8 Also thou hast with thee Shimei, the son of Gera, the son of Benjamin, of Bahurim, the which Shimei cursed me by the worst cursing, when I went to the defensible places; but for-thy he came down to me into my meeting, when I passed (the) Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, and said, I shall not slay thee with sword, (Also thou hast with thee Shimei, the son of Gera, the son of Benjamin, of Bahurim, the which Shimei cursed me by the worst cursing, when I went to Mahanaim; but he came down to meet me when I crossed over the Jordan River, and I swore to him by the Lord, and said, I shall not kill thee with the sword,)
9 do not thou suffer him to be unpunished; forsooth thou art a wise man, and thou shalt know what thou shalt do to him, and thou shalt lead forth his hoar hairs with blood to hells. (but now do not thou allow him to go unpunished; thou art a wise man, and thou knowest what thou shalt do to him, and that is, thou shalt lead forth his hoar hairs in blood down to Sheol, or into the grave!)
10 And (then) David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.
11 And the days, in which David reigned upon Israel, be forty years; in Hebron he reigned seven years, and in Jerusalem three and thirty years.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.