2 Samuel 16:5

5 Therefore king David came to Bahurim, and lo! a man of the family of the house of Saul, Shimei by name, [the] son of Gera, went out from thence; he went forth going out, and cursed (and he cursed David as he went forth).

2 Samuel 16:5 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 16:5

And when King David came to Bahurim
The Targum is, Alemath, perhaps the same that is said to be a city of the Levites, given unto them out of the tribe of Benjamin, ( 1 Chronicles 6:60 ) for the man next described, who was of this place, was a Benjaminite, ( 2 Samuel 19:16 ) ; (See Gill on 2 Samuel 3:16); David was not yet come to the city itself, but into the neighbourhood of it, the fields adjacent to it: and

behold, thence came out a man of the family of Saul;
a descendant of a branch of his family, who had entertained a private grudge and secret enmity against David, to whom he imputed the fall of the family of Saul:

whose name [was] Shimei, the son of Gera:
which might be a name common in the tribe of Benjamin, one of Benjamin's sons being named Gera, ( Genesis 46:21 ) . Some say F19 he was the same with Nebat, the father of Jeroboam; but he was of the tribe of Ephraim, this of Benjamin:

he came forth, and cursed still as he came;
he came out of Bahurim, of which place he was, and all the way he came continued cursing David, until he came near unto him.


FOOTNOTES:

F19 Hieron. Trad. Helb. in 2. Reg. fol. 79. B.

2 Samuel 16:5 In-Context

3 And the king said, Where is the son of thy lord? And Ziba answered to the king, He dwelled [still] in Jerusalem, and said, Today the Lord of the house of Israel shall restore to me the realm of my father. (And the king said, Where is the grandson of thy lord? And Ziba answered to the king, He remaineth in Jerusalem, and said, Today the house of Israel shall restore my grandfather's kingdom to me.)
4 And the king said to Ziba, All things that were of Mephibosheth be thine. And Ziba said, I pray, find I grace before thee, my lord the king. (And the king said to Ziba, All the things that were Mephibosheth's now be thine. And Ziba said, I pray thee, that I may find favour before thee, my lord the king.)
5 Therefore king David came to Bahurim, and lo! a man of the family of the house of Saul, Shimei by name, [the] son of Gera, went out from thence; he went forth going out, and cursed (and he cursed David as he went forth).
6 And he sent stones against David, and against all the servants of king David; and all the people, and all the fighting men went at the right side and at the left side of the king.
7 And Shimei spake thus, when he cursed the king, Go out, go out, thou man of bloods, that is, the shedder out of much guiltless blood, and man of Belial!
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.