2 Samuel 16:8

8 You took Saul's kingdom, and now the Lord is punishing you for murdering so many of Saul's family. The Lord has given the kingdom to your son Absalom, and you are ruined, you murderer!"

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 Shimei started throwing stones at David and his officials, even though David was surrounded by his men and his bodyguards.
7 Shimei cursed him and said, "Get out! Get out! Murderer! Criminal!
8 You took Saul's kingdom, and now the Lord is punishing you for murdering so many of Saul's family. The Lord has given the kingdom to your son Absalom, and you are ruined, you murderer!"
9 Abishai, whose mother was Zeruiah, said to the king, "Your Majesty, why do you let this dog curse you? Let me go over there and cut off his head!"
10 "This is none of your business," the king said to Abishai and his brother Joab. "If he curses me because the Lord told him to, who has the right to ask why he does it?"
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.