1 Kings 2:30-40

30 So Benaiah came to the tent of the LORD and said to him, "Thus the king has said, 'Come out.' " But he said, "No, for I will die here." And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, "Thus spoke Joab, and thus he answered me."

31 The king said to him, "¹Do as he has spoken and fall upon him and bury him, ²that you may remove from me and from my father's house the blood which Joab shed without cause.

32 "³The LORD will return his blood on his own head, ⁴because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he and killed them with the sword, while my father David did not know it: ⁵Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and ⁶Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.

33 "⁷So shall their blood return on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever; but to David and his descendants and his house and his throne, may there be peace from the LORD forever *."

34 Then ⁸Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell upon him and put him to death, and he was buried at his own house ⁹in the wilderness.

35 ¹⁰The king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place, and the king appointed ¹¹Zadok the priest ¹²in the place of Abiathar.

Shimei Executed

36 Now the king sent and called for ¹³Shimei and said to him, "Build for yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, and do not go out from there to any place.

37 "For on the day you go out and ¹⁴cross over the brook Kidron, you will know for certain that you shall surely die; ¹⁵your blood shall be on your own head."

38 Shimei then said to the king, "The word is good. As my lord the king has said, so your servant will do." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

39 But it came about at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away ¹⁶to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, "Behold, your servants are in Gath."

40 Then Shimei arose and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish to look for his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath.

1 Kings 2:30-40 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST KING 2

This chapter gives an account of the charge David gave to his son Solomon, a little before his death, to walk in the ways of the Lord, 1Ki 2:1-4; and of some instructions delivered to him concerning some particular persons he should either show favour to, or execute justice on, 1Ki 2:5-9; and the next account in it is concerning his death and burial, and the years of his reign, 1Ki 2:10,11; after which it relates an address of Bathsheba to Solomon in favour of Adonijah, which was refused, and the issue of it was his death, 1Ki 2:12-25; and the deposition of Abiathar from the priesthood, 1Ki 2:26,27; and the putting of Joab to death for his treason and murders, 1Ki 2:28-34; in whose post Benaiah was put, as Zadok was in the place of Abiathar, 1Ki 2:35; and lastly the confinement of Shimei in Jerusalem, who had cursed David, 1Ki 2:36-38; who upon transgressing the orders given him was put to death, 1Ki 2:39-46.

Cross References

• 1. Exodus 21:14
• 2. Numbers 35:33; Deuteronomy 19:13; Deuteronomy 21:8, 9
• 3. Genesis 9:6; Judges 9:24, 57; Psalms 7:16
• 4. 2 Chronicles 21:13, 14
• 5. 2 Samuel 3:27
• 6. 2 Samuel 20:9, 10
• 7. 2 Samuel 3:29
• 8. 1 Kings 2:25
• 9. Joshua 15:61; Matthew 3:1
• 10. 1 Kings 4:4
• 11. 1 Chronicles 6:53; 1 Chronicles 24:3; 1 Chronicles 29:22
• 12. 1 Kings 2:27
• 13. 2 Samuel 16:5; 1 Kings 2:8
• 14. 2 Samuel 15:23; 2 Kings 23:6; John 18:1
• 15. Joshua 2:19; 2 Samuel 1:16; Ezekiel 18:13
• 16. 1 Samuel 27:2

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "seed"
• [b] Lit "seed"
• [c] Or "wadi"