Melachim Alef 2:42

42 And HaMelech sent and summoned Shime’i, and said unto him, Did I not make thee to swear a shevu’ah by Hashem, and adjured thee [i.e., under oath], saying, Know for a certain, on the yom thou goest out, and walkest abroad any place whatever [outside Yerushalayim] that mot tamut (thou shalt surely die)? And thou saidst unto me, Tov HaDavar Sha’ma’ti (The good word I will hear, I will obey).

Melachim Alef 2:42 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 2:42

And the king sent and called for Shimei
He sent messengers to him, and by them ordered him to come to him, who accordingly came:

and he said unto him, did not I make thee swear by the Lord;
which, though not before mentioned, was no doubt done, nor did Shimei deny it:

and protested unto thee;
that is, declared before witnesses:

saying, know for certain, that on the day thou goest out;
namely, out of the city of Jerusalem:

and walkest abroad any whither;
further at most than the brook Kidron, or any other place equally distant from Jerusalem, on any side of it; for when he went to Gath, he did not go over Kidron, but went the road the other way around. Kidron lay to the east, and Gath to the west of Jerusalem: now the protestation made to him was, that if he went out of Jerusalem any way,

that thou shalt surely die;
it would be sure and certain death to him:

and thou saidst unto me, the word [that] I have heard [is] good;
not only he promised to obey it, and that with an oath, but declared it was agreeable and acceptable to him, and therefore the offence was a very aggravated one.

Melachim Alef 2:42 In-Context

40 And Shime’i arose, and saddled his chamor, and went to Gat to Achish to search for his avadim; and Shime’i went, and brought back his avadim from Gat.

41 And it was told Sh’lomo that Shime’i had gone from Yerushalayim to Gat, and had returned.

42 And HaMelech sent and summoned Shime’i, and said unto him, Did I not make thee to swear a shevu’ah by Hashem, and adjured thee [i.e., under oath], saying, Know for a certain, on the yom thou goest out, and walkest abroad any place whatever [outside Yerushalayim] that mot tamut (thou shalt surely die)? And thou saidst unto me, Tov HaDavar Sha’ma’ti (The good word I will hear, I will obey).

43 Why then hast thou not been shomer over the Shevuat Hashem, and the Mitzvah that I have charged thee with?

44 HaMelech said moreover to Shime’i, Thou knowest all the ra’ah which thine lev is privy to, that thou didst to Dovid Avi; therefore Hashem shall return thy ra’ah upon thine own rosh;