1 Kings 2:36-46

III. SHEMEI'S THOUGHTLESS CHALLENGE OF SOLOMON'S AUTHORITY 2:36-46

TRANSLATION

(36) Now the king sent and called for Shimei, and he said to him, Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem, and dwell there; but do not go out from there anywhere. (37) For it shall come to pass in the day you go out, and cross over the brook Kidron, you shall know for certain that you will surely die, and your blood will be upon your own head. (38) And Shimei said to the king, The word is good. As my lord the king has spoken, thus shall your servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days. (39) But it came to pass at the end of three years, that two servants of Shimei fled unto Achish, son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold your servants are in Gath. (40) And Shimei arose, saddled his ass, and went to Gath unto Achish to seek his servants. Then Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. (41) Then it was related to Solomon, that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned. (42) And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Did I not swear to you by the LORD, and witness against you, saying, In the day that you go out, and travel anywhere you can know for certain that you will surely die? And you said, Good is the word I have heard. (43) Now why have you not kept the oath of the LORD, and the obligation which I set upon you? (44) And the king said unto Shimei, You know all the evil which your heart admits, which you did to David my father; now the LORD shall return your evil upon your head. (45) But King Solomon is blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever. (46) So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out, and fell upon him so that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

COMMENTS

Even though Shimei had recently been with Solomon (see comments on 1 Kings 2:8), his earlier bitter outburst against David made Solomon suspicious of him. Shimei was summoned to the palace and ordered to build a new home in Jerusalem and to thereafter remain in the capital (1 Kings 2:36). Solomon wanted to keep Shimei under surveillance; he also wished to neutralize his considerable influence in his tribe of Benjamin. In the most specific and emphatic terms, Solomon warned Shimei that should he ever leave the city for any reason, he would be executed for his past crime against the crown. Specifically Solomon mentioned crossing the brook Kidron east of Jerusalem, for that would be the direction that Shimei might be expected to go in an effort to return to his home at Bahurim just over the Mt. of Olives. It was Solomon's intention to keep Shimei isolated from his kinsmen of the tribe of Benjamin, who had spearheaded the revolt against David under Sheba (2 Samuel 20). Having been clearly warned, Shimei would be responsible for his own death should he venture out of the city (1 Kings 2:37). Shimei indicated his willingness to comply with the terms of the probation, and so he did for many days (1 Kings 2:38). The sentence was better than he deserved and probably better than he had expected especially in view of the fact that Solomon was not bound by the oath of his father to refrain from slaying Shimei (2 Samuel 19:23).

After three years of probation in Jerusalem, an incident occurred which was to cost Shimei his life. Two of Shimei's slaves ran away and took refuge with Achish, king of Gath (1 Kings 2:39). This is probably the grandson of the Achish with whom David took refuge more than forty years earlier. Learning the whereabouts of his slaves, Shimei immediately set out for Gath to retrieve them (1 Kings 2:40). The text indicates no secrecy on the part of Shimei either in going from or returning to Jerusalem. Why did he then place his life in jeopardy: Had he forgotten the stern warning which Solomon had given him? Did he think Solomon had forgotten? Did he feel that an exception would be made in view of the rather substantial loss he had incurred in the flight of two salves? Shimei appears to be a man who acted on impulse. Probably he never gave the terms of his probation a second thought until the day he was summoned to the palace.

It was not long before Shimei's violation was reported to Solomon either by his own secret service agency, or by enemies of Shimei (1 Kings 2:41). Shimei was summoned to the palace and interrogated by the king. Here it comes out for the first time that Solomon had bound Shimei by an oath to keep the conditions of the probation (1 Kings 2:42). A three-fold charge was brought against the man: (1) He had profaned the name of God by violating a solemn oath taken in His name (cf. Leviticus 19:12); (2) he had violated the terms of his probation, thus disregarding the commands of the king (1 Kings 2:43); and (3) he had cursed and blasphemed the Lord's anointed, David. For these transgressions Shimei was about to receive divine recompense at the hands of Solomon (1 Kings 2:44). By executing Shimei, Solomon was acting in the service of God and fully expected that God would be pleased with his action and bless him accordingly (1 Kings 2:45). Thus with no further hesitation, Solomon ordered Benaiah to execute Shimei. By swiftly eliminating his potential antagonists Adonijah, Abiathar, Joab and Shimei, Solomon firmly established himself as king.