1 Kings 2

The time was coming close for David to die. He gave these instructions to his son Solomon:

1Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

2"I am about to go the way everyone on earth goes. So be strong, and be a man.

2I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man;

Note"Go the way everyone on earth goes" is a Hebrew way of saying "I am about to die." "Be a man" here carries the sense of showing courage and resolve, not of growing up.

3Do what the LORD your God requires of you. Live the way he says to live. Keep his rules, his commands, his decisions, and his instructions, just as they are written in the law of Moses. Then you will do well in everything you do and everywhere you go.

3And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:

NoteWhere the King James and this rendering print LORD in capital letters, the Hebrew has the personal name of Israel's God (the four letters YHWH, often written Yahweh). Jewish readers said "the Lord" aloud instead of pronouncing it, and English translations follow that practice with the capitals. The four words "rules, commands, decisions, instructions" translate four Hebrew terms for parts of the law given through Moses; piling them up is a way of saying "everything he has laid down," not four separate categories a reader must distinguish.

4Do this so the LORD will keep the promise he made about me. He said, 'If your descendants are careful how they live, and walk faithfully in front of me with all their heart and all their soul, you will always have a man of your family on the throne of Israel.'

4That the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.

Note"The promise he made about me" refers to the message David received from the prophet Nathan (2 Samuel 7), that David's descendants would keep the throne. The promise as David repeats it here is conditional: it holds if his descendants keep faith.

5"You also know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me. You know what he did to the two commanders of Israel's armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He killed them. He spilled the blood of war during a time of peace. He got that blood on the belt around his waist and on the sandals on his feet.

5Moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.

NoteZeruiah was David's sister, so Joab was David's nephew as well as his army commander. Abner had been the general of Saul's rival house before joining David, and Joab killed him privately (2 Samuel 3); Amasa had commanded the army of David's rebel son Absalom, and David appointed him over Joab, who then killed him too (2 Samuel 20). "Spilled the blood of war during a time of peace" means Joab killed in a truce as if it were battle. Blood on the belt and sandals is a picture of guilt he still carries, and, in Israelite thinking, guilt that clings to the household that failed to answer for it.

6So use your good judgment, and do not let him die of old age in peace.

6Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace.

Note"Die of old age in peace" translates a phrase about a gray head going down to Sheol, the Hebrew name for the place of the dead, where everyone was thought to go. To go there "in peace" meant to die old and unpunished.

7But be kind to the sons of Barzillai from Gilead. Let them be among the people who eat at your table. They stood by me when I ran away from your brother Absalom.

7But shew kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table: for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom thy brother.

NoteEating at the king's table was a formal standing: a lifelong allowance and royal protection, not an occasional dinner invitation. Barzillai had supplied David with food and supplies during Absalom's revolt (2 Samuel 17, 19).

8"Remember also that Shimei son of Gera is with you. He is a man of the tribe of Benjamin from Bahurim. He called down a bitter curse on me the day I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan River, I swore to him by the LORD, 'I will not put you to death with the sword.'

8And, behold, thou hast with thee Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, which cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I sware to him by the LORD, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.

NoteShimei belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, the tribe of Saul, the king David replaced; his hostility was family and tribal politics. A curse was not just rude words but a formal calling-down of harm, taken seriously as an act with force behind it. David swore not to kill Shimei himself, an oath sworn in the LORD's name and binding on David personally, which is the loophole he points Solomon toward in the next verse.

9But do not treat him as innocent. You are a wise man, and you know what you should do to him. Send his gray head down to the grave in blood."

9Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him; but his hoar head bring thou down to the grave with blood.

10Then David died and joined his ancestors. He was buried in the City of David.

10So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.

Note"Died and joined his ancestors" is the standard formula for the death of a king, drawn from burial in the family tomb. The City of David is the old fortified hill of Jerusalem that David captured and made his capital.

11David ruled over Israel for forty years. He ruled seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

11And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.

NoteDuring the first seven years at Hebron, David ruled only the southern tribe of Judah; the northern tribes accepted him later, after which he moved his capital to Jerusalem.

12Then Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his rule was made very secure.

12Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly.

13Adonijah son of Haggith came to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. She asked, "Do you come in peace?" He answered, "Yes, in peace."

13And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably.

NoteAdonijah was Solomon's older half-brother, who in the previous chapter had a coronation feast held for himself while David was dying, and lost the throne when David named Solomon instead. Bathsheba's question is not politeness; a defeated rival arriving unannounced could mean trouble.

14Then he said, "I have something to say to you." She said, "Go ahead."

14He said moreover, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And she said, Say on.

15He said, "You know the kingdom was mine. All Israel expected me to be king. But things turned around, and the kingdom went to my brother, because the LORD gave it to him.

15And he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: howbeit the kingdom is turned about, and is become my brother’s: for it was his from the LORD.

16Now I have one request to ask of you. Do not turn me down." She said to him, "Go ahead."

16And now I ask one petition of thee, deny me not. And she said unto him, Say on.

17He said, "Please speak to King Solomon. He will not say no to you. Ask him to give me Abishag from Shunem as my wife."

17And he said, Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king, (for he will not say thee nay,) that he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife.

NoteAbishag was the young woman brought to the elderly David to keep him warm in his last illness (1 Kings 1). Whether or not the marriage was consummated, she counted as part of the old king's household of women, and taking a dead or deposed king's women was a public claim on his throne, which is why Solomon reacts as he does in verse 22.

18Bathsheba said, "All right. I will speak to the king for you."

18And Bathsheba said, Well; I will speak for thee unto the king.

19So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. The king stood up to meet her and bowed to her. Then he sat down on his throne and had a seat brought in for his mother, and she sat at his right side.

19Bathsheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king’s mother; and she sat on his right hand.

NoteThe mother of a reigning king held a recognized position at court, with her own seat beside the throne; the right-hand side was the place of honor. Solomon standing and bowing is court protocol for that office, which is what makes his flat refusal a few lines later so pointed.

20She said, "I have one small request to ask of you. Please do not turn me down." The king said to her, "Ask, my mother. I will not turn you down."

20Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee; I pray thee, say me not nay. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother: for I will not say thee nay.

21She said, "Let Abishag from Shunem be given to your brother Adonijah as his wife."

21And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife.

22King Solomon answered his mother, "Why are you asking for Abishag from Shunem for Adonijah? You may as well ask that he be made king too, since he is my older brother. Ask it for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah!"

22And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.

NoteAbiathar the priest and Joab the general had both backed Adonijah's attempt on the throne (1 Kings 1). Solomon's answer treats the marriage request as the same move by other means, since Adonijah was the elder brother and would have been the expected heir.

23Then King Solomon swore an oath by the LORD: "May God punish me, and worse, if Adonijah has not made this request at the cost of his own life.

23Then king Solomon sware by the LORD, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life.

Note"May God punish me, and worse" is a standard oath formula. The speaker calls down a penalty on himself if he fails to do what he says, and deliberately leaves the penalty unnamed.

24The LORD is the one who made my rule secure, who put me on the throne of my father David, and who gave me a family line, just as he promised. So as surely as the LORD lives, Adonijah will be put to death today."

24Now therefore, as the LORD liveth, which hath established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who hath made me an house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day.

Note"Gave me a family line" translates "made me a house", house meaning a dynasty of descendants, not a building.

25So King Solomon gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and Benaiah struck Adonijah down and killed him.

25And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.

NoteBenaiah commanded David's personal bodyguard of foreign mercenaries, a force answerable directly to the king rather than to Joab's army.

26The king said to Abiathar the priest, "Go to Anathoth, to your own fields. You deserve to die, but I will not put you to death now. You carried the ark of the Lord GOD in front of my father David, and you shared in all the hardship my father went through."

26And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the LORD God before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.

NoteAnathoth was a village a few miles northeast of Jerusalem set aside for priests; sending Abiathar to his own fields there is banishment from the court, not exile abroad. The ark was the gold-covered chest holding the tablets of the covenant, carried by priests and treated as the place of God's presence with Israel.

27So Solomon removed Abiathar from serving as priest to the LORD. This carried out what the LORD had said at Shiloh about the family of Eli.

27So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the LORD; that he might fulfil the word of the LORD, which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

NoteEli was the priest at the sanctuary of Shiloh generations earlier, told that his family would lose the priesthood because of his sons' conduct (1 Samuel 2). Abiathar was descended from Eli, so his dismissal is presented as the end of that line.

28The news reached Joab. Joab had sided with Adonijah, though he had not sided with Absalom. So Joab ran to the tent of the LORD and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar.

28Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.

NoteThe tent of the LORD was the portable sanctuary; the temple had not yet been built. The altar's four upper corners rose into projections called horns, and grabbing them was a recognized appeal for sanctuary, though Israelite law (Exodus 21:14) allowed a deliberate murderer to be taken from the altar and killed. Joab's earlier record is noted because he stayed loyal to David during Absalom's revolt but backed Adonijah in this one.

29King Solomon was told, "Joab has run to the tent of the LORD, and he is beside the altar." So Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada with this order: "Go, strike him down."

29And it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD; and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.

30Benaiah came to the tent of the LORD and said to Joab, "The king says, 'Come out.'" But Joab said, "No. I will die here." So Benaiah went back to the king and reported what Joab had said and how he had answered.

30And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the LORD, and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, Nay; but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.

31The king said to him, "Do what he said. Strike him down and bury him. That will clear away from me and from my father's family the guilt for the innocent blood Joab spilled.

31And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father.

Note"Innocent blood" is a legal term for a killing that has never been answered for. In Israelite thinking such blood left a standing debt on the household of whoever was responsible until it was settled, which is why Solomon speaks of clearing it away from his father's family.

32The LORD will bring Joab's bloodshed back on his own head. He attacked two men who were better and more upright than he was, and he killed them with the sword without my father David knowing. They were Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah's army.

32And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing thereof, to wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.

Note"Bring his bloodshed back on his own head" is a legal idiom: the responsibility, and the penalty, fall on the killer himself rather than on anyone else.

33So their blood will come back on Joab's head and on the heads of his descendants forever. But for David, his descendants, his family, and his throne, there will be peace from the LORD forever."

33Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever: but upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house, and upon his throne, shall there be peace for ever from the LORD.

34So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck Joab down, and killed him. Joab was buried at his own house out in open country.

34So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.

NoteBurial on one's own family property was normal; "out in open country" renders a word for the rough grazing land outside the towns, where Joab's estate lay.

35The king put Benaiah son of Jehoiada in Joab's place over the army, and he put Zadok the priest in Abiathar's place.

35And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host: and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar.

NoteZadok was the other chief priest, who had supported Solomon against Adonijah. With Abiathar removed, the priesthood passes entirely to Zadok's line.

36Then the king sent for Shimei and said to him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there. Do not leave the city to go anywhere else.

36And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Build thee an house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not forth thence any whither.

37On the day you do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, you can be sure you will die. Your death will be your own fault."

37For it shall be, that on the day thou goest out, and passest over the brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thine own head.

NoteThe Kidron is the ravine immediately east of Jerusalem. Crossing it is the first step of the road toward Bahurim, Shimei's home territory among his own tribe of Benjamin, so the boundary Solomon draws is not arbitrary. "Your death will be your own fault" translates "your blood will be on your own head": no one else bears the legal responsibility.

38Shimei said to the king, "What you say is fair. Your servant will do what my lord the king has said." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.

38And Shimei said unto the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.

39But three years later, two of Shimei's servants ran away to Achish son of Maacah, the king of Gath. Shimei was told, "Your servants are in Gath."

39And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away unto Achish son of Maachah king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy servants be in Gath.

NoteThe servants were slaves, legally Shimei's property, which is why he could pursue them. Gath was one of the five Philistine cities, outside Israelite control and a standing refuge for runaways and exiles.

40So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to look for his servants. He went and brought his servants back from Gath.

40And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants: and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath.

41Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back.

41And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and was come again.

42So the king sent for Shimei and said to him, "Didn't I make you swear by the LORD? Didn't I warn you, 'On the day you leave and go anywhere else, you can be sure you will die'? And you said to me, 'What you say is fair.'

42And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Did I not make thee to swear by the LORD, and protested unto thee, saying, Know for a certain, on the day thou goest out, and walkest abroad any whither, that thou shalt surely die? and thou saidst unto me, The word that I have heard is good.

43So why have you not kept your oath to the LORD and the command I gave you?"

43Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD, and the commandment that I have charged thee with?

44The king also said to Shimei, "You know in your own heart all the evil you did to my father David. So the LORD will bring your evil back on your own head.

44The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father: therefore the LORD shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head;

45But King Solomon will be blessed, and David's throne will stand secure before the LORD forever."

45And king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD for ever.

46Then the king gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down, and he died. So the kingdom was made secure in Solomon's hands.

46So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; which went out, and fell upon him, that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.