1 Kings 2
2
David’s Final Words to Solomon
1 When David was close to death,#tn Heb “and the days of David approached to die.” he told#tn Or “commanded.” Solomon his son: 2 “I am about to die.#tn Heb “going the way of all the earth.” Be strong and become a man! 3 Do the job the Lord your God has assigned you#tn Heb “keep the charge of the Lord your God.” by following his instructions#tn Heb “by walking in his ways.” and obeying#tn Or “keeping.” his rules, commandments, regulations, and laws as written in the law of Moses. Then you will succeed in all you do and seek to accomplish,#tn Heb “then you will cause to succeed all which you do and all which you turn there.” 4 and the Lord will fulfill his promise to me,#tn Heb “then the Lord will establish his word which he spoke to me, saying.” ‘If your descendants watch their step#tn Heb “guard their way.” and live faithfully in my presence#tn Heb “by walking before me in faithfulness.” with all their heart and being,#tn Or “soul.” then,’ he promised,#tn Heb “saying.” ‘you will not fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’#tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man from upon the throne of Israel.”
5 “You know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me – how he murdered two commanders of the Israelite armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether.#tn Heb “what he did to the two commanders…and he killed them.” During peacetime he struck them down like he would in battle;#tn Heb “he shed the blood of battle in peace.” when he shed their blood as if in battle, he stained his own belt and the sandals on his feet.#tn Heb “and he shed the blood of battle when he killed which is on his waist and on his sandal[s] which are on his feet.” That is, he covered himself with guilt and his guilt was obvious to all who saw him. 6 Do to him what you think is appropriate,#tn Heb “according to your wisdom.” but don’t let him live long and die a peaceful death.#tn Heb “and do not bring down his grey hair in peace [to] Sheol.”
7 “Treat fairly#tn Heb “do loyalty with”; or “act faithfully toward.” the sons of Barzillai of Gilead and provide for their needs,#tn Heb “and let them be among the ones who eat [at] your table.” because they helped me#tn Heb “drew near to.” when I had to flee from your brother Absalom.
8 “Note well, you still have to contend with Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim,#tn Heb “Look, with you is Shimei….” who tried to call down upon me a horrible judgment when I went to Mahanaim.#tn Heb “and he cursed me with a horrible curse on the day I went to Mahanaim.” He came down and met me at the Jordan, and I solemnly promised#tn Or “swore an oath to.” him by the Lord, ‘I will not strike you down#tn Heb “kill you.” with the sword.’ 9 But now#tc The Lucianic recension of the Old Greek and the Vulgate have here “you” rather than “now.” The two words are homonyms in Hebrew. don’t treat him as if he were innocent. You are a wise man and you know how to handle him;#tn Heb “what you should do to him.” make sure he has a bloody death.”#tn Heb “bring his grey hair down in blood [to] Sheol.”
10 Then David passed away#tn Heb “and David lay down with his fathers.” and was buried in the city of David.#sn The phrase the city of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7. 11 David reigned over Israel forty years; he reigned in Hebron seven years, and in Jerusalem#map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. thirty-three years.
Solomon Secures the Throne
12 Solomon sat on his father David’s throne, and his royal authority#tn Or “kingship.” was firmly solidified.
13 Haggith’s son Adonijah visited Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. She asked, “Do you come in peace?” He answered, “Yes.”#tn Heb “[in] peace.” 14 He added,#tn Heb “and he said.” “I have something to say to you.” She replied, “Speak.” 15 He said, “You know that the kingdom#tn Or “kingship.” was mine and all Israel considered me king.#tn Heb “set their face to me to be king.” But then the kingdom was given to my brother, for the Lord decided it should be his.#tn Heb “and the kingdom turned about and became my brother’s, for from the Lord it became his.” 16 Now I’d like to ask you for just one thing. Please don’t refuse me.”#tn Heb “Do not turn back my face.” She said, “Go ahead and ask.”#tn Heb “She said, ‘Speak!’” 17 He said, “Please ask King Solomon if he would give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife, for he won’t refuse you.”#tn Heb “Say to Solomon the king, for he will not turn back your face, that he might give to me Abishag the Shunammite for a wife.” 18 Bathsheba replied, “That’s fine,#tn Heb “[It is] good!” I’ll speak to the king on your behalf.”
19 So Bathsheba visited King Solomon to speak to him on Adonijah’s behalf. The king got up to greet#tn Or “meet.” her, bowed to her, and then sat on his throne. He ordered a throne to be brought for the king’s mother,#tn Heb “he set up a throne for the mother of the king.” and she sat at his right hand. 20 She said, “I would like to ask you for just one small favor.#tn Or “I’d like to make just one request of you.” Please don’t refuse me.”#tn Heb “Do not turn back my face.” He said,#tn Heb “and the king said to her.” “Go ahead and ask, my mother, for I would not refuse you.” 21 She said, “Allow Abishag the Shunammite to be given to your brother Adonijah as a wife.” 22 King Solomon answered his mother, “Why just request Abishag the Shunammite for him?#tn Heb “for Adonijah.” Since he is my older brother, you should also request the kingdom for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah!”
23 King Solomon then swore an oath by the Lord, “May God judge me severely,#tn Heb “So may God do to me, and so may he add.” if Adonijah does not pay for this request with his life!#tn Heb “if with his life Adonijah has not spoken this word.” 24 Now, as certainly as the Lord lives (he who made me secure, allowed me to sit on my father David’s throne, and established a dynasty#tn Heb “house.” for me as he promised), Adonijah will be executed today!” 25 King Solomon then sent#tn The Hebrew text adds, “by the hand of.” Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he killed Adonijah.#tn Heb “and he struck him and he died.”
26 The king then told Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your property#tn Or “field.” in Anathoth. You deserve to die,#tn Heb “you are a man of death.” but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the sovereign Lord before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times.”#tn Heb “and because you suffered through all which my father suffered.” 27 Solomon dismissed Abiathar from his position as priest of the Lord,#tn Heb “Solomon drove out Abiathar from being a priest to the Lord.” fulfilling the decree of judgment the Lord made in Shiloh against the family of Eli.#tn Heb “fulfilling the word of the Lord which he spoke against the house of Eli in Shiloh.”
28 When the news reached Joab (for Joab had supported#tn Heb “turned after” (also later in this verse). Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom), he#tn Heb “Joab.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons. ran to the tent of the Lord and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar.#sn Grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. The “horns” of the altar were the horn-shaped projections on the four corners of the altar (see Exod 27:2). By going to the holy place and grabbing hold of the horns of the altar, Joab was seeking asylum from Solomon. 29 When King Solomon heard#tn Heb “and it was related to King Solomon.” that Joab had run to the tent of the Lord and was right there beside the altar, he ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada,#tn Heb “so Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying.” “Go, strike him down.” 30 When Benaiah arrived at the tent of the Lord, he said to him, “The king says, ‘Come out!’” But he replied, “No, I will die here!” So Benaiah sent word to the king and reported Joab’s reply.#tn Heb “saying, “In this way Joab spoke and in this way he answered me.” 31 The king told him, “Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father’s family#tn Heb “house.” the guilt of Joab’s murderous, bloody deeds.#tn Heb “take away the undeserved bloodshed which Joab spilled from upon me and from upon the house of my father.” 32 May the Lord punish him for the blood he shed;#tn Heb “The Lord will cause his blood to return upon his head.” behind my father David’s back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he#tn Heb “because he struck down two men more innocent and better than he and he killed them with the sword, and my father David did not know.” – Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army. 33 May Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their shed blood, but may the Lord give perpetual peace to David, his descendants, his family,#tn Heb “house.” and his dynasty.”#tn Heb “his throne.” 34 So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and executed Joab;#tn Heb “struck him and killed him.” The referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity. he was buried at his home in the wilderness. 35 The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada to take his place at the head of#tn Heb “over.” the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest to take Abiathar’s place.#tc The Old Greek translation includes after v. 35 some fourteen verses that are absent from the MT.
36 Next the king summoned#tn Heb “sent and summoned.” Shimei and told him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem#map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. and live there – but you may not leave there to go anywhere!#tn Heb “and you may not go out from there here or there.” 37 If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die! You will be responsible for your own death.”#tn Heb “your blood will be upon your head.” 38 Shimei said to the king, “My master the king’s proposal is acceptable.#tn Heb “Good is the word, as my master the king has spoken.” Your servant will do as you say.”#tn Heb “so your servant will do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.#tn Heb “many days.”
39 Three years later two of Shimei’s servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, “Look, your servants are in Gath.” 40 So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath. 41 When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned, 42 the king summoned#tn Heb “sent and summoned.” Shimei and said to him, “You will recall#tn Heb “Is it not [true]…?” In the Hebrew text the statement is interrogative; the rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course it is.” that I made you take an oath by the Lord, and I solemnly warned you, ‘If you ever leave and go anywhere,#tn Heb “here or there.” know for sure that you will certainly die.’ You said to me, ‘The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.’#tn Heb “good is the word; I have heard.” 43 Why then have you broken the oath you made before the Lord and disobeyed the order I gave you?”#tn Heb “Why have you not kept the oath [to] the Lord and the commandment I commanded you?” 44 Then the king said to Shimei, “You are well aware of the way you mistreated my father David.#tn Heb “You know all the evil, for your heart knows, which you did to David my father.” The Lord will punish you for what you did.#tn Heb “The Lord will cause your evil to return upon your head.” 45 But King Solomon will be empowered#tn Or “blessed.” and David’s dynasty#tn Heb “throne.” will endure permanently before the Lord.” 46 The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei.#tn “The king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada and he went out and struck him down and he died.”
So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom.#tn “And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.”
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1996 - 2007 by Biblical Studies Press, LLC
1 Kings 2
2
1The time of David's death was approaching, so he gave his son Solomon these last instructions:
2“I am about to go the way everybody on earth must go. Be brave, and act like a man. 3Do what God orders you to do, and follow his ways. Keep his rules, his commands, and his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses, so you may be successful in everything you do, and in everything you give your attention to. 4If so, then the Lord will keep his promise to me when he said: ‘If your descendants are to live right before me, faithfully and with complete commitment, then you will always have one of them on the throne of Israel.’
5In addition, you know what Joab, son of Zeruiah, did to me and what he did to Abner, son of Ner, and Amasa, son of Jether, the two army commanders of Israel. He murdered them, spilling the blood of war during a time of peace. He smeared the blood of war on his belt and on his sandals.#2:5. Thought by some to be a symbolic act that showed the complete destruction of the victim, ending his movement and his ability to father children. 6Do what you think is right, but don't let his gray head go down peacefully into the grave.
7But be kind to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead. Bring them into your royal court,#2:7. Literally, “let them eat from your table.” for they helped me when I ran from your brother Absalom.
8Don't you forget Shimei, son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim who cursed me with painful words when I went to Mahanaim. When he met me at the Jordan I swore to him by the Lord, ‘I will not kill you with the sword.’ 9So don't leave him unpunished. You're a wise man and you know what you have to do to him—send him down into the grave with blood on his gray head.”
10Then David died and was buried in the City of David. 11His reign over Israel lasted forty years; seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12Solomon took over as king, sitting on the throne of his father David, and his hold on his kingdom was secure.
13Adonijah, son of Haggith, went to see Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. She asked him, “Have you come here with good intentions?”#2:13. “With good intentions”: literally, “peaceably.” Knowing the previous history, Bathsheba was right to ask such a question. However, her acceptance of Adonijah's request is surprising, unless she saw what it might lead to. He replied, “Yes, with good intentions.”
14“I have something I'd like to ask of you,” he continued.
“Go on,” she said.
15“You know that the kingdom was mine,” he declared, “and everyone in Israel was looking forward to me being their next king. But everything was turned upside down, and the kingdom passed to my brother, because that's what the Lord wanted. 16Now I've just one request to ask of you—please don't say no.”
“Tell me,” she said.
17He went on, “Please talk to King Solomon for me because he won't turn you down. Ask him to give me Abishag from Shunem as my wife.”
18“Very well,” Bathsheba replied. “I will talk to the king for you.”
19So Bathsheba went to talk to King Solomon for Adonijah. The king got up from his throne to meet her, and bowed before her. Then he sat back down and ordered another throne brought in for his mother. She sat to his right.
20“I have just one small request to ask of you,” she said. “Please don't say no.”
The king replied, “Ask away, dear mother. I won't say no to you.”
21“Please give Abishag from Shunem to your brother Adonijah as his wife,” she replied.
22King Solomon answered his mother, “Why on earth are you asking me to give Abishag to Adonijah? You might as well ask me to give my brother the kingdom! He is my older brother, and Abiathar the priest and Joab, son of Zeruiah, are on his side!”
23Then King Solomon vowed before the Lord, “May God punish me, really punish me, if what Adonijah has asked for doesn't cost him his life. 24So I vow, as the Lord lives, who affirmed me as king and placed me on the throne of my father David, making me the head of a dynasty as he promised, Adonijah shall be executed today.”
25King Solomon sent Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, who carried out the king's orders and executed Adonijah.
26In the case of Abiathar, the high priest, the king told him, “Go home and take care of your fields. You should be condemned to death, but I will not kill you right now because you carried the Ark of the Lord God ahead of my father David and went through all his hard times with him.” 27So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from his position as priest of the Lord, and so fulfilled what the Lord had said at Shiloh regarding the descendants of Eli.#2:27. See 1 Samuel 2:30-35; 1 Samuel 3:11-14.
28When Joab heard the news he ran to the Lord's Tent and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. (He had not supported Absalom's rebellion but he had supported Adonijah.) 29When King Solomon was told that Joab was seeking sanctuary#2:29. Sanctuary: this only applied if the killing of another was accidental. This clearly was not the case for Joab's deliberate murders. by the altar, he sent Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, to execute him.
30Benaiah went to the Lord's Tent and called to Joab, “The king orders you to come out!”
“No! I'll die here!” Joab replied.
Benaiah went back to the king and told him what Joab had said. 31“Do as he says,” the king told Benaiah. “Strike him down and bury him. In that way you will remove from me and my family the guilt of the innocent blood that Joab shed. 32The Lord will pay him back for the blood he shed, for without my father David's knowledge, he killed two good men who were better than he was. With his sword he killed Abner, son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa, son of Jether, commander of Judah's army. 33May the responsibility for shedding their blood come back on Joab and his descendants forever; but may the Lord give peace and prosperity#2:33. “Peace and prosperity”: the word “shalom” includes both these concepts. to David, his descendants, his family, and his dynasty forever.”
34So Benaiah son of Jehoiada returned and killed Joab. He was buried at his home in the wilderness.
35The king appointed Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, to take over Joab's role as army commander, and replaced Abiathar with Zadok the priest.
36Then the king summoned Shimei and told him, “Go and build yourself a house in Jerusalem and stay there, but don't leave and go anywhere else. 37You should know for certain that the day you leave and cross the Kidron Valley you will die. Your death will be your own responsibility.”
38“What Your Majesty says is fair,” Shimei replied. “Your servant will do as my lord the king has ordered.” Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.
39But three years later, two of Shimei's slaves escaped to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. Shimei was told, “Look, your slaves are in Gath.” 40So Shimei saddled up his donkey and went to Achish in Gath to look for his slaves. He found them and brought them back from Gath.
41Solomon was informed that Shimei had left Jerusalem to go to Gath, and had then returned.
42The king summoned Shimei and asked him, “Didn't I vow to you by the Lord, didn't I warn you that the day you left and went somewhere else that you should know for certain that you would die? Didn't you reply to me, ‘What Your Majesty says is fair; I'll do as you ordered’? 43So why haven't you kept your vow to the Lord, and obeyed my orders?”
44The king also told Shimei, “Deep down you know all the evil things you did to my father David. That's why the Lord will repay you for your evil. 45But I, King Solomon, will be blessed and David's dynasty will be kept safe in the presence of the Lord forever.”
46The king ordered Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, to execute Shimei, so he went and killed Shimei. In this way Solomon's hold on the kingdom was made secure.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com