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1 Kings 2

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

2“I am going the way of all the earth. You be strong therefore, and show yourself a man;

3and keep the instruction of Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, according to that which is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do, and wherever you turn yourself.

4That Yahweh may establish his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your 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 you,’ he said, ‘a man on the throne of Israel.’

5“Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, even what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his sash that was about his waist, and in his shoes that were on his feet.

6Do therefore according to your wisdom, and don’t let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace.

7But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those who eat at your table; for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.

8“Behold, there is with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim; but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by Yahweh, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’

9Now therefore don’t hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man; and you will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray head down to Sheol with blood.”

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

11The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

12Solomon sat on the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was firmly established.

13Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. She said, “Do you come peaceably?” He said, “Peaceably.

14He said moreover, I have something to tell you.” She said, “Say on.”

15He said, “You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign. However the kingdom is turned around, and has become my brother’s; for it was his from Yahweh.

16Now I ask one petition of you. Don’t deny me.” She said to him, “Say on.”

17He said, “Please speak to Solomon the king (for he will not tell you ‘no’), that he give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife.”

18Bathsheba said, “Alright. I will speak for you to the king.”

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

20Then she said, “I ask one small petition of you; don’t deny me.” The king said to her, “Ask on, my mother; for I will not deny you.”

21She said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife.”

22King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.”

23Then king Solomon swore by Yahweh, saying, “God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life.

24Now therefore as Yahweh lives, who has established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death this day.”

25King Solomon sent by Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell on him, so that he died.

26To Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your own fields; for you are worthy of death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you bore the ark of the Lord Yahweh before David my father, and because you were afflicted in all in which my father was afflicted.”

27So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest to Yahweh, that he might fulfill Yahweh’s word, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

28The news came to Joab; for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he didn’t turn after Absalom. Joab fled to the Tent of Yahweh, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.

29It was told king Solomon, “Joab has fled to the Tent of Yahweh, and behold, he is by the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, fall on him.”

30Benaiah came to the Tent of Yahweh, and said to him, “Thus says the king, ‘Come out!’” He said, “No; but I will die here.” Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.”

31The king said to him, “Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him; that you may take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father’s house.

32Yahweh will return his blood on his own head, because he fell on two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, and my father David didn’t know it: Abner the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah.

33So shall their blood return on the head of Joab, and on the head of his offspring forever. But to David, and to his offspring, and to his house, and to his throne, there shall be peace forever from Yahweh.”

34Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell on him, and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.

35The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army; and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar.

36The king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and don’t go out from there anywhere.

37For on the day you go out, and pass over the brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall surely die: your blood shall be on your own head.”

38Shimei said to the king, “The saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

39At the end of three years, two of the servants of Shimei ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. They told Shimei, saying, “Behold, your servants are in Gath.”

40Shimei arose, and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his servants; and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath.

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

42The king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Didn’t I adjure you by Yahweh, and warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain, that on the day you go out, and walk abroad any where, you shall surely die?’ You said to me, ‘The saying that I have heard is good.’

43Why then have you not kept the oath of Yahweh, and the commandment that I have instructed you with?”

44The king said moreover to Shimei, “You know all the wickedness which your heart is privy to, that you did to David my father. Therefore Yahweh shall return your wickedness on your own head.

45But king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before Yahweh forever.”

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

Commentary

Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die,.... The number of his days fixed and determined by the Lord, Job 14:5; and which might be perceived as drawing nigh, both by himself and others, through the growing infirmities of old age, decline of nature, and various symptoms of an approaching dissolution which were upon him; see Ge 47:29. Abarbinel observes, that he is called only David, not King David; because Solomon his son was now anointed king, and reigned in his stead; so in 1Ki 1:10; but there is another reason given by some Jews {n}, that no man, even a king, has power in the day of death; he is no king then, he has no rule over that, but that rules over him:

and he charged Solomon his son; gave him his last and dying charge:

saying; as follows.

{n} Bereshit Rabba, sect. 96. fol. 83. 3.

2:1-4 David's charge to Solomon is, to keep the charge of the Lord. The authority of a dying father is much, but nothing to that of a living God. God promised David that the Messiah should come from his descendants, and that promise was absolute; but the promise, that there should not fail of them a man on the throne of Israel, was conditional; if he walks before God in sincerity, with zeal and resolution: in order hereunto, he must take heed to his way.

Chapter 2 In this chapter we have David setting and Solomon at the same time rising. I. The conclusion of David’s reign with his life. 1. The charge he gives to Solomon upon his death-bed, in general, to serve God (v. 1-4), in particular, concerning Joab, Barzillai, and Shimei (v. 5-9). 2. His death and burial, and the years of his reign (v. 10, 11). II. The beginning of Solomon’s reign (v. 12). Though he was to be a prince of peace, he began his reign with some remarkable acts of justice, 1. Upon Adonijah, whom he put to death for his aspiring pretensions (v. 13–25). 2. Upon Abiathar, whom he deposed from the high priesthood for siding with Adonijah (v. 26, 27). 3. Upon Joab, who he put to death for his late treasons and former murders (v. 28–35). 4. Upon Shimei, whom, for cursing David, he confined to Jerusalem (v. 36–38), and three years after, for transgressing the rules, put to death (v. 39–46).Verses 1-11 David, that great and good man, is here a dying man (v. 1), and a dead man, v. 10. It is well there is another life after this, for death stains all the glory of this, and lays it in the dust. We have here,I. The charge and instructions which David, when he was dying, gave to Solomon, his son and declared successor. He feels himself declining, and is not backward to own it, nor afraid to hear or speak of dying: I go the way of all the earth, v. 2. Heb. I am walking in it. Note, Death is a way; not only a period of this life, but a passage to a better. It is the way of all the earth, of all mankind who dwell on earth, and are themselves earth, and therefore must return to their earth. Even the sons and heirs of heaven must go the way of all the earth, they must needs die; but they walk with pleasure in this way, through the valley of the shadow of death, Ps. 23:4. Prophets, and even kings, must go this way to brighter light and honour than prophecy or sovereignty. David is going this way, and therefore gives Solomon directions what to do.1. He charges him, in general, to keep God’s commandments and to make conscience of his duty, v. 2-4. He prescribes to him, (1.) A good rule to act by—the divine will: "Govern thyself by that." David’s charge to him is to keep the charge of the Lord his God. The authority of a dying father is much, but nothing to that of a living God. There are great trusts which we are charged with by the Lord our God—let us keep them carefully, as those that must give account; and excellent statutes, which we must be ruled by—let us also keep them. The written word is our rule. Solomon must himself do as was written in the law of Moses. (2.) A good spirit to act with: Be strong and show thyself a man, though in years but a child. Those that would keep the charge of the Lord their God must put on resolution. (3.) Good reasons for all this. This would effectually conduce, [1.] To the prosperity of his kingdom. It is the way to prosper in all thou doest, and to succeed with honour and satisfaction in every undertaking. [2.] To the perpetuity of it: That the Lord may continue and so confirm his word which he spoke concerning me. Those that rightly value the treasure of the promise, that sacred depositum, cannot but be solicitous to preserve the entail of it, and very desirous that those who come after them may do nothing to cut it off. Let each, in his own age, successively, keep God’s charge, and then God will be sure to continue his word. We never let fall the promise till we let fall the precept. God had promised David that the Messiah should come from his loins, and that promise was absolute: but the promise that there should not fail him a man on the throne of Israel was conditional—if his seed behave themselves as they should. If Solomon, in his day, fulfil the condition, he does his part towards the perpetuating of the promise. The condition is that he walk before God in all his institutions, in sincerity, with zeal and resolution; and, in order hereunto, that he take heed to his way. In order to our constancy in religion, nothing is more necessary than caution and circumspection.2. He gives him directions concerning some particular persons, what to do with them, that he might make up his deficiencies in justice to some and kindness to others. (1.) Concerning Joab, v. 5 David was now conscious to himself that he had not done well to spare him, when he had made himself once again obnoxious to the law, but the murder of Abner first and afterwards of Amasa, both of them great men, captains of the hosts of Israel. He slew them treacherously (shed the blood of war in peace), and injuriously to David: Thou knowest what he did to me therein.

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Translations8 · 5

AMHEVG ዳዊትም የሚሞትበት ቀን ቀረበ፤ ልጁንም ሰሎሞንን እንዲህ ሲል አዘዘው፦ አማርኛ ENGNIV When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son. English BCV ዳዊት ዝሞተላ መዓልቲ ምስ ቀረበት ንሰሎሞን ወዱ ኸምዙይ ኢሉ ኣዘዞ፦ ትግርኛ GAZBIB Daawit yeroon du'uu isaa yommuu dhi'aate ilma isaa Solomoonin waamee gorsa kanatti fufee jiru in kenneef. Afaan Oromoo BCV GIZ ወበጽሐ መዋዕሊሁ ለዳዊት ለመዊት ወአዘዞ ለሰሎሞን ወልዱ ወይቤሎ፦ giz GAZGAZ Daawit yeroon du'uu isaa yommuu dhi'aate ilma isaa Solomoonin waamee gorsa kanatti fufee jiru in kenneef. Afaan Oromoo BCV aksum ዳዊት ዝሞተላ መዓልቲ ምስ ቀረበት ንሰሎሞን ወዱ ኸምዙይ ኢሉ ኣዘዞ፦ ትግርኛ AMHNIV ዳዊት የሚሞትበት ጊዜ እንደ ተቃረበም፣ ልጁን ሰሎሞንን እንዲህ ሲል አዘዘው፤ አማርኛ