The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 54

as my lord the klilg hath B&id, ao wtll thy for Shimei, a.nd said unto h1m. Did I not servant do. And Shimei dwelt [in obedience make thee swear by the Lord [it thus comes to this behest] in Jerusalem many days. out quite incidentally that Solomon bad Ver. 39.-And it ea.me to pass at the end bound Shimei by an oath. The LXX. em- of three yean that two of the servants of bodies this information o.sa direct statement Shimel ran away [it has been thought by in the text of ver. 37, .,d, .J,p.,urev avrov u some that their flight v.as preconcerted with {3auiAdH,; iv ry 1jµ,p'f <1<Eiv1,1, but it is obviously their master. But the narrative does not a gloss] a.nd protested unto thee, saying, favour this supposition] to Acltish, son of Know for a certain, on the day that thou Maacha.h, king of Gath. ['This may well goest out a.nd walkest abroad any whither, have been the " Acbish, son of Maocb" that thou shalt surely die ? and thou sa1dst (1 Sam. xxi. 11; xxvii. 2), to whom David unto me, The word that I have heard is :fled fifty years before. Longer reigns than good. [The LXX. (Vat.) omits" And thou this are not unknown to history. Or it saidst," &c. This last sentence has been may have been his grandson]. And they punctuated thus: "G[!od is the word. I have told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy servants be heard." Probably "ll?'~, "which," is to be in Gath. understood. • • Ver. 40.-A.!!d Shimei arose and saddled Ver. 43.-Why then hast thou not kept his ass ~not necessarily himsell. Qui facit the oath of the Lord a.nd the commandment per aliwn, facit per se. Matthew Henry that I have charged [Heb. commanded] thinks Shimei did it himself for the sake of thee with. [" Shimei ought to have been secresy. Many expositors also think that warned against trifling with Solomon's he went by night. The text rather suggests forbearance by the punishment already the idea that both the going and the return in.flicted on Adonijah and Joab." Words- were perfectly open and undisguised] and worth.] went te Gath. [It is impossible to avoid Ver. 44.-The king said, moreover [Heb. the question, What can have led to this in- And the king said] Thou lmowest all fatuated disregard of his oath and life? Now the wickedness which thine heart is privy his perversity may of course have been to [Heb. lcnoweth] that thou didst to David judicial-quos Deus vult perdere, prius de- my father [Solomon brings a threefold 11,entat-but as to the means which led to charge against Shimei. He has violated a this issue, it is enougb. if we may believe be solemn oath, "by the life of Jehovah," and had been dared to it eithel" by his servants so has " profaned the name of his God " or others. The fierce Benje.mite would (Lev. xix. 12). He bas broken his parole naturally be galled to the quick by the and set at naught the king's commandment. thought that his slaves could thus openly He has defied and blasphemed the Lord's set him at defiance; he may have heard anointed. He must die] therefore the Lord from those who came from Gath that they shall return [" bath returned," or "re- were exulting over him ; and he may have turns." LXX. avra1riow,cE, a.or. The king resolved at all hazards to teach them a. regards himself as merely the instrument lesson. He cannot have forgotten either and dispenser of the Divine Justice. Accord- Solomon's explicit warning or his own ing to him, it is God, not spite, demands solemn oath (ver. 42) ; he must have gone and has brought about Shimei's execution] to Gath with his eyes open, and nothing thy wickedness upon thine own head [Every but a great provocation, such as mockery Jew, taught to expect that "every trans- and defiance, will account for his going.] And gression and disobedience " wou_ld r~cei_ve Sh1me1 went a.nd brought his servants from its " just recompense of reward " m this )1fo Gath. present would see in Shimei's almost un- Ver. 41.-And it was told Solomon that accountable infatuation the finger of God. Sh1me1 had gone from Jerusalem to Gath To them he would seem delivered up to a.nd was come again. [He, no doubt, per- destruction. suaded himself that his immediate return, Ver. 45.-And king Solomon shall be especially when ta.ken in connexion with blessed, a.nd the throne or David shall be the object of his journey, would excuse him established before the Lord for ever. [It to the king. He would perhaps argue that is inconceivable that Solomon could have e. magnanimous sovereign like Solomon spoken thus if he bad been conscious either could never deal hardly with one who thus of sharp practice, or spite, or cruelty. The placed his life in his hands. He can hardly words are those of one who is sure that he have built bis hopes on hie not having is doing God service.] crossed the Kidro11, for he must have per- Ver. 46.-Bo the king commanded Ben- fectly understood that he was to go '' 1w a.1a.h, the son of Jehola.da, which went out whitMr." a.nd fell upon h1m that he died. [The Ver. 42.-And the king sent and called execution of Shimei has, perhaps, on the OB. II, 86-46.] THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 47