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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 2:1-11

David, that great and good man, is here a dying man (1 Kgs. 2:1), and a dead man, 1 Kgs. 2:10. 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, 1 Kgs. 2:2. Heb. I am walking in it.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 2:8

And behold thou hast with thee Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim ,.... Of whom, and of his native place; see Gill on 2 Samuel 16:5 ; he was now at Jerusalem, and so with Solomon, or near at hand; and was on his side, and of his party; see 1 Kings 1:8 ; but not to be trusted, or looked upon as a real friend: which cursed me with a grievous curse, when I went to Mahanaim ; a place on the other side Jordan, of which place, and the curses this man cursed David, with, see ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 2:9

Now therefore hold him not guiltless ,.... Do not look upon him as an innocent person; and if he commits an offence against thee, as he has against me, do not acquit him as I have done: for thou art a wise man ; so it seems he was before the appearance of the Lord to him at Gibeon, even before his father's death he had given some proofs of it to David himself: and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him ; to watch and observe him, and, if found offending, to punish him according... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 2:8

Thou hast with thee Shimei - See on 2 Samuel 16:5 ; (note), etc., and the notes on 2 Samuel 19:18-23 ; (note). read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 2:9

Hold him not guiltless - Do not consider him as an innocent man, though I have sworn to him that I would not put him to death by the sword; yet as thou art a wise man, and knowest how to treat such persons, treat him as he deserves; only as I have sworn to him, and he is an aged man, let him not die a violent death; bring not down his hoary head to the grave with blood. So Solomon understood David, and so I think David should be understood; for the negative particle לא lo , in the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 2:1-11

A Jewish deathbed. A brilliant poet and essayist once summoned his stepson, the young Earl of Warwick, to his bedside, and with perfect dignity and composure bade him mark "how a Christian man can die." In this section, one far greater, and yet in one sense far less, than Addison,—greater as a poet, as a statesman, as a patriot; less, inasmuch as "he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he,"—beckons us to the chamber of death, and bids us witness the departure of a pious... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 2:1-11

Eikon Basilike. The king, the close of whose chequered and romantic career is narrated in this section, was the pattern king of the Hebrew people, and is in many respects a model for all kings. The portrait drawn here and in the Psalms is a veritable Eikon Basilike, both truer and worthier of regard than that "Portraiture of his sacred Majesty," so famous and so influential in the history of our own country. We see him gathered to his fathers. Let us honestly frame his eulogium. I. ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 2:1-11

Holy Scripture gives us many a touching and pathetic description of the death of the father of a family, showing how it at once sanctions and sanctifies natural affection. The farewells of David remind us of those of Jacob. Death sometimes seems to fill the men of God of the old covenant with the spirit of prophecy, as if the summit of the earthly life was illuminated with a purer radiance falling upon it from a higher sphere. Death is indeed to all the messenger of God to reveal to us great... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 2:8

And, behold, thou hast with thee [Bähr understands by עִמְּךָ , "near thee," ( in deiner Nahe ) because Bahurim was near Jerusalem. Keil gathers from this word that Shimei "was living at that time in Jerusalem," and refers to 1 Kings 2:36 , which, if anything, implies that he was not. But it is worth suggesting whether Shimei may not be the Shimei to whom reference is made in 1 Kings 1:8 . We there find Shimei and Rei mentioned as firm adherents of Solomon at the time of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 2:9

Now therefore [lit; " and now." Possibly the "now" is a note of time in apposition to the "day" of 1 Kings 2:8 , or rather the time of David's oath. "I then unadvisedly swam unto him, but now the law must have its course." Probably it is merely inferential,— quae cum ita sint ] hold him not guiltless [rather, thou shalt not leave him unpunished (Vatablus, Gesen; Bähr, al. ) ; cf. Exodus 20:7 ; Jeremiah 30:11 ]; for thou art a wise man [ φρόνιμος rather than ... read more

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