2 Samuel 16:9

"Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head." But the king said, "What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, `Curse David,' who then shall say, `Why have you done so'"? And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, "Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjamite! Let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord has bidden him. It may be that the Lord will look upon my affliction, and that the Lord will repay me with good for this cursing of me today." So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him and flung dust. And the king, and all the people who were with him, arrived weary at the Jordan, and there he refreshed himself."

"Abishai the son of Zeruiah" (2 Samuel 16:9). It is of interest that David addressed Abishai a moment later as, "You sons of Zeruiah," thus classifying all three of them, Asahel, Joab and Abishai, as men of a different temperament from himself. These sons of David's sister wanted to solve every problem violently. If one says something distasteful, go over and take his head off!

"Let me go over and take off his head" (2 Samuel 16:9). David would not allow Abishai to take vengeance on Shimei; and, perhaps, as Tatum suggested, "David left vengeance to the Lord,"[12] according to Deuteronomy 32:35, the prior existence of that commandment being quite evident in David's honoring of it in this episode.

"The Lord has bidden him" (2 Samuel 16:11). It is remarkable that David took this view of Shimei's actions; and Jamieson's explanation of it is probably correct. "David was guiltless of the crimes of which Shimei accused him, but his conscience reminded him of other flagrant sins in his lifem and he therefore regarded the cursing of Shimei as a chastisement from heaven."[13]

"The king ... arrived ... at the Jordan; and there he refreshed himself" (2 Samuel 16:14). The first part of his flight from Absalom was concluded. David would rest and refresh himself there and wait until word arrived from Jonathan and Ahimaaz concerning the intentions of Absalom.