2 Samuel 19:16

KING DAVID SPARED THE LIFE OF SHIMEI

"And Shimei the son of Gera, the Bejaminite, from Bahurim, made haste to come down with the men of Judah to meet King David; and with him were a thousand men from Benjamin. And Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, with his fifteen sons and his twenty servants, rushed down to the Jordan before the king. And they crossed the ford to bring over the king's household, and to do his pleasure. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was about to cross the Jordan, and said to the king, "Let not my lord hold me guilty nor remember how your servant did wrong on the day my lord left Jerusalem; let not the king bear it in mind. For your servant knows that I have sinned; therefore, behold, I have come this day, the first of all the house of Joseph, to come down to meet my lord the king." Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered, "Shall not Shimei be put to death for because he cursed the Lord's anointed"? But King David said, "What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this be day as an adversary to me? Shall any one be put to death in Israel this day? For do not I know that I am this day king over Israel"? And the king said to Shimei, "You shall not die." And the king gave him his oath."

"Shimei the son of Gera ... and Ziba with his fifteen sons and twenty servants" (2 Samuel 19:16-17). "The fact that Shimei was attended by a thousand men of Benjamin is proof that he was a man of great influence and that he had exerted himself to enlist his tribesmen in the support of David. His coming was therefore of importance to David. Likewise Ziba also virtually represented the entire house of Saul; and his presence was also important."[14] The motives of both Shimei and Ziba were clearly selfish and their actions hypocritical, but David was correct in receiving all actions toward reconciliation, because it was a day of rejoicing and not a day of bloodshed. The victory had been won by Joab and his men, and the healing of all wounds properly received the priority to which it was entitled.

"They crossed the ford to bring over the king's household" (2 Samuel 19:18). We do not know exactly how Ziba and his men aided the king's household, whether by physically carrying them over the Jordan fords or by bringing boats, but that was a valuable service indeed. Ziba, of course, knew that David would learn of Ziba's unscrupulous lie against Mephibosheth; and his activity here was designed to ameliorate the king's response to it. "The Jerusalem Bible states that, `Ziba and his men worked manfully ferrying the king's family across.'"[15]

"I have come this day, the first of all the house of Joseph, to come down to meet my lord the king" (2 Samuel 19:20). The house of Joseph is here used as in Amos 5:6 for the Ten Northern Tribes. The hatred and jealousy between Judah and the northern Israel existed long before the formal division of the Chosen People in the times following the death of Solomon into the separate kingdoms of Judah and Israel. In fact, the rebellion of Absalom was probably fueled by the fierce jealousy of Judah over the influence of the northern tribes with David.

Shimei was a weak and selfish hypocrite; and there is no doubt that, "His reviling the king expressed his real thoughts."[16]

"Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord's anointed?" (2 Samuel 19:21). It was an extremely serious crime either to kill or to curse the Lord's anointed as indicated in 1 Samuel 24:6,10; 26:9. If David had allowed Abishai to kill Shimei, which he undoubtedly wanted to do, he could easily have precipitated a battle with great slaughter. Some scholars have suggested that Shimei's thousand men were actually a contingent of soldiers over whom Shimei was the chiliarch. Abishai is another example of how satanic temptations are able to reach any of us through our loved ones and associates.

"What have I to do with you ... that you should this day be an adversary to me" (2 Samuel 19:22). "The last clause here is in the Hebrew literally, `that ye be to me for a satan.'" Thus, in this particular, David fulfilled his role as a typical forerunner of the Christ who said to one of his close associates, "Get thee behind me Satan" (Matthew 16:23).

"You shall not die. And the king gave him his oath" (2 Samuel 19:23). Willis pointed out that, "As long as David lived, he kept his oath not to put Shimei to death, but near the end of his reign he instructed Solomon to take vengeance on Shimei "(1 Kings 2:8-9,36-46).[17] "We can hardly acquit David of breaking his oath."[18]