“Finally, you have with you Shim‘i the son of Gera the Binyamini, from Bachurim. He laid a terrible curse on me when I was on my way to Machanayim; but he came down to meet me at the Yarden; so I swore to him by Adonai that I would not have him put to death with the sword.”-1 Kings 2:8
Next up, we have David’s instructions to Solomon concerning Shimei.
Recall, he was the elderly Benjamite from Bachurim.
When David was leaving Jerusalem, Shimei cursed him and threw dirt and stones at him.
No doubt Shimei assumed David’s reign as king was over.
However, to Shimei’s shock, David’s forces defeated Absalom and his followers.
So when David returned to Jerusalem as the triumphant king, Shimei did an about-face and asked David for mercy.
Shimei had 1000 of his fellow tribesmen from Benjamin with him at that time.
David made the wise decision not to put Shimei to death since he didn’t want anything spoiling what was to be a joyous day of celebration.
So Shimei was spared.
But David never forgot about him.
And now, in his final hours, David was telling Solomon…
“Now, however, you should not let him go unpunished. You are a wise man, and you will know what you should do to him — you will bring his gray head down to the grave with blood.”-1 Kings 2:9
This leads to the $64,000 question.
Was David wrong in ordering Solomon to put Shimei to death?
My answer?
It’s complicated.
There’s a strong case that this was NOT righteous behavior on David’s part.
Here’s why.
David had already forgiven Shimei.
So, telling Solomon to execute him later comes across like a sneaky workaround or delayed revenge.
This kind of clashes with David’s earlier behavior when he refused to kill Saul when he had the chance, twice actually.
David trusted God for justice.
But here?
It feels more personal.
The atmosphere reminds me more of a scene from The Godfather when Vito Corleone is telling his son to “Take care of the people who caused me problems.”
That ain’t the same as righteous judgment, homies.
But to be fair, David didn’t specifically tell Solomon to kill Shimei.
He left it up to Solomon’s wisdom.
And interestingly, we’ll see that Solomon initially spared Shimei.
He imposed certain conditions on him and executed Shimei only after he broke them.
So technically, one could argue that Shimei sealed his own fate.
So what’s the conclusion?
I think it’s safe to say that David was not acting at his best here.
This was a mixed bag of justice and personal residue
For sure, David was a great man.
But his life ended imperfectly
And it actually fits the pattern of David’s life so far.
David was indeed a man after God’s heart
But boy did he make some serious mistakes (Bathsheba, census, etc.)
What takeaway can we extract from this?
It boils down to something I’ve said before.
The Bible doesn’t sanitize its heroes, and that’s why we can trust the Scriptures.
Even the strongest believers can carry unresolved offenses, justify things late in life, or, as in David’s case here, blur the line between justice and revenge.
David finished his life as God’s anointed King.
But he was far from perfect.
And that’s the point.
Israel would have to wait for another Davidic ruler to come who would fulfill the Lord’s standard perfectly.
This Messiah would pay the price for all our transgressions and offenses we’ve committed against a holy God who demands perfect justice.
Ya feeling me?
Alrighty, I think I’ll stop here for today.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Don’t think that I have come to
abolish the Torah or the Prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to complete.“
-Matthew 5:17
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