2 Samuel 19

2 Samuel 19

Wiersbe - Many a rebel will try to "change his tune" when the King comes back! David was trying to gather together the fragments of his kingdom, so he could not afford to alienate any of the tribes, but later on, Solomon gave Shimei what he deserved (1 Kings 2:36-46). (Borrow Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the Old Testament) Josephus wrote (Chapter 11.2) - "When the ambassadors came to him, he came to Jerusalem: and the tribe of Judah was the first that came to meet the King at the river Jordan. And Shimei, the son of Gera, came with a thousand men; which he brought with him out of the tribe of Benjamin: and Ziba, the freed man of Saul, with his sons, fifteen in number; and with his twenty servants. All these, as well as the tribe of Judah, laid a bridge [of boats] over the river; that the King, and those that were with him, might with ease pass over it. Now as soon as he was come to Jordan, the tribe of Judah saluted him. Shimei also came upon the bridge, and took hold of his feet, and prayed him, “To forgive him what he had offended; and not to be too bitter against him: nor to think fit to make him the first example of severity under his new authority; but to consider that he had repented of his failure of duty: and had taken care to come first of all to him.” SHIMEI - A Benjamite of the house of Saul, who stoned and cursed David when he reached Bahurim in his flight from Jerusalem on the occasion of the rebellion of Absalom (2Sa 16:5-13). After the defeat of Absalom he "came cringing to the king, humbly suing for pardon, bringing with him a thousand of his Benjamite tribesmen, and representing that he was heartily sorry for his crime, and had hurried the first of all the house of Israel to offer homage to the king" (2Sa 19:16-23). David forgave him; but on his death-bed he gave Solomon special instructions regarding Shimei, of whose fidelity he seems to have been in doubt (1 Kings 2:8,9). He was put to death at the command of Solomon, because he had violated his word by leaving Jerusalem and going to Gath to recover two of his servants who had escaped (1Ki 2:36-46). QUESTION - Who was Shimei in the Bible? ANSWER - There are a total of 18 men in the Bible with the name Shimei, all Israelites and all found in the Old Testament. Some Shimeis are simply mentioned by name in genealogies, some are called out for their sin of intermarriage with other cultures, and some are mentioned due to their relationship to other famous Bible characters (such as Saul, David, and Esther). You can find a few of them in the following passages: 2 Samuel 21:21; 1 Kings 1:8; 1 Chronicles 3:19; 4:26–27; 5:4; 6:29..... The other Shimei who stands out in the Bible is Shimei son of Gera, who was a part of King Saul’s clan. When King David was forced to flee from his son Absalom, who coveted his father’s throne, Shimei met the king along the way: “As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the same clan as Saul’s family came out from there. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and he cursed as he came out. He pelted David and all the king’s officials with stones, though all the troops and the special guard were on David’s right and left” (2 Samuel 16:5–6). Shimei blamed David for King Saul’s death during a battle with the Philistines. Saul had, in fact, fallen on his own sword to escape capture by the enemy (see 1 Chronicles 10:1–4); however, Shimei accused David of murder and announced that this was the reason Absalom was taking over the kingdom. David’s men wanted to kill Shimei then and there, but David, in his despair, believed the Lord had sent Shimei to curse him (2 Samuel 16:11–12), and he refused to allow his men to kill Shimei. David and his party resumed their journey, and Shimei continued to follow, cursing and throwing stones and dirt at them (1Sa 16:13). Eventually, Absalom’s rebellion was put down, Absalom was killed, and King David was restored to his throne. Shimei knew that he was now on shaky ground, so he gathered with him over a thousand Benjamites and went to meet David (2 Samuel 19:16–17). Falling on his face, Shimei apologized for his past behavior and begged the king not to hold it against him (2Sa 19:18–20). Again King David’s men asked to kill Shimei, but again David refused and gave Shimei his oath that he would not kill him. It seems that Shimei was a thoroughly despicable man, however, and that he persisted in his opposition to David. On his deathbed, David charged Solomon with the task of executing Shimei: “Do not consider him innocent. You are a man of wisdom; you will know what to do to him. Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood” (1 Kings 2:9). The only reason Shimei was still alive was that David was honoring his oath. Solomon showed Shimei mercy, giving him one final chance: as long as Shimei remained in Jerusalem, he would live (1Ki 2:36–37). Shimei agreed to the pact, but three years later he left the city. When King Solomon found out, he called for Shimei and told him, “You know in your heart all the wrong you did to my father David. Now the Lord will repay you for your wrongdoing” (verse 44). Shimei was then executed (1Ki 2:46). GotQuestions.org (Bolding added) 2 Samuel 19:17 There were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, with Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they rushed to the Jordan before the king Ziba: 2Sa 19:26,27 9:2,10 16:1-4 2 Samuel 19 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: 2 Samuel 9:1 Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David; and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.”....10 “You (ZIBA) and your sons and your servants shall cultivate the land for him, and you shall bring in the produce so that your master’s grandson may have food; nevertheless Mephibosheth your master’s grandson shall eat at my table regularly.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. SHIMEI'S RETINUE & ZIBA RUSH TO MEET DAVID There were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, with Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they rushed to the Jordan before the king ZIBA - ZIBA - zi'-ba (tsibha', tsibha' (2 Sam 16:4a), meaning unknown; Seiba): A former servant or probably dependent of Saul's house (2Sa 9:1ff), who was brought to David when the king inquired if there was not a member of Saul's family that he could show kindness to (compare David's oath to Jonathan in 1Sa 20:14 ff). Ziba tells David of Mephibosheth (Meribbaal), Jonathan's son, who is thereupon taken to the king from Lodebar, East of the Jordan, and given Saul's estate. Ziba is also bidden to till the land and bring in its produce, and "it shall be food for thy master's son," according to Massoretic Text in 2Sa 9:10b; but the Septuagint and Lucian have a better reading, "thy master's household." Mephibosheth himself is to eat at David's table. Ziba is to be assisted in this by his sons and servants; he had 15 sons and 20 servants (2Sa 9:10). When David has to leave Jerusalem at the time of Absalom's revolt, Ziba (2 Sam 16:1-4) takes two asses for members of the king's household to ride on, and 200 loaves and 100 clusters of raisins as provisions for the youths. When asked where Mephibosheth is, he accuses his master of remaining behind purposely in hopes that his father's kingdom would be restored to him. David then confers upon Ziba his master's estate. After Absalom's death, David sets out to return to Jerusalem from Mahanaim, East of Jordan. Ziba with his sons and servants, as we are told in a parenthesis in 2Sa 19:17,18a, by means of a ferry-boat goes backward and forward over Jordan, and thus enables the king's household to cross. But Ziba has wrongly accused his master of treacherous lukewarmness toward David, for Mephibosheth meets the king on his return journey to Jerusalem (2Sa 19:24-30 with signs of grief. When he is asked why he had not joined the king at the time of the latter's flight, he answers that Ziba deceived him, "for thy servant said to him, Saddle me (so read in 2Sa 19:26 with Septuagint and Syriac for Masoretic Text `I will have saddled me') the ass." He then accuses Ziba of falsehood, and David divides the estate between the two, although Mephibosheth is quite willing that Ziba should retain the whole of it. 2 Samuel 19:18 Then they kept crossing the ford to bring over the king's household, and to do what was good in his sight. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king as he was about to cross the Jordan fell down: Ps 66:3 81:15 Rev 3:9 2 Samuel 19 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passage: 2 Samuel 16:5 When King David came to Bahurim, behold, there came out from there a man of the family of the house of Saul whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came out cursing continually as he came. 6 He threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David; and all the people and all the mighty men were at his right hand and at his left. SHIMEI WHO CURSED NOW CRINGES! Then they kept crossing the ford to bring over the king's household - How were they crossing? Walking or being ferried across (KJV says "went over a ferry boat")? and to do what was good in his sight - In other words they did whatever the king wanted. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king as he was about to cross the Jordan - The one who had thrown curses, now falls cringing. He knew the old adage "to the victor go the spoils" and he realized his head might be one of the "spoils!" Guzik gives a great summary of Shimei's genuine repentance - Shimei showed a remarkably humble, contrite confession. He sinned greatly against David, and here he repented greatly before him. i. Shimei’s repentance was humble (fell down before the king). His posture represented his low place before David. ii. Shimei’s repentance honored David (Do not let my lord impute iniquity to me). He knew David had the right to impute iniquity, but he pleaded for mercy. iii. Shimei’s repentance was honest (I have sinned). He made no attempt to minimize his actions. iv. Shimei’s repentance was put into action (here I am, the first to come today of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king). Real repentance will show itself not only in words and ideas but also in action. 2 Samuel 19:19 So he said to the king, "Let not my lord consider me guilty, nor remember what your servant did wrong on the day when my lord the king came out from Jerusalem, so that the king would take it to heart. And said: Ec 10:4 Let not: 1Sa 22:15 Ps 32:2 Ro 4:6-8 2Co 5:19 remember: Ps 79:8 Isa 43:25 Jer 31:34 did perversely: 2Sa 16:5-9,10-14 Ex 10:16,17 1Sa 26:21 Mt 27:4 take it: 2Sa 13:20,33 1Sa 25:25 2 Samuel 19 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passage: 2 Samuel 16:5-9+ When King David came to Bahurim, behold, there came out from there a man of the family of the house of Saul whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came out cursing continually as he came. 6 He threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David; and all the people and all the mighty men were at his right hand and at his left. 7 Thus Shimei said when he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of bloodshed, and worthless fellow! 8 “The LORD has returned upon you all the bloodshed of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the LORD has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. And behold, you are taken in your own evil, for you are a man of bloodshed!” 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 now and cut off his head.” SHIMEI CONFESSES ASKING FORGIVENESS So he said to the king, "Let not my lord consider me guilty,nor remember what your servant did wrong on the day when my lord the king came out from Jerusalem, so that the king would take it to heart - NLT = "My lord the king, please forgive me," he pleaded. "Forget the terrible thing I did when you left Jerusalem." THOUGHT - It strikes me that Shimei gives us all a good pattern to emulate, for we have all often sinned greatly against an even greater King, the Son of David, Christ Jesus (and the Father and the Spirit of course). How we need to continually beg Him to forgive and forget our great sins against Him. Praise God for His infinite mercy and grace in Christ.