1 Kings 2:38
in 1 Kings 2“The sentence is fair,” Shimei replied. “Your servant will do as my lord the king has spoken.” And Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Shimei said unto the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.
KJV
And Shimei said unto the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.
⋯
This verse in 1 Kings 2
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem
on 1 Kings 2:36-38
Solomon sentences Shimei to confinement: “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and live there”, with the Kidron Valley as the bound. The terms are so plain that Shimei can only answer, “The sentence is fair”. He lives in Jerusalem “for a long time”, three years by verse 39.
This site's exposition
The sentence is fair
Shimei accepts the terms in his own words. Verse 42 shows he also swore to them by the LORD. Matthew Henry reads it as a man owning that the conditions of his life were fair, so his blood would rest on his own head.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), under the penalty of death, not to stir out of Jerusalem, and owns that the saying is good. Even those that perish cannot but own the conditions of pardon and life unexceptionable, so that their blood, like Shimei's, must rest upon their own heads. Shimei promised, with an oath, to keep within his bounds,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Put the blood - This is added to note his impenitency, that although by his perfidious manner of killing them when he pretended to embrace them, he stained his own garments with their blood, yet he was not ashamed of it, but gloried in it, and marched boldly along with the army, with the same girdle and shoes which were sprinkled with their blood.
And Shimei said unto the king, the saying is good,....
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| שִׁמְעִ֤י | shimi | Shimei | H8096 → | 43 times |
| לַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ | lamelekh | to the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| ט֣וֹב | tov | [is] good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| הַדָּבָ֔ר | hadavar | the word | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| דִּבֶּר֙ | diber | he has spoken | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֲדֹנִ֣י | ʾadoni | lord my | H113 → | 333 times |
| הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| כֵּ֖ן | ken | so | H3651 → | 771 times |
| יַעֲשֶׂ֣ה | yaaseh | he will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ | ʾavdekha | servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| וַיֵּ֧שֶׁב | vaiyeshev | and he dwelt | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| שִׁמְעִ֛י | shimi | Shimei | H8096 → | 43 times |
| בִּירוּשָׁלִַ֖ם | birushalim | in Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| יָמִ֥ים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| רַבִּֽים׃ ס | rabim | many | H7227 → | 454 times |
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
שִׁמְעִ֤יShimei
shimiH8096 →43 times
לַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙to the king
lamelekhH4428 →2525 times
ט֣וֹב[is] good
tovH2896 →538 times
הַדָּבָ֔רthe word
hadavarH1697 →1440 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֤רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
דִּבֶּר֙he has spoken
diberH1696 →1141 times
אֲדֹנִ֣יlord my
ʾadoniH113 →333 times
הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
כֵּ֖ןso
kenH3651 →771 times
יַעֲשֶׂ֣הhe will do
yaasehH6213 →2628 times
עַבְדֶּ֑ךָservant your
ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times
וַיֵּ֧שֶׁבand he dwelt
vaiyeshevH3427 →1079 times
שִׁמְעִ֛יShimei
shimiH8096 →43 times
בִּירוּשָׁלִַ֖םin Jerusalem
birushalimH3389 →643 times
יָמִ֥יםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
רַבִּֽים׃ סmany
rabimH7227 →454 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Kings 20:19But Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Will there not at least be peace and security in my lifetime?”
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 3:18
So Samuel told him everything and did not hide a thing from him. “He is the LORD,” replied Eli. “Let Him do what is good in His eyes.”
- Esther 9:30
And Mordecai sent letters with words of peace and truth to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes,
- Zechariah 8:19
“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: The fasts of the fourth, the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth months will become times of joy and gladness, cheerful feasts for the house of…
- Leviticus 10:3
Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: ‘To those who come near Me I will show My holiness, and in the sight of all the people I…
- 1 Samuel 3:18
Through
1 Kings 20:4And the king of Israel replied, “Just as you say, my lord the king: I am yours, along with all that I have.”
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 13:6–7
Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.
- Deuteronomy 28:48
you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.
- Judges 15:11–13
In response, three thousand men of Judah went to the cave at the rock of Etam, and they asked Samson, “Do you not realize that the Philistines rule over us? What have you done…
- Leviticus 26:36
As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to…
- 1 Samuel 13:6–7
Where this verse is studied
About 1 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.