1 Kings 2:37
in 1 Kings 2On the day you go out and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will die; your blood will be on your own head.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For on the day thou goest out, and passest over the brook Kidron, know thou for certain that thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thine own head.
KJV
For it shall be, that on the day thou goest out, and passest over the brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thine own head.
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This verse in 1 Kings 2
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThy blood shall be upon thine own head - Thou knowest what to expect; if thou disobey my orders thou shalt certainly be slain, and then thou shalt be considered as a self-murderer; thou alone shalt be answerable for thy own death. Solomon knew that Shimei was a seditious man, and he chose to keep him under his own eye; for such a man at large, in favorable circumstances, might do much evil. His bitter revilings of David were a sufficient proof.
This site's exposition
Build thee an house in Jerusalem
on 1 Kings 2:36-38
Solomon's sentence on Shimei is confinement rather than death, house arrest bounded by the brook Kidron at the edge of the city, and the terms are stated so plainly that Shimei can only answer, the saying is good. Three years pass without incident, the longest quiet stretch in the chapter, before the terms are tested.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Kidron - A brook nigh Jerusalem, which he particularly names, because that was the way to Bahurim, his former habitation: but this is not all, for the restraint was general, that he should not go forth thence any whither. Thy blood - The blame and guilt of thy blood shall lie upon thyself only.
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.
For it shall be, that on the day thou goest out,....
This was a fair trial of his obedience, and such a test of his loyalty as he had no reason to complain of. He has his life upon easy terms: he shall live if he will but be content to live at Jerusalem.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָ֣ה׀ | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בְּי֣וֹם | beyom | on [the] day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| צֵאתְךָ֗ | tzetekha | going out you | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| וְעָֽבַרְתָּ֙ | veavarta | and you will pass over | H5674 → | 556 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| נַ֣חַל | nachal | [the] wadi of | H5158 → | 141 times |
| קִדְר֔וֹן | kidron | Kidron | H6939 → | |
| יָדֹ֥עַ | yadoa' | certainly <to know> | H3045 → | 945 times |
| תֵּדַ֖ע | teda' | you will know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מ֣וֹת | mot | certainly <to die> | H4191 → | 839 times |
| תָּמ֑וּת | tamut | you will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| דָּמְךָ֖ | damekha | blood your | H1818 → | 360 times |
| יִהְיֶ֥ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בְרֹאשֶֽׁךָ׃ | veroshekha | on own head your | H7218 → | 599 times |
וְהָיָ֣ה׀and it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
בְּי֣וֹםon [the] day
beyomH3117 →2304 times
צֵאתְךָ֗going out you
tzetekhaH3318 →1067 times
וְעָֽבַרְתָּ֙and you will pass over
veavartaH5674 →556 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
נַ֣חַל[the] wadi of
nachalH5158 →141 times
קִדְר֔וֹןKidron
kidronH6939 →
יָדֹ֥עַcertainly <to know>
yadoa'H3045 →945 times
תֵּדַ֖עyou will know
teda'H3045 →945 times
כִּ֣יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
מ֣וֹתcertainly <to die>
motH4191 →839 times
תָּמ֑וּתyou will die
tamutH4191 →839 times
דָּמְךָ֖blood your
damekhaH1818 →360 times
יִהְיֶ֥הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
בְרֹאשֶֽׁךָ׃on own head your
veroshekhaH7218 →599 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
Leviticus 20:9If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood shall be upon him.
it leads to
- Exodus 21:17
Anyone who curses his father or mother must surely be put to death.
- Mark 7:10
For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’
- Deuteronomy 27:16
‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Matthew 15:4
For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’
- Proverbs 20:20
Whoever curses his father or mother, his lamp will be extinguished in deepest darkness.
- Exodus 21:17
Through
2 Samuel 1:16For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood be on your own head because your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’”
it leads to
- Leviticus 20:9
If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood shall be upon him.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 27:25
All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”
- Leviticus 20:9
Through
Joshua 2:19If anyone goes out the door of your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head, and we will be innocent. But if a hand is laid on anyone with…
it leads to
- Acts 27:31
But Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain with the ship, you cannot be saved.”
- Acts 27:31
About 1 Kings

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.
