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1 Kings 2:39

in 1 Kings 2

After three years, however, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. And Shimei was told, “Look, your slaves are in Gath.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away unto Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy servants are in Gath.

KJV

And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away unto Achish son of Maachah king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy servants be in Gath.

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This verse in 1 Kings 2

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Achish - A king, but subject and tributary, to Solomon. Permitted to enjoy the title and honour of a king, but not the full power; whence it was, that Achish could not keep these servants though they had fled to him for protection; but suffered Shimei to take them away from his royal city.

This site's exposition

two of the servants of Shimei ran away

on 1 Kings 2:39-40

Shimei's own servants flee to Achish king of Gath, a vassal ruler with no real power to shelter them against Solomon, and Shimei crosses the very boundary his oath forbade in order to fetch them back himself. The distance mattered to the commentators, some thirty miles each way, an errand no emergency required and a bound he could have sent another man to cross.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

5 Moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

And it came to pass, at the end of three years,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Achish - Possibly the Achish of the marginal reference, but more probably the grandson of the former Achish.

The words behind it

20 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיְהִ֗יand it was

    vayhiH1961 →3559 times

  • מִקֵּץ֙from [the] end of

    miketzH7093 →

  • שָׁלֹ֣שׁthree

    shaloshH7969 →432 times

  • שָׁנִ֔יםyears

    shanimH8141 →877 times

  • וַיִּבְרְח֤וּand they fled

    vaiyivrechuH1272 →63 times

  • שְׁנֵֽי־two

    shenei-H8147 →768 times

  • עֲבָדִים֙servants

    ʾavadimH5650 →799 times

  • לְשִׁמְעִ֔יof Shimei

    leshimiH8096 →43 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אָכִ֥ישׁAchish

    ʾakhishH397 →

  • בֶּֽן־[the] son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • מַעֲכָ֖הMaacah

    maakhahH4601 →23 times

  • מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of

    melekhH4428 →2525 times

  • גַּ֑תGath

    gatH1661 →32 times

  • וַיַּגִּ֤ידוּand people told

    vaiyagiduH5046 →370 times

  • לְשִׁמְעִי֙to Shimei

    leshimiH8096 →43 times

  • לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • הִנֵּ֥הthere!

    hinehH2009 →843 times

  • עֲבָדֶ֖יךָservants your

    ʾavadeikhaH5650 →799 times

  • בְּגַֽת׃[are] in Gath

    begatH1661 →32 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

3 in all, six open

The walk

4 stops

Each 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

    1 Samuel 21:10

    That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath.

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 27:1–2

      David, however, said to himself, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the…

    • 1 Kings 19:3

      And Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there,

    • Psalms 34:1–22

      I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.

    • Jeremiah 26:21

      King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and officials heard his words, and the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah found out about it, he fled in fear and went…

About 1 Kings

The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
1 Kings: the study guide →Read 1 Kings 2 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.

Read on in 1 Kings 2 →