1 Kings 2:6
in 1 Kings 2So act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to Sheol in peace.
KJV
Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace.
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This verse in 1 Kings 2
Commentary
7 notes on this verse[David] orders Solomon to punish [Joab], not out of viciousness or hatred for him but because he knew that he was wicked and that, if he had acted with hostility against him who was a mature man, he would act even worse against a young …
This site's exposition
Joab the son of Zeruiah
on 1 Kings 2:5-6
Joab the son of Zeruiah carries a weight the reader has watched build since 2 Samuel 3:39, where David called the sons of Zeruiah too hard for him even as king; the debt for Abner and Amasa comes due only now. Both captains were killed under a truce, the blood of war put on a belt and shoes worn in peace, and David leaves the settling of it to Solomon's own wisdom rather than acting himself. The charge names no method, only that Joab's hoar head not go down to the grave in peace, the same phrase used of Shimei two verses later.
This site's exposition
act according to your wisdom
Albert Barnes judges that Joab, though David's nephew, was near David's own age. Adam Clarke faults David for the long delay and allows that the state of his government may have forced it. Matthew Henry adds that time wears away no guilt of blood.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), with an intimation that he left him to his justice. Say not, "He has a hoary head; it is a pity it should be cut off, for it will shortly fall of itself." No, let it not go down to the grave in peace. Though he has been long reprieved, he shall be reckoned with at last; time does not wear out the guilt of any sin, particularly that of murder.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Do therefore according to thy wisdom,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Let not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace - It would have been an insult to justice not to have taken the life of Joab. David was culpable in delaying it so long; but probably the circumstances of his government would not admit of his doing it sooner. According to the law of God, Joab, having murdered Abner and Amasa, should die. And had not David commanded Solomon to perform this act of justice, he could not have died in the approbation of his Maker.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
His hoar head - Joab, though the nephew of David, was probably not very greatly his junior, David being the youngest of the family, and Zeruiah, as is most likely, one of the eldest.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעָשִׂ֖יתָ | veasita | and you will act | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| כְּחָכְמָתֶ֑ךָ | kechakhematekha | according to wisdom your | H2451 → | 153 times |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תוֹרֵ֧ד | tored | you must bring down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| שֵׂיבָת֛וֹ | seivato | grey hair his | H7872 → | |
| בְּשָׁלֹ֖ם | beshalom | in peace | H7965 → | 236 times |
| שְׁאֹֽל׃ ס | sheol | Sheol | H7585 → |
וְעָשִׂ֖יתָand you will act
veasitaH6213 →2628 times
כְּחָכְמָתֶ֑ךָaccording to wisdom your
kechakhematekhaH2451 →153 times
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
תוֹרֵ֧דyou must bring down
toredH3381 →381 times
שֵׂיבָת֛וֹgrey hair his
seivatoH7872 →
בְּשָׁלֹ֖םin peace
beshalomH7965 →236 times
שְׁאֹֽל׃ סSheol
sheolH7585 →
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
Isaiah 48:22“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 57:21
“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
- Job 15:20–24
A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.
- Luke 19:42
and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes.
- Romans 3:17
and the way of peace they have not known.”
- Isaiah 57:21
Through
Isaiah 57:21“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 48:22
“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”
- Isaiah 3:11
Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.
- Isaiah 48:22
Through
Proverbs 28:17A man burdened by bloodguilt will flee into the Pit; let no one support him.
it leads to
- Genesis 9:6
Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.
- Genesis 9:6
Through
Proverbs 20:26A wise king separates out the wicked and drives the threshing wheel over them.
it leads to
- Proverbs 20:8
A king who sits on a throne to judge sifts out all evil with his eyes.
- Proverbs 20:8
About 1 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ishodad of Merv, BOOKS OF SESSIONS 1 KINGS 2:5-6; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.