Death Wish
Behold, there is with you Shimei the son of Gera the Benjamite, of Bahurim; now it was he who cursed me with a violent curse on the day I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ Now therefore, do not let him go unpunished, for you are a wise man; and you will know what you ought to do to him, and you will bring his gray hair down to Sheol with blood.” 1 Kings 2:8-9 NASB
With blood – Imagine you’re standing before David, the king, as he lies on his deathbed. You listen intently to his final instructions. Soon you will have to put into action the things he asks. What is the very last request he makes of you? Kill a man who cursed him whom he swore not to kill himself. In other words, David asks you to seek revenge on a man in his place so that he will not break his promise. “Solomon, my son. I made a promise not to harm this wretched man. But you didn’t. So I want you to kill him. That way I can keep my promise and he will still get what he deserves.”
How do you feel about the person whom God extolled as a man after His own heart? Compassion? Forgiveness? Generosity? What happened to those? In his last breath, David instructs his son to commit murder. The Hebrew could hardly be clearer. Bedam, “with blood,” directs Solomon to make sure Shimei doesn’t leave this life peacefully.
Then David dies. But Solomon, the young king, carries the weight. What do you suppose Solomon thinks about his father? Shall we recap?
Solomon’s father was involved in a conspiracy to commit murder in order to cover up an adulterous affair. Before Solomon was even born, his father committed unpardonable (almost) sins. Not only did Uriah die, so did Solomon’s real (full) brother. But David walked away.
Solomon’s father disregarded God’s sovereignty over the kingdom. By counting the populace, he caused the death of 70,000 innocent people.
Solomon’s father was a great poet, but he was also a man of war. He left a legacy of animosity among his children, born from other mothers, so much so that one half-brother attempted to overthrow his father, one half-brother raped a sister and one-half brother plotted to usurp Solomon. This father did anything but bring harmony to his own family. Even his favoritism led to further disaster. In the end, family members never recovered from the catastrophe the father initiated.
Now David is dead. The dying request places his special son in a very difficult situation. “Kill the man I could not kill. Save my reputation at the cost of your own.” Do you suppose Solomon doesn’t hear it like this? Are we so enamored with the David of Sunday School stories that we overlook the trauma associated with David’s final request? What happens to Solomon’s view of ethical uprightness—and to Solomon’s view of the God who loved his father—when the father can ask such a thing? How would you feel?
Topical Index: with blood, bedam, murder, Solomon, father, 1 Kings 2:8-9
Perhaps this helps to explain why Solomon “needed” a thousand wives.
Too funny (not), Suzanne!
I have noticed, all throughout Judges, that the ‘head’ of the nation is deliberately left vacant. No king for Israel. God did not set up a king; Israel chose that. Perhaps that was because having to establish dominant authority – forever fighting over the brood mares at the water hole – is an inherent characteristic that you have to understand on this planet to be able to hold a kingship. YHVH cursed that kingship. Perhaps it was because of that inevitable murder component. Under the judge system, people had to trust YHVH directly for all the direction, safety and identity that other godless nations had to rely on their kings for, and they also were not strapped into the genetic quandary of corrupt bloodlines. When a leader was needed, one could be raised up that fit the need.
In the New Testament, we have been returned to “no king but King Jesus”. Once again, we have been handed an apparently (earthly, anyway) headless system (popes need not apply). Maybe we can learn from that Old Testament history, here. I have noticed that even Yeshua’s coming kingdom will likewise brook no rivals, but I have also noticed that He is waiting for the mares to sort themselves, first.
Thank you, once again, for stripping the candy coating off, Skip. We are going to have to seriously deal with this problem – the interface between what YHVH allows and what He mandates. I have very dear people in my life that use the violence of the Old Testament to justify their not being able to reconcile a God of love with that violence. Could we talk about this in such a way that we could give a real answer to this charge?
You would profit from reading Yael Ziegler’s commentary on Ruth.
I went and found it. Perhaps you wanted me to notice that he portrays the nation during the period of the judges as “self-centered, miserly and slothful”. Hmm, sounds like modern America! Yep, self rule did not go well in ancient times, either! But that does not mean that we are not supposed to learn it as an ideal. Abraham was self-ruled, don’t forget. And, to be fair, later kings led the nation countless times down the path of national disaster, culminating in the ultimate conquest of Nebuchednezzar. David may have been God’s handpicked man, but Solomon was a choice of the lesser of the evils of David’s offspring.
I do find it amazing that the prophecy of Judah producing the line of the Messiah was a forecast of this shaping the choices of men to result in the choices of YHVH. I marvel time and again about prophecy; meeting as it does in a segue of the free choice of YHVH and us. This stuff drives me nuts!
Yael Zeigler (a woman) is an excellent Hebrew scholar. Her commentary on Ruth is quite powerful, especially since it pays close attention to the POLITICAL environment and implications of Ruth-Boaz. Well worth the read.
It certainly is, pardon as to Yael’s gender!
I just listened to Yael Zeigler teaching about David on YouTube. Wow! I like her 🙂
You “went and found” the book, read it (+500 pages), and posted this in just over an hour? Who are you?
no, I found the condensed teaching online. I still have to figure out how to find the book (online) because I cannot buy it. I am mere mortal, trust me.
It’s part of the reason. I’m working on the book.
Shalom everyone. I think that history repeats itselfs and in this case it will also repeat.
The Son will have to carry on His Father’s orders. All tanakh points to Yeshua HaMashiach.
Great tie in with yesterdays TW, Solomon didn’t just outright kill him, he allowed him to doom himself. He set him up. I went back and read the “petition” of Shimei in comparison with Jonathans son and it would seem that Shimei’s was concerned with his own welfare rather than the kings. But, hadn’t enough blood been spilled, and grace was given, and the oath was kept and kingdoms are established. Tares and wheat are impossible to tell apart when they’re young, but eventually they sprout heads. A seriously humbling consideration, at least for me. The law of kinds producing after kinds seems to be immutable, its woven into the fabric of this creation, wisdom is in how it’s applied.
YHWH bless you and keep you….
Vengeance is Mine, and recompense…
Personally, when I read about David’s issues and many others in Scripture, I don’t feel so bad! I get hope. Can you imagine If the Bible was filled with stories of perfect people who always did everything perfectly? I thank God that there are real people who struggled with real emotions and issues. There’s hope for all of us.
Exactly. The man after God’s own heart is pretty corrupt. Gives me hope too. More about all this is coming.
I, for one, am sure glad God loves sinners!! – (As all, including David, have sinned).
Someone once pointed out to me that after the Uriah incident David was no longer mentioned favorably by YHVH in Scripture