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0 Solomon murders Joab, Shimei, and his brother Adonijah(1 Kings 2)

Episode 132: Solomon murders Joab, Shimei, and his brother Adonijah

1 Kings 2

David's last words: Murder Joab and Shimei

2 1 As David prepared to die, he called Solomon and said to him,

2 I'm going to die soon. Be strong. Show that you are a man.

5 You know what Joab did to me.

6 Do to him according to your wisdom. Don't let his grey head die in peace.

8 And Shimei, who cursed me when I ran away from Jerusalem.

I swore to God that I wouldn't kill him.

9 You are a wise man. You know what you should do to him.

10 And with that, David died. 11 He was king for forty years.

Solomon kills his brother Adonijah

12 After David died, Solomon sat on his father's throne.

13 One day, Adonijah came to visit Solomon's mother, Bathsheba.

15 Adonijah said to her,

As you know, the kingdom was mine, and all of Israel wanted me to be king.

But God has given it to my brother, Solomon.

16 Now I have only one thing to ask of you.

17 Ask Solomon to give me Abishag for my wife.

21 So Bathsheba said to Solomon, "Give Abishag to Adonijah for a wife."

22 Solomon said,

23-24 I swear to God, I’ll kill Adonijah today. And if I don't, let God kill me.

25 So Solomon sent Benaiah to kill his half-brother, Adonijah.

Solomon kills Joab and Shimei

26 King Solomon said to Abiathar the priest,

I should kill you, but I won't since you took care of the ark for my father.

27 But you're no longer a priest.

28 When Joab heard that Solomon had Adonijah killed, he fled to the tabernacle and held on to the horns of the altar.

29 Solomon sent Benaiah to kill him.

30 Benaiah went to the tabernacle and said to Joab, "Come out."

Joab said, "No thanks. I'll die here."

So Benaiah went back to Solomon and said, "He won't come out."

31 Solomon said, "Okay then, he wants to die on the altar. Kill him there."

34 So Benaiah killed Joab as he clung to the horns of the altar.

35 After Benaiah murdered Joab, Solomon made him his captain, and Zadok replaced Abiathar as priest.

36 Then Solomon sent for Shimei, and said to him,

Build a house in Jerusalem and never leave it.

37 Because the day you come out of your house and pass over the brook Kidron, you will be killed. Your blood will be upon your own head.

38 Shimei said, "Okay. Sounds good to me."

39 But after three years, two of Shimei's servants ran away to Gath.

40 So Shimei got on his donkey and went to Gath to retrieve them.

41 When Solomon heard that Shimei went to Gath, he said to him,

42 Didn't I tell you to stay in your house or die? 44 Now God is going to kill you.

46 And Solomon commanded Benaiah to kill Shimei. Which he did.

A few more words about this episode

You know what Joab did to me. (2:5)
It's not clear what David is referring to here, but it was probably when Joab killed Abner in 2 Samuel 3:27 (Episode 118).
Shimei, who cursed me when I ran away from Jerusalem (2:8)
See 2 Samuel 16:5-17 (Episode 126)
I swore to God that I wouldn't kill him. (2:8)
In 2 Samuel 19:23 (Episode 128), David swore to God that he wouldn't kill Shimei. Now he tells his son Solomon to do it for him.
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