Shimei Executed
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Solomon needed to keep a close eye on those who might instigate trouble.
David had warned him about Shimei the Benjamite, who had demonstrated his bitter opposition to the house of David. It made sense to restrict his movements.
“The reference to crossing the Kidron shows that it was for the purpose of preventing him from returning to his native domain, Bahurim (2 Sam. 16:5), where he would have the greatest influence and the best opportunity of stirring up trouble. Bahurim was in the vicinity of the Mt. of Olives on the way from Jerusalem to the Jordan.” For three years, Shimei followed this restraining order. Two of his servants ran away to the city of Gath.
When Shimei heard where they were, he went after them and returned with them to Jerusalem. The news of Shimei’s violation soon reached Solomon.
He, therefore, called Shimei to appear before him to explain his actions. Shimei had disobeyed the king’s decree and had violated his solemn oath to obey the king’s restraining order. “If Shimei had wished to remain true to his oath, he should have informed the king of the circumstances, made request for permission to go and bring his servants back, and awaited the king’s command. But by taking matters into his own hands, and by venturing into a foreign land that had often been at war with Solomon’s father, Shimei was certainly laying himself open to suspicion.” Solomon did not jump to a quick conclusion in the matter but rather wanted to hear from Shimei’s own mouth a defense for his actions. Shimei had no defense, and his silence became his death sentence (1 Kings 2:46). “God is not an arbitrary executioner of the sentence against transgression. Sinners reap in judgment what they themselves have sown. It was Shimei’s own iniquity, not merely the judgment of an earthly king, that condemned him to death.” “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise” (Proverbs 12:15).
