1 Kings 2:36

SOLOMON'S SEVERE RESTRICTIONS UPON SHIMEI

"And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Build thee a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not forth thence any whither. For in the day that thou goest out, and passest over the brook Kidron, know thou for certain that thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thine own head. And Shimei said unto the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days."

These restrictions which Solomon imposed upon Shimei were more onerous than might appear. Jerusalem, at that time, was a city of less than thirty-five acres; and for a man who commanded a thousand followers in Barhurim, along with what was probably a very extensive estate, such a restriction was indeed severe. Nevertheless, Shimei agreed to the conditions upon which Solomon spared his life and strictly observed them for three years. We have already noted that David had promised that Shimei should not die; but in ordering Solomon to find some good reason for killing Shimei, David revised that promise to mean merely that David would not personally kill him. The real reason, no doubt, for the projected execution of him was the potential danger to the throne of Solomon which David foresaw in a powerful Benjamite like Shimei.

SHIMEI WAS ALSO EXECUTED BY KING SOLOMON

Israel was getting a remarkably effective lesson in the customs of their kings "like the nations around them." The ruthless and often arbitrary murder of all enemies, whether real or imagined, was the modus operandi of all the kings of those ages; and the pattern would never vary in Israel.