Verses 15-23
Judah Respond In A Positive Fashion By Coming To Gilgal In Order To Bring The King Ceremoniously Over The Jordan, And With Them Comes Shimei, Along With A Contingent Of Benjaminites, Seeking Forgiveness, And Ziba With His Fifteen Lusty Sons And His Twenty Servants, No Doubt Hoping To Further Ingratiate Himself With The King Before The Full Truth Was Known (2 Samuel 19:15-23 ).
Judah responded promptly to David’s overtures and as a result came to Gilgal to meet the king. This promptness would prove to be very unfortunate for it would later be resented by the Israelites who suddenly found themselves pre-empted because they themselves had not moved quickly enough. While in the short term Judah’s response probably pleased David, it would bring out just how unhappy many in Israel were. We cannot thus hide from the fact that as a result of the complacent state that David had fallen into, he had not ruled his own people well. And even in this case he clearly failed to take into account what Israel’s attitude might be towards his behaviour. It is a reminder to all Christian leaders that they must ensure that they keep in touch with all parts of their flock, not just with their ‘favourites’.
Along with the men of Judah also came Shimei, the man who had cursed David when he was fleeing from Jerusalem (2 Samuel 16:5-13). Now he wanted to make his peace with David, and had brought along a whole unit of Benjaminites in order to swear fealty to David. It therefore behoved David to forgive him. To do otherwise would have been to offend the Benjaminites at a time when he could least afford it. Ziba also came along with his fifteen sons and twenty servants, almost a military unit in themselves. He too was seeking to maintain David’s goodwill, no doubt being aware that Mephibosheth would shortly be accusing him of disloyalty.
As is evident from the chiasmus of the section (see above) this coming of Shimei, followed by David’s meeting with Mephibosheth and his dealings with the ancient Barzilai to welcome his return, is in deliberate parallel (and in reverse order) to his meetings with the ancient Hushai, Ziba and Shimei when he was fleeing Jerusalem previously (2 Samuel 15:30 to 2 Samuel 16:14) The latter had indicated to David God’s complete (threefold) concern for him as he fled, the former would now demonstrate the threefold completeness of his welcome and the confirmation of God’s presence with him.
Analysis.
a And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to bring the king over the Jordan, and Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, who was of Bahurim, made haste and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David (2 Samuel 19:15-16).
b And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him, and they went through the Jordan in the presence of the king (2 Samuel 19:17).
c And there went over a ferry-boat to bring over the king’s household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, when he was come over the Jordan, and he said to the king, “Do not let my lord impute iniquity to me, nor do you remember what your servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart (2 Samuel 19:18-19).
d “For your servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore, see, I am come this day the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king” (2 Samuel 19:20).
c But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, “Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed YHWH’s anointed?” (2 Samuel 19:21).
b And David said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be adversaries to me? Shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? For do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?” (2 Samuel 19:22).
a And the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king swore to him (2 Samuel 19:23).
Note that in ‘a’ Shimei comes to meet the king along with the people of Judah, and in the parallel David swears that Shimei will not be executed. In ‘b’ David is conducted over Jordan as the king and in the parallel he draws attention to the restoration of his kingship over Israel. In ‘c’ Shimei pleads for forgiveness for his sin in cursing David, and in the parallel Abishai calls for his execution for cursing YHWH’s anointed. Centrally in ‘d’ we have Shimei’s humble confession of his sin.
‘ And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to bring the king over the Jordan.’
In response to David’s overtures the men of Judah now came to Gilgal, on the west side of the Jordan rift valley, in order to meet the king and welcome him back. Gilgal had been the first stopping place when Joshua had originally come over the Jordan (Joshua 5:9-10), and it had probably at some stage been the site of the Tabernacle in the time of Saul (2 Samuel 13:7-15). It would therefore be seen as a sacred site.
‘ And Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, who was of Bahurim, made haste and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David.’
And along with the men of Judah came Shimei, the Benjaminite and Saulide, who at Bahurim had cursed David when he was fleeing from Absalom (2 Samuel 16:5-13). He was now naturally fearful of what the king might do to him and had therefore come to throw himself on the king’s mercy. The alternative would have been for him to flee the country, but he was clearly a wealthy and influential man, and that was therefore the last thing that he would have wanted to have to do.
‘ And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him, and they went through the Jordan in the presence of the king.’
Shimei’s power and influence comes out in that he had brought with him a whole military unit of Benjaminites. We have here in this separate action by the Benjaminites a sign of the distinction that there already was between Israel (the ten tribes) and Benjamin, (who would later side with Judah - 1 Kings 13:21). The coming of this military unit would, however, be a welcome assurance to David of the genuine submission of the tribe of Benjamin, and it was due to Shimei.
Also with Shimei came Ziba and his fifteen sons and twenty servants. He had by now possibly taken over control of the large lands that David had allotted to him (2 Samuel 16:4), and would thus also be an influential figure, to say nothing of having his own small military unit of sons and servants. The support of all these people would have been welcome to David at this time, and would be a demonstration to him that God was with him.
“And they went through the Jordan in the presence of the king.” This presumably signifies that they crossed the Jordan by means of a ford in order to accompany David over the Jordan in ceremonial fashion. They were putting on a great show in order to obtain his favour.
‘ And there went over a ferry-boat to bring over the king’s household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, when he was come over the Jordan.’
A large ferry-boat was also sent over in order to bring back the king’s household along with all their possessions. It was put wholly at the king’s disposal and left open to the king to use as he wished. And as soon as David had landed, Shimei, having accompanied the ferry by means of the ford, flung himself on his face before him and pleaded for mercy. He would know that his life hung by a hairsbreadth.
Alternately we could translate “when he (David) was about to cross over the Jordan,” which would signify that Shimei did this before David had entered the ferry.
‘ And he said to the king, “Do not let my lord impute iniquity to me, nor do you remember what your servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.’
Having humbled himself Shimei sought David’s forgiveness for cursing him on that previous occasion when he had been fleeing from Jerusalem. He expressed his hope that he had not taken it to heart. It was a desperate attempt on his part to remedy the disastrous position that he had landed himself in, as he must have realised.
“ For your servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore, see, I am come this day the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.”
He humbly declared that he was aware of how deeply he had sinned, and that in order to indicate his repentance he had wanted to be the first of all the house of Joseph (i.e. Israel in contrast with Judah) to come down to meet the king. All it did prove, of course, was that he was trying everything that he knew in order to redeem the situation that he had brought on himself. His predicament is a reminder to us that we should always think carefully before we speak ill of someone, remembering among other things that it might one day rebound on us.
Reference to ‘the house of Joseph’ (compareJoshua 16:1; Joshua 16:1; Joshua 16:4; Joshua 17:14; 1 Kings 11:28) indicated the whole of Israel, the two largest tribes standing for the whole (later Israel would regularly be called ‘Ephraim’ on the same grounds). It meant Israel as headed up by Ephraim and Manasseh (Joseph’s sons).
‘ But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, “Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed YHWH’s anointed?” ’
At this stage Abishei, the son of David’s sister Zeruiah, intervened. He called for Shimei to be executed because he had cursed ‘YHWH’s Anointed’. He had asked a similar thing at the actual time of the curse (2 Samuel 16:9), and David had then explained why he had not intended to do it. Possibly Abishai had in mind what David had said on a previous occasion, ‘who can stretch forth his hand against YHWH’s Anointed and be guiltless?’ (1 Samuel 26:9). But David was not now about to change his mind about Shimei. He would have known that it could indeed have rebounded on him with the remaining Benjaminites. Shimei had undoubtedly been very shrewd.
‘ And David said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be adversaries to me? Shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? For do I not know that I am this day king over Israel?” ’
Instead of heeding Abishai David rebuked him for opposing him on a day when mercy was called for, pointing out how unsimilar Abishai and Joab were to him in that to him this was not a day for executions and revenge, because it was the day when his kingship over all Israel had been confirmed by YHWH. God had shown mercy to him, and therefore he considered that he should imitate that mercy. We can compare Saul’s similar reaction in 1 Samuel 11:13.
‘ And the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king swore to him.’
In consequence the king assured Shimei on oath that he would not die for what he had done. This was not a day for executions but for rejoicing. (He would later have cause to change his mind, probably because of subsequent attempts by Shimei to use his influence in order to undermine his kingship, but because of his oath he was then unable to do anything about it without any definite proof. He would, however, later advise Solomon that he should try to find some just reason to get rid of him, presumably because he saw him as representing a constant danger to the kingdom - 1 Kings 2:8-9).
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