1 Kings 2:40
New International Version
At this, he saddled his donkey and went to Achish at Gath in search of his slaves. So Shimei went away and brought the slaves back from Gath.

New Living Translation
he saddled his donkey and went to Gath to search for them. When he found them, he brought them back to Jerusalem.

English Standard Version
Shimei arose and saddled a donkey and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants. Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath.

Berean Standard Bible
So Shimei saddled his donkey and set out to Achish at Gath in search of his slaves, and he brought them back from Gath.

King James Bible
And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants: and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath.

New King James Version
So Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to seek his slaves. And Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath.

New American Standard Bible
Then Shimei got up and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish, to search for his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath.

NASB 1995
Then Shimei arose and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish to look for his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath.

NASB 1977
Then Shimei arose and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish to look for his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Shimei arose and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish to search for his slaves. And Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath.

Amplified Bible
So Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to [King] Achish to look for his servants. And Shimei went and brought them back from Gath.

Christian Standard Bible
So Shimei saddled his donkey and set out to Achish at Gath to search for his slaves. He went and brought them back from Gath.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
So Shimei saddled his donkey and set out to Achish at Gath to search for his slaves. He went and brought them back from Gath.

American Standard Version
And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his servants; and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath.

Contemporary English Version
he saddled his donkey and went after them. He found them and brought them back to Jerusalem.

English Revised Version
And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his servants: and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
so he saddled his donkey and went to Achish in Gath to search for his slaves. Shimei went to Gath and got his slaves.

Good News Translation
he saddled his donkey and went to King Achish in Gath, to find his slaves. He found them and brought them back home.

International Standard Version
So Shimei got up, saddled a donkey, and traveled to Gath to find his servants. He found them and brought them back from Gath.

Majority Standard Bible
So Shimei saddled his donkey and set out to Achish at Gath in search of his slaves, and he brought them back from Gath.

NET Bible
So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath.

New Heart English Bible
Shimei arose, and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his servants; and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants: and Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath.

World English Bible
Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his slaves; and Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and Shimei rises, and saddles his donkey, and goes to Gath, to Achish, to seek his servants, and Shimei goes and brings his servants from Gath.

Young's Literal Translation
and Shimei riseth, and saddleth his ass, and goeth to Gath, unto Achish, to seek his servants, and Shimei goeth and bringeth his servants from Gath.

Smith's Literal Translation
And Shimei will rise and saddle his ass, and go to Gath to Achish to seek his servants: and Shimei will go and bring his servants from Gath.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Semei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Achis to Geth to seek his servants, and he brought them out of Geth.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And Shimei rose up, and he saddled his donkey. And went away to Achish in Gath, in order to seek his servants. And he led them away from Gath.

New American Bible
So Shimei rose, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish in Gath in search of his servants; and Shimei returned from Gath with his servants.

New Revised Standard Version
Shimei arose and saddled a donkey, and went to Achish in Gath, to search for his slaves; Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And Shimei arose and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants; and Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And Shemei arose and he saddled his donkey and he went on to Gath to Akish to seek his Servants, and Shemei went on and he brought his Servants from Gath.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his servants; and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Semei rose up, and saddled his ass, and went to Geth to Anchus to seek out his servants: and Semei went, and brought his servants out of Geth.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Execution of Shimei
39After three years, however, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. And Shimei was told, “Look, your slaves are in Gath.” 40 So Shimei saddled his donkey and set out to Achish at Gath in search of his slaves, and he brought them back from Gath. 41When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned,…

Cross References
2 Samuel 15:13-14
Then a messenger came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.” / And David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Arise and let us flee, or we will not escape from Absalom! We must leave quickly, or he will soon overtake us, heap disaster on us, and put the city to the sword.”

2 Samuel 15:19-22
Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you also go with us? Go back and stay with the new king, since you are both a foreigner and an exile from your homeland. / In fact, you arrived only yesterday; should I make you wander around with us today while I do not know where I am going? Go back and take your brothers with you. May the LORD show you loving devotion and faithfulness.” / But Ittai answered the king, “As surely as the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be!” ...

2 Samuel 19:9-10
And all the people throughout the tribes of Israel were arguing, “The king rescued us from the hand of our enemies and delivered us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled the land because of Absalom. / But Absalom, the man we anointed over us, has died in battle. So why do you say nothing about restoring the king?”

2 Samuel 19:41-43
Soon all the men of Israel came to the king and asked, “Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, take you away secretly and bring the king and his household across the Jordan, together with all of David’s men?” / And all the men of Judah replied to the men of Israel, “We did this because the king is our relative. Why does this anger you? Have we ever eaten at the king’s expense or received anything for ourselves?” / “We have ten shares in the king,” answered the men of Israel, “so we have more claim to David than you. Why then do you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of restoring our king?” But the men of Judah spoke more fiercely than the men of Israel.

2 Samuel 20:1-2
Now a worthless man named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite, happened to be there, and he blew the ram’s horn and shouted: “We have no share in David, no inheritance in Jesse’s son. Every man to his tent, O Israel!” / So all the men of Israel deserted David to follow Sheba son of Bichri. But the men of Judah stayed by their king all the way from the Jordan to Jerusalem.

1 Kings 11:14-22
Then the LORD raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom. / Earlier, when David was in Edom, Joab the commander of the army had gone to bury the dead and had struck down every male in Edom. / Joab and all Israel had stayed there six months, until he had killed every male in Edom. ...

1 Kings 11:40
Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, where he remained until the death of Solomon.

1 Kings 12:2-3
When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about this, he was still in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon and had been living ever since. / So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel came to Rehoboam and said,

1 Kings 12:20
When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.

2 Kings 25:26
Then all the people small and great, together with the commanders of the army, arose and fled to Egypt for fear of the Chaldeans.

Jeremiah 41:17-18
And they went and stayed in Geruth Chimham, near Bethlehem, in order to proceed into Egypt / to escape the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of the Chaldeans because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

Jeremiah 42:1-3
Then all the commanders of the forces, along with Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, approached / Jeremiah the prophet and said, “May our petition come before you; pray to the LORD your God on behalf of this entire remnant. For few of us remain of the many, as you can see with your own eyes. / Pray that the LORD your God will tell us the way we should walk and the thing we should do.”

Jeremiah 43:4-7
So Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces disobeyed the command of the LORD to stay in the land of Judah. / Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the whole remnant of Judah, those who had returned to the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been scattered, / the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had allowed to remain with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as well as Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah. ...

Matthew 2:13-15
When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.” / So he got up, took the Child and His mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt, / where he stayed until the death of Herod. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

Matthew 2:19-21
After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. / “Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those seeking the Child’s life are now dead.” / So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and went to the land of Israel.


Treasury of Scripture

And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants: and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath.

arose

Proverbs 15:27
He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live.

Luke 12:15
And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

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Achish Ass Donkey Gath Making Ready Riseth Saddled Saddleth Search Seek Servants Shimei Shim'e-I Slaves
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Achish Ass Donkey Gath Making Ready Riseth Saddled Saddleth Search Seek Servants Shimei Shim'e-I Slaves
1 Kings 2
1. David, having given a charge to Solomon
3. of Reverence
5. of Joab
7. of Barzillai
8. of Shimei
10. Solomon succeeds
12. Adonijah, moving Bathsheba to ask unto Solomon for Abishag,
13. is put to death
26. Abiathar, having his life given him, is deprived of the priesthood
28. Joab fleeing to the horns of the altar, is there slain
35. Benaiah is put in Joab's room, and Zadfok in Abiathar's
36. Shimei, confined to Jerusalem, by occasion of going to Gath, is put to death.














So Shimei arose
The phrase "Shimei arose" indicates a decisive action taken by Shimei. In the Hebrew context, the word "arose" (קוּם, qum) often signifies a purposeful or determined action. Shimei's rising is not just physical but also a metaphorical decision to act against the command of King Solomon. This action reflects a moment of rebellion and disobedience, highlighting the human tendency to defy divine or kingly authority, which is a recurring theme in the Old Testament.

saddled his donkey
Saddling a donkey was a common means of preparation for travel in ancient Israel. The donkey, a humble and sturdy animal, was often used for journeys, symbolizing readiness and intent. In the biblical narrative, the act of saddling a donkey can also imply urgency or importance. Shimei's preparation to leave indicates his determination to retrieve his slaves, despite the potential consequences of breaking his oath to Solomon.

and went to Achish at Gath
Gath was one of the five Philistine cities, and Achish was a Philistine king. The mention of Gath is significant as it was a place outside the jurisdiction of Israel, representing a crossing of boundaries both physically and morally. Historically, Gath was known as a place of refuge for those fleeing from Israelite authority, as seen in the account of David. Shimei's journey to Gath underscores his desperation and willingness to seek help from Israel's traditional enemies, reflecting a lack of faithfulness to his own people and king.

to look for his slaves
The phrase "to look for his slaves" reveals Shimei's motivation. In the ancient Near Eastern context, slaves were considered valuable property, and their loss would have been a significant economic and social blow. Shimei's pursuit of his slaves indicates his attachment to worldly possessions and his prioritization of personal gain over obedience to the king's command. This reflects a broader biblical theme of the dangers of materialism and the importance of spiritual obedience.

And Shimei went and brought them back from Gath
Shimei's successful retrieval of his slaves from Gath demonstrates his resourcefulness and determination. However, this action also seals his fate, as it constitutes a direct violation of Solomon's command not to leave Jerusalem. The narrative highlights the consequences of disobedience and the inevitable judgment that follows. In a broader theological context, this serves as a reminder of the importance of adhering to divine and kingly authority, as well as the ultimate accountability each individual faces for their actions.

Verse 40. - And Shimei arose and saddled his ass [not necessarily himself. Qui facit per alium, facit per se. Matthew Henry thinks Shimei did it himself for the sake of secresy. Many expositors also think that he went by night. The text rather suggests the idea that both the going and the return were perfectly open and undisguised] and went to Gath. [It is impossible to avoid the question, What can have led to this infatuated disregard of his oath and life? Now his perversity may of course have been judicial - quos Dens vult perdere, prius de-mentat - but as to the means which led to this issue, it is enough if we may believe he had been dared to it either by his servants or others. The fierce Benjamite would naturally be galled to the quick by the thought that his slaves could thus openly set him at defiance; he may have heard from those who came from Gath that they were exulting over him; and he may have resolved at all hazards to teach them a lesson. He cannot have forgotten either Solomon's explicit warning or his own solemn oath (ver. 42); he must have gone to Gath with his eyes open, and nothing but a great provocation, such as mockery and defiance, will account for his going.] And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
So Shimei
שִׁמְעִ֗י (šim·‘î)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 8096: Shimei -- the name of a number of Israelites

saddled
וַֽיַּחֲבֹשׁ֙ (way·ya·ḥă·ḇōš)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 2280: To wrap firmly, to stop, to rule

his donkey
חֲמֹר֔וֹ (ḥă·mō·rōw)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 2543: A male ass

and set out
וַיֵּ֤לֶךְ (way·yê·leḵ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

Achish
אָכִ֔ישׁ (’ā·ḵîš)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 397: Achish -- king of Gath

at Gath
גַּ֙תָה֙ (ga·ṯāh)
Noun - proper - feminine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 1661: Gath -- 'wine press', a Philistine city

in search of
לְבַקֵּ֖שׁ (lə·ḇaq·qêš)
Preposition-l | Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct
Strong's 1245: To search out, to strive after

his slaves,
עֲבָדָ֑יו (‘ă·ḇā·ḏāw)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5650: Slave, servant

and he brought them
עֲבָדָ֖יו (‘ă·ḇā·ḏāw)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5650: Slave, servant

back
וַיָּבֵ֥א (way·yā·ḇê)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

from Gath.
מִגַּֽת׃ (mig·gaṯ)
Preposition-m | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 1661: Gath -- 'wine press', a Philistine city


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OT History: 1 Kings 2:40 Shimei arose and saddled his donkey (1Ki iKi i Ki 1 Kg 1kg)
1 Kings 2:39
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