1 Kings 2:44

The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father: therefore the LORD shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:35-46 The old malignity remains in the unconverted heart, and a watchful eye should be kept on those who, like Shimei, have manifested their enmity, but have given no evidence of repentance. No engagements or dangers will restrain worldly men; they go on, though they forfeit their lives and souls. Let us remember, God will not accommodate his judgment to us. His eye is over us; and let us strive to walk as in his presence. Let our every act, word, and thought, be governed by this great truth, that the hour is quickly coming when the smallest circumstances of our lives shall be brought to light, and our eternal state be fixed by a righteous and unerring God. Thus Solomon's throne was established in peace, as the type of the Redeemer's kingdom of peace and righteousness. And it is a comfort, in reference to the enmity of the church's enemies, that, how much soever they rage, it is a vain thing they imagine. Christ's throne is established, and they cannot shake it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Did I not make thee to swear - The Septuagint add to 1 Kings 2:37 a clause stating that Solomon "made Shimei swear" on the day when he commanded him to reside at Jerusalem.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

36. the king sent and called for Shimei—He was probably residing at Bahurim, his native place. But, as he was a suspicious character, Solomon condemned him henceforth to live in Jerusalem, on the penalty of death, for going without the gates. He submitted to this confinement for three years, when, violating his oath, he was arrested and put to death by Solomon for perjury, aggravated by his former crime of high treason against David [1Ki 2:42-44].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Thou knowest all the wickedness which thine heart is privy to; for which thy own conscience accuseth thee, and there is no need of other witnesses.

Shall return, Heb. hath returned, which seems most proper. God hath punished thee for thy former wickedness, by suffering thee to fall into further crimes, and expose thyself to thy deserved death.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The king said moreover to Shimei,.... Not as another reason for his putting him to death, but to remind him of his former sins, and to observe to him the providence of God in suffering him to fall into others, that justice might take place upon him for them also:

thou knowest all the wickedness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father; which conscience must bear witness to, and accuse him of, not only of the words and actions themselves uttered and done by him, but of the malice and wickedness from whence they sprung:

therefore the Lord shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head; the punishment of it; which though not directly inflicted for that, yet in providence was brought about as a just retaliation for it.

Geneva Study Bible

The king said moreover to Shimei, {u} Thou knowest all the wickedness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father: therefore the LORD shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head;

(u) For though you would deny it, your own conscience accuses you for reviling and doing wrong to my father, 2Sa 16:5.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

44. Thou knowest] The Hebrew inserts the pronoun emphatically. It was needless for Solomon to recall the wrong with which Shimei’s own conscience would upbraid him.

the Lord shall return] The Hebrew says ‘the Lord hath returned.’ The punishment is so sure that the king speaks of it as already inflicted. He is but the Lord’s agent, and the doom of Shimei is counted as executed. This appears the best way of understanding the grammar, as there is no preceding verb from which this should derive the signification of an imperfect.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 44.— The king said, moreover [Heb. And the king said] Thou knowest all the wickedness which thine heart is privy to [Heb. knoweth] that thou didst to David my father [Solomon brings a threefold charge against Shimei. He has violated a solemn oath, "by the life of Jehovah," and so has "profaned the name of his God" (Leviticus 19:12). He has broken his parole and set at naught the king's commandment. He has defied and blasphemed the Lord's anointed. He must die] therefore the Lord shall return ["hath returned," or "returns." LXX. ἀνταπέδωκε, aor. The king regards himself as merely the instrument and dispenser of the Divine Justice. According to him, it is God, not spite, demands and has brought about Shimei's execution] thy wickedness upon thine own head [Every Jew, taught to expect that "every transgression and disobedience" would receive its "just recompense of reward" in this life present would see in Shimei's almost unaccountable infatuation the finger of God. To them he would seem delivered up to destruction. 1 Kings 2:44

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

He then reminded him of the evil which he had done to his father: "Thou knowest all the evil, which thy heart knoweth (i.e., which thy conscience must tell thee); and now Jehovah returns the evil upon thy head," namely, by decreeing the punishment of death, which he deserved for blaspheming the anointed of the Lord (2 Samuel 16:9).