2 Samuel 16:7

And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(7) Come out, come out.—Rather, Go out, go out. It is doubtful whether by the words, “thou bloody man,” Shimei meant anything more than that he considered David responsible for “the blood of the house of Saul”, (2Samuel 16:8), especially in the case of Ishbosheth and of Abner, and the execution of Saul’s seven descendants at the demand of the Gibeonites (2Samuel 21:1-9). Yet he may have known of the crime in regard to Uriah, and have wished to point his curse with the charge of shedding that innocent blood.

Benson Commentary

2 Samuel 16:7-9. Come out — Or rather, go out, as the Hebrew properly means: begone out of thy kingdom, from which thou deservest to be expelled. Thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial — Probably he says this with a reference to David’s adultery with Bath-sheha, and the killing of Uriah. All the blood of the house of Saul — Either, 1st, The blood of Abner and Ish- bosheth; which he imputes to David, as if they had been killed by David’s contrivance: or, 2d, The death of Saul’s seven sons, 2 Samuel 21:8, which, though related after this, seems to have taken place before. Thou art taken — The same mischief thou didst bring upon others is now returned upon thy own head. “This surely,” says Delaney, “was one of the severest trials of patience that ever human magnanimity endured. The accusation was notoriously false, and the king could, for that reason, bear it the better; but his servants saw it not in the light of their master’s equanimity, but of his enemy’s insolence. Abishai, David’s nephew, could not bear it; but begged the king’s permission to take off the traitor’s head that uttered it,” saying, Why should this dead dog (an expression of the utmost contempt) curse my lord the king?

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

16:5-14 David bore Shimei's curses much better than Ziba's flatteries; by these he was brought to pass a wrong judgment on another, by those to pass a right judgment on himself: the world's smiles are more dangerous than its frowns. Once and again David spared Saul's life, while Saul sought his. But innocence is no defence against malice and falsehood; nor are we to think it strange, if we are charged with that which we have been most careful to keep ourselves from. It is well for us, that men are not to be our judges, but He whose judgment is according to truth. See how patient David was under this abuse. Let this remind us of Christ, who prayed for those who reviled and crucified him. A humble spirit will turn reproaches into reproofs, and get good from them, instead of being provoked by them. David the hand of God in it, and comforts himself that God would bring good out of his affliction. We may depend upon God to repay, not only our services, but our sufferings.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Come out - Rather, "Go out," namely, of the land, into banishment. Compare Jeremiah 29:16.

Thou bloody man - See the margin. The Lord's word to David 1 Chronicles 22:8 was probably known to Shimei and now cast in David's teeth by him, with special reference to the innocent blood of Uriah.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2Sa 16:5-19. Shimei Curses David.

5-12. when king David came to Bahurim—a city of Benjamin (2Sa 3:16; 19:16). It is, however, only the confines of the district that are here meant.

Shimei, … a man of the family of Saul—The misfortune of his family, and the occupation by David of what they considered their rightful possessions, afforded a natural, if not a justifiable cause for this ebullition of rude insults and violence. He upbraided David as an ambitious usurper, and charged him, as one whose misdeeds had recoiled upon his own head, to surrender a throne to which he was not entitled. His language was that of a man incensed by the wrongs that he conceived had been done to his house. David was guiltless of the crime of which Shimei accused him; but his conscience reminded him of other flagrant iniquities; and he, therefore, regarded the cursing of this man as a chastisement from heaven. His answer to Abishai's proposal evinced the spirit of deep and humble resignation—the spirit of a man who watched the course of Providence, and acknowledged Shimei as the instrument of God's chastening hand. One thing is remarkable, that he acted more independently of the sons of Zeruiah in this season of great distress than he could often muster courage to do in the days of his prosperity and power.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Or rather, go out, as the word properly signifies. Be gone out of thy kingdom, as thou deservest.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And thus said Shimei, when he cursed, come out, come out,.... Or rather, "go out, go out" (t); that is, out of the nation, where he deserved not to live, as he judged, and out of the kingdom, which he had usurped, as he supposed; and the repeating the words not only denotes his vehement desire to have him gone, but the haste he should make to get out, or he was liable to be overtaken by Absalom and his forces; upbraiding him also with the hurry he was in, and the speedy flight he was making:

thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial; or wicked man; perhaps referring by these characters in the one to the murder of Uriah, and in the other to his adultery with Bathsheba; and these crimes coming fresh into David's mind hereby, might make him more mild and humble under his reproaches.

(t) "egredere, egredere", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.

Geneva Study Bible

And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

7. Come out, come out] Out! out! from the land and from thy kingdom into exile.

thou bloody man] Thou man of blood, thou murderer. Shimei seems to have supplied Cromwell’s army with the terms of its resolution “to call Charles Stuart, that man of blood, to account for the blood he has shed and the mischief he has done to the utmost against the Lord’s cause and people in this poor nation.” Green’s Short History, p. 552.

thou man of Belial] Thou wicked man. See note on 1 Samuel 1:16.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 7. - Come out; rather, out, out; that is, "get out; begone, begone, thou murderer and worthless man." Shimei could scarcely have referred to the murders of Ishbosheth and Abner, which were too remote to have so rankled in his memory; but as ch. 21. is not in its chronological order, what probably called forth his anger was the surrender of Saul's sons and grandsons into the hands of the Gibeonites. Shimei, probably, even resented David's taking the side of the Gibeonites, and treating as a crime to be severely punished what he and all Saul's partisans regarded as righteous zeal for Israel. The three years' famine, followed by the execution of Saul's sons, made more tragic by the noble conduct of Rizpah, contributed largely to the revolt of the nation from David, and helps to explain that abandonment of him by the people, which otherwise seems so hard to understand (on the date of the famine, see note on ch. 21.). 2 Samuel 16:7

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Shimei cursed thus: "Out, out (away, away), thou man of blood, and worthless man! Jehovah hath repaid thee (now) for all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast become king, and hath given the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son. Behold, now thou art in thy misfortune, for thou art a man of blood." דּמים אישׁ, a man of drops of blood, i.e., one who has shed blood or committed murder. What Shimei meant by "all the blood of the house of Saul," which David had shed, and because of which he was a man of blood, it is impossible to determine with certainty. He may possibly have attributed to David the murder of Ishbosheth and Abner, notwithstanding the fact that David was innocent of the death of both (see 2 Samuel 3:27., and 2 Samuel 4:6.). By "in whose stead thou hast reigned," he meant whose throne thou hast forcibly usurped; and by בּרעתך הנּך, "it is for this that punishment hat overtaken thee now."