2:28 When the news reached Joab (for Joab had supported 1 Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom), he 2 ran to the tent of the Lord and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. 3 2:29 When King Solomon heard 4 that Joab had run to the tent of the Lord and was right there beside the altar, he ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, 5 “Go, strike him down.” 2:30 When Benaiah arrived at the tent of the Lord, he said to him, “The king says, ‘Come out!’” But he replied, “No, I will die here!” So Benaiah sent word to the king and reported Joab’s reply. 6 2:31 The king told him, “Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father’s family 7 the guilt of Joab’s murderous, bloody deeds. 8 2:32 May the Lord punish him for the blood he shed; 9 behind my father David’s back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he 10 – Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army. 2:33 May Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their shed blood, but may the Lord give perpetual peace to David, his descendants, his family, 11 and his dynasty.” 12 2:34 So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and executed Joab; 13 he was buried at his home in the wilderness. 2:35 The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada to take his place at the head of 14 the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest to take Abiathar’s place. 15
2:36 Next the king summoned 16 Shimei and told him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem 17 and live there – but you may not leave there to go anywhere! 18 2:37 If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die! You will be responsible for your own death.” 19 2:38 Shimei said to the king, “My master the king’s proposal is acceptable. 20 Your servant will do as you say.” 21 So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. 22
2:39 Three years later two of Shimei’s servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, “Look, your servants are in Gath.” 2:40 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. 2:41 When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned, 2:42 the king summoned 23 Shimei and said to him, “You will recall 24 that I made you take an oath by the Lord, and I solemnly warned you, ‘If you ever leave and go anywhere, 25 know for sure that you will certainly die.’ You said to me, ‘The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.’ 26 2:43 Why then have you broken the oath you made before the Lord and disobeyed the order I gave you?” 27 2:44 Then the king said to Shimei, “You are well aware of the way you mistreated my father David. 28 The Lord will punish you for what you did. 29 2:45 But King Solomon will be empowered 30 and David’s dynasty 31 will endure permanently before the Lord.” 2:46 The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei. 32
So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom. 33
1 tn Heb “turned after” (also later in this verse).
2 tn Heb “Joab.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
3 sn Grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. The “horns” of the altar were the horn-shaped projections on the four corners of the altar (see Exod 27:2). By going to the holy place and grabbing hold of the horns of the altar, Joab was seeking asylum from Solomon.
4 tn Heb “and it was related to King Solomon.”
5 tn Heb “so Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying.”
6 tn Heb “saying, “In this way Joab spoke and in this way he answered me.”
7 tn Heb “house.”
8 tn Heb “take away the undeserved bloodshed which Joab spilled from upon me and from upon the house of my father.”
9 tn Heb “The
10 tn Heb “because he struck down two men more innocent and better than he and he killed them with the sword, and my father David did not know.”
11 tn Heb “house.”
12 tn Heb “his throne.”
13 tn Heb “struck him and killed him.” The referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Heb “over.”
15 tc The Old Greek translation includes after v. 35 some fourteen verses that are absent from the MT.
16 tn Heb “sent and summoned.”
17 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
18 tn Heb “and you may not go out from there here or there.”
19 tn Heb “your blood will be upon your head.”
20 tn Heb “Good is the word, as my master the king has spoken.”
21 tn Heb “so your servant will do.”
22 tn Heb “many days.”
23 tn Heb “sent and summoned.”
24 tn Heb “Is it not [true]…?” In the Hebrew text the statement is interrogative; the rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course it is.”
25 tn Heb “here or there.”
26 tn Heb “good is the word; I have heard.”
27 tn Heb “Why have you not kept the oath [to] the
28 tn Heb “You know all the evil, for your heart knows, which you did to David my father.”
29 tn Heb “The
30 tn Or “blessed.”
31 tn Heb “throne.”
32 tn “The king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada and he went out and struck him down and he died.”
33 tn “And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.”