1 Kings 2:28-46

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 

[2:28]  ¹ tn Heb “turned after” (also later in this verse).

[2:28]  ² tn Heb “Joab.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:28]  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.

[2:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “and it was related to King Solomon.”

[2:29]  ⁵ tn Heb “so Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying.”

[2:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “saying, “In this way Joab spoke and in this way he answered me.”

[2:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “house.”

[2:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “take away the undeserved bloodshed which Joab spilled from upon me and from upon the house of my father.”

[2:32]  ⁹ tn Heb “The Lord will cause his blood to return upon his head.”

[2:32]  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.”

[2:33]  ¹¹ tn Heb “house.”

[2:33]  ¹² tn Heb “his throne.”

[2:34]  ¹³ tn Heb “struck him and killed him.” The referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:35]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “over.”

[2:35]  ¹⁵ tc The Old Greek translation includes after v. 35 some fourteen verses that are absent from the MT.

[2:36]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “sent and summoned.”

[2:36]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:36]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and you may not go out from there here or there.”

[2:37]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “your blood will be upon your head.”

[2:38]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Good is the word, as my master the king has spoken.”

[2:38]  ²¹ tn Heb “so your servant will do.”

[2:38]  ²² tn Heb “many days.”

[2:42]  ²³ tn Heb “sent and summoned.”

[2:42]  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.”

[2:42]  ²⁵ tn Heb “here or there.”

[2:42]  ²⁶ tn Heb “good is the word; I have heard.”

[2:43]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Why have you not kept the oath [to] the Lord and the commandment I commanded you?”

[2:44]  ²⁸ tn Heb “You know all the evil, for your heart knows, which you did to David my father.”

[2:44]  ²⁹ tn Heb “The Lord will cause your evil to return upon your head.”

[2:45]  ³⁰ tn Or “blessed.”

[2:45]  ³¹ tn Heb “throne.”

[2:46]  ³² tn “The king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada and he went out and struck him down and he died.”

[2:46]  ³³ tn “And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.”