2-Samuel - 16:7

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7 Shimei said when he cursed, "Be gone, be gone, you man of blood, and base fellow!

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of 2-Samuel 16:7.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:
And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Begone, begone, thou man of blood, and base fellow:
And thus said Semei when he cursed the king: Come out, come out, thou man of blood, and thou man of Belial.
And thus said Shimei as he cursed: Away, away, thou man of blood and man of Belial!
And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Begone, begone, thou man of blood, and man of Belial:
And thus said Shimei in his reviling, 'Go out, go out, O man of blood, and man of worthlessness!
And Shimei said, with curses, Be gone, be gone, you man of blood, you good-for-nothing:
And so, as he was cursing the king, Shimei said: "Go away, go away, you man of blood, and you man of Belial!

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

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.

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.

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."

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