1 Kings 2:46

Contextual Overview

³⁵The king put Benaiah son of Jehoiada over the army in Joab's position and replaced Abiathar with Zadok the priest. ³⁵ The king put Benaiah son of Jehoiada over the army in Joab's position and replaced Abiathar with Zadok the priest. ³⁵And the king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place, and the king appointed Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar. ³⁵ The king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place, and the king appointed Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar. ³⁵ And the king put Banaiah the sonne of Iehoiada in his roome ouer ye hoast, and put Sadoc the priest in the roome of Abiathar. ³⁵ And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army. And the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar. ³⁵ Solomon then made Benaiah son of Jehoiada the commander of the army in Joab's place. Solomon also made Zadok the new high priest in Abiathar's place. ³⁵ The king put Benai'ah the son of Jehoi'ada over the army in place of Jo'ab, and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abi'athar. ³⁵ The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host; and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar. ³⁵ And the king put Benaiah the sonne of Iehoiada in his roome ouer the hoste, and Zadok the Priest did the king put in the roume of Abiathar.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the kingdom: 1 Kings 2:12, 1 Kings 2:45, 2 Chronicles 1:1, Proverbs 29:4

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 1:15 - Go near 2 Samuel 16:5 - whose name 2 Samuel 19:23 - Thou shalt 2 Samuel 23:20 - Benaiah 1 Kings 2:25 - he fell 1 Kings 2:29 - Go 1 Kings 2:34 - Benaiah Proverbs 17:11 - General Proverbs 25:5 - away Ecclesiastes 8:4 - the word

Gill's Notes on the Bible

So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, which went out,.... From the presence of the king, and took Shimei with him to the proper place of execution, it not being fitting to execute him before the king:

and fell upon him, that he died; put him to death by the sword:

and the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon; Adonijah the usurper, and Joab the general of the army, who took on his side, being both put to death; and Abiathar the high priest deposed, who was in the same conspiracy; and Shimei, a dangerous and troublesome man, dispatched, there remained none to give any disturbance; so that he now sat easy and quiet on his throne, and things with respect to the civil government were on a firm and settled foundation.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 2:46. And the kingdom was established — He had neither foes within nor without. He was either dreaded or loved universally. His own subjects were affectionately bound to him, and the surrounding nations did not think proper to make him their enemy.

As there are serious doubts relative to the dying charge of David as it relates to Shimei, most believing that, in opposition to his own oath, David desired that Solomon should put him to death; I shall here insert Dr. Kennicott's criticism on this part of the text: -

"David is here represented in our English version as finishing his life with giving a command to Solomon to kill Shimei, and to kill him on account of that very crime for which, as David here says, he had sworn to him by the Lord he would not put him to death. The behaviour thus imputed to the king and prophet, and which would be justly censurable if true, should be examined very carefully as to the ground it stands upon; and when the passage is duly considered, I presume it will appear highly probable that an injury has been here done to this illustrious character. The point to which I now beg the reader's attention is this: That it is not uncommon in the Hebrew language to omit the negative in a second part of the sentence, and to consider it as repeated, when it has been once expressed, and is followed by the connecting particle. And thus on Isaiah 13:22 the late learned annotator says: 'The negative is repeated or referred to by the conjunction vau, as in many other places.' So also Isaiah 23:4. The necessity of so very considerable an alteration as inserting the particle NOT, may be here confirmed by some other instances. Psalms 1:5: The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, NOR (the Hebrew is AND, signifying and not) sinners in the congregation of the righteous. Psalms 9:18: The needy shall not alway be forgotten, (and then the negative, understood as repeated by the conjunction, now dropped,) the expectation of the poor shall (NOT) perish for ever. Psalms 38:1: O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath; NEITHER (AND, for and not) chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Psalms 75:5: Lift not up your horn on high, (and then the negative, understood as repeated by the conjunction, now dropped,) speak (NOT) with a stiff neck. Proverbs 24:12, (our version is this:) Doth not he, that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth the soul, doth (NOT) he know it? and shall (NOT) he render to every man according to his works? And Proverbs 30:3: I neither learned wisdom, NOR (AND, for and not) have the knowledge of the holy. If then there are in fact many such instances, the question is, Whether the negative here, expressed in the former part of David's command, may not be understood as to be repeated in the latter part; and if this may be, a strong reason will be added why it should be, so interpreted. The passage will run thus: 'Behold, thou hast with thee Shimei, who cursed me - but I swore to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put thee to death by the sword. Now, therefore, hold him NOT guiltless, (for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him,) but bring NOT down his hoar head to the grave with blood.' Now if the language itself will admit of this construction, the sense thus given to the sentence derives a very strong support from the context. For how did Solomon understand this charge? Did he kill Shimei in consequence of it? Certainly he did not; for after he had immediately commanded Joab to be slain, in obedience to his father, he sends for Shimei, and knowing that Shimei ought to be well watched, confines him to a particular spot in Jerusalem for the remainder of his life; 1 Kings 2:36-42. See also Job 23:17; Job 30:20; Job 31:20." This is the best mode of interpreting this text.