1 Kings 2:30

Contextual Overview

²⁶ And to Abiathar the priest said the king, Go to Anathoth, to your own fields; for you are worthy of death: but I will not at this time put you to death, because you bore the ark of the Lord Yahweh before David my father, and because you were afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted. ²⁶ Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, "Go back to your home in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but I will not kill you now, because you carried the Ark of the Sovereign Lord for David my father and you shared all his hardships." ²⁶ And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because thou wast afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted. ²⁶ King Solomon said to Abiathar the priest, "I should kill you too, but I will allow you to go back to your fields in Anathoth. I will not kill you at this time, because you helped carry the Ark of the Lord God while marching with my father David. And I know you shared in all the hard times with him." ²⁶ The king then told Abiathar the priest, "Go back to your property in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the sovereign Lord before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times." ²⁶ And to Abiathar the priest said the king, Depart to Anathoth, to thy own fields; for thou [art] worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou didst bear the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all in which my father was afflicted. ²⁶ To Abiathar the priest said the king, Get you to Anathoth, to your own fields; for you are worthy of death: but I will not at this time put you to death, because you bear the ark of the Lord Yahweh before David my father, and because you were afflicted in all in which my father was afflicted. ²⁶Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, "Go to Anathoth to your own fields, for you certainly deserve to die; but I will not put you to death this day, because you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David, and you suffered everything that my father endured." ²⁶ And to Abiathar the priest the king said, "Go to Anathoth, to your estate, for you deserve death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because you shared in all my father's affliction." ²⁶ Also the kyng seide to Abiathar, preest, Go thou in to Anatot, to thi feeld; and sotheli thou art a man of deeth, `that is, worthi the deeth, for conspiryng ayens me, and the ordynaunce of God, and of my fadir; but to dai Y schal not sle thee, for thou barist the arke of the Lord God bifor Dauid, my fadir, and thou suffridist trauele in alle thingis, in whiche my fadir trauelide.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Reciprocal: 1 Chronicles 11:22 - Benaiah

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the Lord,.... At Gibeon:

and said unto him; that is, to Joab:

thus saith the king, come forth; meaning, out of the tabernacle; which plainly shows that his orders were not to slay him in it:

and he said, nay, but I will die here; since he must die, he chose to die there; but what was his reason for it is not so clear; the Jews, some of them, say, to save his goods, and that they might come to his heirs, which would have been forfeited to the crown if he had been tried and condemned in a court of judicature; others, that he might be buried with his ancestors, whereas, had he been sentenced to death by the court, he would have been buried in the common place of malefactors; but rather he thought, or at least hoped, he should not die at all; either that, by gaining time, Solomon might be prevailed upon to pardon him; or however that he would not defile that sacred place with his blood; or, if he should die, he chose to die there, as being a sacred place, and so might hope to receive some benefit from it, as to his future state, where sacrifices were offered to atone for sin:

and Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, thus said Joab, and thus he answered me; told me he would not come out, and, if he must die, he would die there.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 2:30. Nay; but I will die here. — The altars were so sacred among all the people, that, in general, even the vilest wretch found safety, if he once reached the altar. This led to many abuses, and the perversion of public justice; and at last it became a maxim that the guilty should be punished, should they even have taken refuge at the altars. God decreed that the presumptuous murderer who had taken refuge at the altar should be dragged thence, and put to death; see Exodus 21:14. The heathens had the same kind of ordinance; hence Euripides: -

Εγω γαρ ὁστις μη δικαιος ων ανηρπ

Βωμον προσιζει, τον νομον χαιρειν εων,π

Προς την δικην αγοιμ ' αν, αυ τρεσας θεους·

Κακον γαρ ανδρα χρη κακως πασχειν αει.

EURIPID. Frag. 42. Edit. Musg.

"If an unrighteous man, availing himself of the law, should claim the protection of the altar, I would drag him to justice, nor fear the wrath of the gods; for it is necessary that every wicked man should suffer for his crimes."