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16 Shimei son of Gera the Benjaminite from Bahurim came down quickly with the men of Judah to meet King David. 17 There were 1,000 men from Benjamin with him, along with Ziba the servant[a] of Saul’s household, and with him his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They hurriedly crossed[b] the Jordan within sight of the king. 18 They crossed at the ford in order to help the king’s household cross and to do whatever he thought appropriate.

Now after he had crossed the Jordan, Shimei son of Gera threw himself down before the king. 19 He said to the king, “Don’t think badly of me, my lord, and don’t recall the sin of your servant on the day when you, my lord the king, left[c] Jerusalem! Please don’t call it to mind! 20 For I, your servant,[d] know that I sinned, and I have come today as the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.”

21 Abishai son of Zeruiah replied, “For this should not Shimei be put to death? After all, he cursed the Lord’s anointed!” 22 But David said, “What do we have in common,[e] you sons of Zeruiah? You are like my enemy today! Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? Don’t I know that today I am king over Israel?” 23 The king said to Shimei, “You won’t die.” The king vowed an oath[f] concerning this.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 19:17 tn Heb “youth.”
  2. 2 Samuel 19:17 tn Heb “rushed into.”
  3. 2 Samuel 19:19 tn Though this verb in the MT is third person masculine singular, it should probably be read as second person masculine singular. It is one of fifteen places where the Masoretes placed a dot over each of the letters of the word in question in order to call attention to their suspicion of the word. Their concern in this case apparently had to do with the fact that this verb and the two preceding verbs alternate from third person to second and back again to third. Words marked in this way in Hebrew manuscripts or printed editions are said to have puncta extrordinaria, or “extraordinary points.”
  4. 2 Samuel 19:20 tn The Hebrew text has simply “your servant.” The word "I" has been supplied for English style.
  5. 2 Samuel 19:22 tn Heb “what to me and to you.”
  6. 2 Samuel 19:23 tn Heb “swore to him.”