Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 16:5
And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name [was] Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came.
5 14. David cursed by Shimei
5. Bahurim ] See note on ch. 2Sa 3:16.
Shimei ] See ch. 2Sa 19:16-23; 1Ki 2:8-9. His connexion with the clan of Saul accounts for the virulence of his hatred.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Bahurim – See 2Sa 3:16 note. It seems to have lain off the road, on a ridge 2Sa 16:13, separated from it by a narrow ravine, so that Shimei was out of easy reach though within hearing, and within a stones throw 2Sa 16:6, 2Sa 16:9.
Shimei, the son of Gera – In the title to Ps. 7 he is apparently called Cush the Benjamite. On Gera, see Jdg 3:15 note.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
2Sa 16:5-13
Shimei the son of Gera; he came forth, and cursed still as he came.
The forbearance of David towards Shimei
I. The provocation David received.
1. The most irritating by which the patience of man was ever tried. The reason why God was pleased to allow this insult to be added to the other trials of David, is obvious. He wished to teach him how low his iniquities had sunk him, and to show him that the cup of the Divine indignation against him was not even yet exhausted. It tells us that the servant of God must expect to meet with insults and provocations from his fellow-sinners. We are not dwelling among angels, but among men. We are living in a fallen world, in a world that has renounced the authority of the God of peace, and thrown itself under the dominion of the prince of discord. It would be madness, then, to think of passing through it, as though it were a world of love.
2. The conduct of Shimei was cruel also, as well as irritating. The condition of David at this period appeared calculated to disarm by its misery the most inveterate of his enemies. We are ready to suppose in the hour of affliction that every heart must feel for us, and that the malice of our bitterest enemies must now for a season be changed into pity. But experience proves that the most afflicted are generally the most persecuted. Their calamities leave their adversaries nothing to hope from their favour, and little perhaps to dread from their displeasure.
3. The provocation which David received was also undeserved. It here was indeed blood which cried from the ground for vengeance on his head, but he had never injured Shimei; and as for his having been guilty of the death of Saul, and his family, no charge could be more unjust. But the ungodly are always selfish. They judge of others, not by the laws of impartial justice, but by the standard of self-interest.
II. But let us turn from the cruel and irritating conduct of this disappointed Israelite, and consider the forbearance which David manifested.
1. He received the provocation of Shimei with meek silence. He heard his accusations, and he knew them to be false; but he answered him not a word. There are indeed cases in which it becomes absolutely necessary to vindicate our characters at any risk from the calumnies of the ungodly; but these occasions do not often occur. When our enemies are much incensed against us, it will generally be found that to reply to their aspersions serves only to increase their violence, and perhaps to give them an advantage over us. Silence under provocation is safety. To govern our lips is, in most instances, to govern our hearts.
2. But there may be silence where there is no meekness. No angry word may proceed from the lips, while the deadliest revenge is cherished in the heart. It is necessary therefore that we should observe, further, that David forgave the provocation of Shimei. His friends around him were incensed to the utmost, and were eager to vindicate the honour of their insulted monarch with their swords. Would the conduct of David have been either unlawful, or sinful, if he had commanded his attendants to take immediate vengeance on Shimei? It might not have been unlawful, for the laws of Judaea would undoubtedly have condemned the traitor, and the power of carrying them into execution was vested in Davids hands; but laws were not designed by God to gratify vindictive passions. It is as sinful to seek revenge by the arm of the law as to seek it by the violence of our own arm. Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Conclusion.
1. A review of this history, as far as we have considered it, is calculated to leave impressed on us a conviction of the power of true religion; its power, not only to touch the fears and hopes of the soul but the mighty power which it exercises over the dispositions, the temper, the heart.
2. This history reminds us also of the dignity which a meek and forgiving spirit imparts. The Bible tells us that it is the glory of a man to pass over a transgression, and it gives us in this chapter a confirmation of the saying. Here, then, is a lesson for those who are striving to raise themselves to honour. You wish to be highly esteemed among men, and, in order to procure their respect, you imagine that no real or supposed insult must pass unnoticed, and that you must commence a struggle for superiority in rank and consequence. Is, then, the object of your wishes to be attained by such means as these? Impossible. Cease from the foolish attempt. Go and sit at the feet of David, and let him teach you that the readiest, the surest, the safest way to exalt yourselves is to lie low and be humble, to be meek and lowly in heart, to triumph over the pride and folly which have hitherto been leading you captive. (C. Bradley, M. A.)
Meekness under provocation
The fruit of the Spirit, said St. Paul, writing to the Galatians, is long-suffering. Long-suffering patience is one of the rarest of virtues, because it is so easy to be impatient. There is a story told of the great Athenian Pericles, which gives us a good lesson in patience. Hardly anything ever put Pericles out of temper. There was a man who railed at him throughout a whole day in the market-place before all the people, and this although Pericles was a magistrate. Pericles, however, took no notice, but went on hearing and dealing with the various cases brought before him until night fell. Then he set out for home, walking slowly. The man followed him all the way, uttering hard, untrue, and cruel words all the time. When Pericles arrived at his house it was quite dark, so, calling his servant, he ordered him to get a torch and light his defamer home.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. David came to Bahurim] This place lay northward of Jerusalem, in the tribe of Benjamin. It is called Almon, Jos 21:18; and Alemeth, 1Ch 6:60. Bahurim signifies youths, and Almuth youth; so the names are of the same import.
Cursed still as he came.] Used imprecations and execrations.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Bahurim; a city in Benjamin, 2Sa 3:16; 19:16; i.e. to the territory of it, for to the city he came not till 2Sa 16:14.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5-12. when king David came toBahurima city of Benjamin (2Sa 3:16;2Sa 19:16). It is, however, onlythe confines of the district that are here meant.
Shimei, . . . a man of thefamily of SaulThe misfortune of his family, and the occupationby David of what they considered their rightful possessions, affordeda natural, if not a justifiable cause for this ebullition of rudeinsults and violence. He upbraided David as an ambitious usurper, andcharged him, as one whose misdeeds had recoiled upon his own head, tosurrender a throne to which he was not entitled. His language wasthat of a man incensed by the wrongs that he conceived had been doneto his house. David was guiltless of the crime of which Shimeiaccused him; but his conscience reminded him of other flagrantiniquities; and he, therefore, regarded the cursing of this man as achastisement from heaven. His answer to Abishai’s proposal evincedthe spirit of deep and humble resignationthe spirit of a man whowatched the course of Providence, and acknowledged Shimei as theinstrument of God’s chastening hand. One thing is remarkable, that heacted more independently of the sons of Zeruiah in this season ofgreat distress than he could often muster courage to do in the daysof his prosperity and power.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when King David came to Bahurim,…. The Targum is, Alemath, perhaps the same that is said to be a city of the Levites, given unto them out of the tribe of Benjamin, 1Ch 6:60 for the man next described, who was of this place, was a Benjaminite, 2Sa 19:16;
[See comments on 2Sa 3:16]; David was not yet come to the city itself, but into the neighbourhood of it, the fields adjacent to it: and
behold, thence came out a man of the family of Saul; a descendant of a branch of his family, who had entertained a private grudge and secret enmity against David, to whom he imputed the fall of the family of Saul:
whose name [was] Shimei, the son of Gera: which might be a name common in the tribe of Benjamin, one of Benjamin’s sons being named Gera, Ge 46:21. Some say s he was the same with Nebat, the father of Jeroboam; but he was of the tribe of Ephraim, this of Benjamin:
he came forth, and cursed still as he came; he came out of Bahurim, of which place he was, and all the way he came continued cursing David, until he came near unto him.
s Hieron. Trad. Helb. in 2. Reg. fol. 79. B.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Shimei’s cursing. – 2Sa 16:5, 2Sa 16:6. When the king had come to Bahurim, on the other side of the Mount of Olives, but not far off (see at 2Sa 3:16), there came out of that place a man of the family of the house of Saul, i.e., a distant relation of Saul, cursing him; and he pelted David and all his servants with stones, although all the people and all the heroes (the household troops and body-guard: 2Sa 15:17-18) were (marking) on the right and left of the king. The words “all the people,” etc., are a circumstantial clause.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| David Cursed by Shimei. | B. C. 1023. |
5 And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came. 6 And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. 7 And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial: 8 The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man. 9 Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head. 10 And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so? 11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him. 12 It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day. 13 And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill’s side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust. 14 And the king, and all the people that were with him, came weary, and refreshed themselves there.
We here find how David bore Shimei’s curses much better than he had borne Ziba’s flatteries. By the latter he was brought to pass a wrong judgment on another, by the former to pass a right judgment on himself. The world’s smiles are more dangerous than its frowns. Observe here,
I. How insolent and furious Shimei was, and how his malice took occasion from David’s present distress to be so much the more outrageous. David, in his flight, had come to Bahurim, a city of Benjamin in or near which this Shimei lived, who, being of the house of Saul (with the fall of which all his hopes of preferment fell), had an implacable enmity to David, unjustly looking upon him as the ruin of Saul and his family only because, by the divine appointment, he succeeded Saul. While David was in prosperity and power, Shimei hated him as much as he did now, but he durst not then say anything against him. God knows what is in the hearts of those that are disaffected to him and his government, but earthly princes do not. Now he came forth, and cursed David with all the bad words and wishes he could invent, v. 5. Observe,
1. Why he took this opportunity to give vent to his malice. (1.) Because now he thought he might do it safely; yet, if David had thought proper to resent the provocation, it would have cost Shimei his life. (2.) Because now it would be most grievous to David, would add affliction to his grief, and pour vinegar into his wounds. He complains of those as most barbarous who talk to the grief of those whom God has wounded, Ps. lxix. 26. So Shimei did, loading him with curses whom no generous eye could look upon without compassion. (3.) Because now he thought that Providence justified his reproaches, and that David’s present afflictions proved him to be as bad a man as he was willing to represent him. Job’s friends condemned him upon this false principle. Those that are under the rebukes of a gracious God must not think it strange if these bring upon them the reproaches of evil men. If once it be said, God hath forsaken him, presently it follows, Persecute and take him, Ps. lxxi. 11. But it is the character of a base spirit thus to trample upon those that are down, and insult over them.
2. How his malice was expressed. See, (1.) What this wretched man did: He cast stones at David (v. 6), as if his king had been a dog, or the worst of criminals, whom all Israel must stone with stones till he die. Perhaps he kept at such a distance that the stones he threw could not reach David, nor any of his attendants, yet he showed what he would have done if it had been in his power. He cast dust (v. 13), which, probably, would blow into his own eyes, like the curses he threw, which, being causeless, would return upon his own head. Thus, while his malice made him odious, the impotency of it made him ridiculous and contemptible. Those that fight against God cannot hurt him, though they hate him. If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? Job xxxv. 6. It was an aggravation of his wickedness that David was attended with his mighty men on his right hand and on his left, so that he was not in so forlorn a condition as he thought (persecuted but not forsaken), and that he continued to do it, and did it the more passionately, for David’s bearing it patiently. (2.) What he said. With the stones he shot his arrows, even bitter words (2Sa 16:7; 2Sa 16:8), in contempt of that law, Thou shalt not curse the gods, Exod. xxii. 28. David was a man of honour and conscience, and in great reputation for every thing that was just and good; what could this foul mouth say against him? Why, truly, what was done long since to the house of Saul was the only thing which he could recollect, and with this he upbraided David because it was the thing that he himself was a loser by. See how apt we are to judge of men and their character by what they are to us, and to conclude that those are certainly evil men that have ever so justly been, or that we ever so unjustly think have been, instruments of evil to us. So partial are we to ourselves that no rule can be more fallacious than this. No man could be more innocent of the blood of the house of Saul than David was. Once and again he spared Saul’s life, while Saul sought his. When Saul and his sons were slain by the Philistines, David and his men were many miles off; and, when they heard it, they lamented it. From the murder of Abner and Ish-bosheth he had sufficiently cleared himself; and yet all the blood of the house of Saul must be laid at his door. Innocency is no fence against malice and falsehood; nor are we to think it strange if we be charged with that from which we have been most careful to keep ourselves. It is well for us that men are not to be our judges, but he whose judgment is according to truth. The blood of the house of Saul is here most unjustly charged upon David, [1.] As that which gave him his character, and denominated him a bloody man and a man of Belial, v. 7. And, if a man of blood, no doubt a man of Belial, that is, a child of the devil, who is called Belial (2 Cor. vi. 15), and who was a murderer from the beginning. Bloody men are the worst of men. [2.] As that which brought the present trouble upon him: “Now that thou art dethroned, and driven out to the wilderness, the Lord has returned upon thee the blood of the house of Saul.” See how forward malicious men are to press God’s judgments into the service of their own passion and revenge. If any who have, as they think, wronged them, should come into trouble, the injury done to them must be made the cause of the trouble. But we must take heed lest we wrong God by making his providence thus to patronise our foolish and unjust resentments. As the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God, so the righteousness of God serves not the wrath of man. [3.] As that which would now be his utter ruin; for he endeavours to make him despair of ever recovering his throne again. Now they said, There is no help for him in God (Ps. iii. 2), the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom (not Mephibosheth–the house of Saul never dreamed of making him king, as Ziba suggested), and thou art taken in thy mischief, that is, “the mischief that will be thy destruction, and all because thou art a bloody man.” Thus Shimei cursed.
II. See how patient and submissive David was under this abuse. The sons of Zeruiah, Abishai particularly, were forward to maintain David’s honour with their swords; they resented the affront keenly, as well they might: Why should this dead dog be suffered to curse the king? v. 9. If David will but give them leave, they will put these lying cursing lips to silence, and take off his head; for his throwing stones at the king was an overt act, which abundantly proved that he compassed and imagined his death. But the king would by no means suffer it: What have I to do with you? So let him curse. Thus Christ rebuked the disciples, who, in zeal for his honour, would have commanded fire from heaven on the town that affronted him, Luke ix. 55. Let us see with what considerations David quieted himself. 1. The chief thing that silenced him was that he had deserved this affliction. This is not mentioned indeed; for a man may truly repent, and yet needs not, upon all occasions, proclaim his penitent reflections. Shimei unjustly upbraided him with the blood of Saul: from that his conscience acquitted him, but, at the same time, it charged him with the blood of Uriah. “The reproach is too true” (thinks David), “though false as he means it.” Note, A humble tender spirit will turn reproaches into reproofs, and so get good by them, instead of being provoked by them. 2. He observes the hand of God in it: The Lord hath said unto him, Curse David (v. 10), and again, So let him curse, for the Lord hath bidden him, v. 11. As it was Shimei’s sin, it was not from God, but from the devil and his own wicked heart, nor did God’s hand in it excuse or extenuate it, much less justify it, any more than it did the sin of those who put Christ to death, Act 2:23; Act 4:28. But, as it was David’s affliction, it was from the Lord, one of the evils which he raised up against him. David looked above the instrument of his trouble to the supreme director, as Job, when the plunderers had stripped him, acknowledged, The Lord hath taken away. Nothing more proper to quiet a gracious soul under affliction than an eye to the hand of God in it. I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it. The scourge of the tongue is God’s rod. 3. He quiets himself under the less affliction with the consideration of the greater (v. 11): My son seeks my life, much more may this Benjamite. Note, Tribulation works patience in those that are sanctified. The more we bear the better able we should be to bear still more; what tries our patience should improve it. The more we are inured to trouble the less we should be surprised at it, and not think it strange. Marvel not that enemies are injurious, when even friends are unkind; nor that friends are unkind, when even children are undutiful. 4. He comforts himself with hopes that God would, in some way or other, bring good to him out of his affliction, would balance the trouble itself, and recompense his patience under it: “The Lord will requite me good for his cursing. If God bid Shimei grieve me, it is that he himself may the more sensibly comfort me; surely he has mercy in store for me, which he is preparing me for by this trial.” We may depend upon God as our pay-master, not only for our services, but for our sufferings. Let them curse, but bless thou. David, at length, is housed at Bahurim (v. 14), where he meets with refreshment, and is hidden from this strife of tongues.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
The Vilifying Shimei, vs. 5-14
Bahurim was on the east slope of the mount of Olives, not far from Jerusalem. All this area extending to the Jordan valley was in the tribe of Benjamin, which was the tribe of king Saul. The Benjamites had followed the lead of their fellow tribesman, Abner, in making David king, but Shimei is indication that there long remained some dissatisfaction within the tribe.
It was a foolhardy thing which Shimei did, coming out cursing and reproaching David, casting rocks and dirt upon him and his mighty men. He could have expected to lose his life for such a show of disrespect to the king, especially with the mighty men protecting David on every side. Shimei reproached David as a bloody man of Belial, receiving just desert at the hand of his son, Absalom, for his taking the kingdom from the family of Saul. He purportedly believed that God was punishing David for the blood of Saul and his family. This was preposterous, of course. Everyone knew that David had not tried to make himself king, and that it was Saul who sought to kill David.
Loyal Abishai, brother of Joab and nephew of David, was ever ready to punish any who threatened his king. Years before he had stood with David against Saul (1Sa 26:7-9), and he had acquired a captaincy among the mighty men (2Sa 23:18-19). In Abishai’s eye Shimei was as no account as a dead dog, and he requested permission to go over and take off the head of the offender.
David refused Abishai’s request and his words are somewhat puzzling. First, though, should be noted David’s feeling toward Abishai and his brother, Joab, the sons of Zeruiah, David’s sister. He wanted nothing to do with them. .
It appears likely that David felt these two hard and cruel men were the source of many of his troubles and perhaps of much of the dissatisfaction of the people with the kingship. It was the younger
brother, Asahel, who forced Abner to kill him in a fight and thus provoked the blood feud with him. Then they had murdered Abner, when David was trying to consolidate the kingdom (2Sa 2:18-23; 2Sa 3:27-30). It was Joab who had persuaded David to recall Absalom from exile, when David was unwilling to do so. They had some kind of strangle-hold on David from which he seemed unable to extricate himself.
But what could David have meant in saying God had told Shimei, “Curse David?” This event is a part of the Lord’s judgment upon David for his sin years before in committing adultery with Bathsheba and murdering Uriah, her husband. David had brought the curse upon himself, and God had allowed it to fall.
David was paying a fourth installment in the fourfold repayment he suggested with reference to the rich man who slaughtered the poor man’s lamb, (2Sa 12:5-6). One by one he had lost 1) the little son of Bathsheba, 2) his beautiful daughter Tamar, 3) his firstborn son Amnon, and now 4) his handsome son Absalom. If his own offspring could rise against him and seek his life, who should forbid the cursing of this Benjamite?
David believed in the mercy of the Lord, for he had often experienced it. Thus he hoped the Lord might grant him mercy in these present afflictions brought on him by Absalom and Shimei (Psa 69:16). If God should grant him mercy He would return David to the throne and requite him for the cursing of Shimei.
Thus David continued on his way, and Shimei continued to vilify him, cast his rocks and dirt on him and his people all the way to their destination. They paused at last, weary, to refresh themselves.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES.
2Sa. 16:5. Bahurim. (See note on 2Sa. 3:16).
2Sa. 16:6. On his right hand, etc. i.e., On the right and left of the king. (Keil).
2Sa. 16:7. Come out, etc., or Away, away Thou bloody man. He may possibly have attributed to David the murder of Ishbosheth and Abner. (Keil.) Other, less probably, think also of Saul and Jonathan, and even of Uriah. (Erdmann.)
2Sa. 16:8. The Lord, etc. Shimei is so far devout and religious that he ascribes the present state of things wholly to Jehovah, but he ignores Samuels sentence of rejection (1 Samuel 15) and otherwise shows a bad spirit. (Translator of Langes Commentary). Taken in thy mischief, rather thou art in thy misfortune.
2Sa. 16:10. What have I? etc. Lit., What to me and you? i.e., what feelings and desires have we in common. It is evident that Joab also desired to put Shimei to death. The Lord hath said, etc. By allowing him to do so. Since nothing happens against, or without the will of Him. (Wordsworth.) In the East they make use of bold figures, much less common among us, although not altogether unknown. They speak of the mediate cause without saying it is the mediate cause, and use the very expression which denotes the immediate cause. We should regard Shimei as an instrument in the hands of Providence. In the East they go a far greater length. There God has done and commanded all that men do contrary to His commandments. (Jamieson.)
2Sa. 16:12. Affliction. Some translate this word into eye, and understand David to refer to his tears; but the correct translation appears to be iniquity, on which Erdmann remarks, Gods looking upon his iniquity can then only be a gracious and merciful looking.
2Sa. 16:14. Weary. Ayephim. Most scholars regard this as the name of a place since, if it is rendered weary, there is no mention of the place referred to by the word there. Jamieson, however, remarks that the absence of the particle of motion favours the English version. There is no other mention of a place of this name but that, as Kiel remarks, applies to many other places whose existence is never called in question.
2Sa. 16:15. Men of Israel. Very significant: The old malcontents, 2Sa. 2:8-9. (Thenius).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.2Sa. 16:5-19
SHIMEI CURSING DAVID
I. The day of adversity is the day when we may look for insult from the mean-spirited. We hear nothing of Shimei in the day of Davids prosperity, although the deeds for which he upbraided him had been done long before. A truly noble man will reprove another from a sense of duty, and will do it without considering what the consequences to himself may be. There are also many men who, although they will not risk their own safety by rebuking the real or supposed faults of those who have power to punish them for so doing, have too much humanity in them to do so when their respective positions are reversed. But, alas for our human nature! there are those also who, like the cur, which only barks when he thinks the object of his dislike has no means of defence, gladly avail themselves of anothers misfortune to charge him with all manner of iniquity. Although David, as it appears from the narrative, had even now the means of avenging himself, it is quite evident from what took place afterwards that Shimei would not have acted as he did if he had not felt tolerably secure.
II. The manner and circumstances in which an accusation is made, and the spirit in which it is borne, will often help us to decide as to its truth or falsehood. If we knew nothing of David before this event, as we know nothing of Shimei, we should conclude that he did not deserve the character here given to him. Great as his fall had been on the one great transgression of his life, the charges brought against him by Shimei were falsehe was not a blood-thirsty tyrant who had risen to power by injustice and cruelty. But where there is manifest cowardice, we may safely concludewithout any other proofthat there is falsehood. The more meekly, too, an accusation is borne, the less likely is it to be true, Such a spirit as David here displays never goes hand in hand with such selfish ambition as Shimei here lays to his charge, and the accuser here is as surely condemned out of his own mouth, and by his own conduct, as the accused man justifies himself by his humble words and by his patient forbearance.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
2Sa. 16:5. There is no small cruelty in the picking out of a time for mischief; that word would scarce gall at one season, which at another killeth. The same shaft flying with the wind pierces deep, which against it can hardly find strength to stick upright. The valour and justice of children condemn it for injuriously cowardly, to strike their adversary when he is once down. It is the murder of the tongue to insult upon those whom God hath bumbled, and to draw blood of that back which is yet blue from the hand of the Almighty.Bp. Hall.
Was not David rightly punished by Shimeis railing, for his hearkening so readily to Zibas flattering? Was not he justly spoiled of his honours, who had so unjustly spoiled Mephibosheth of his good?Trapp.
2Sa. 16:11. Even while David laments the rebellion of his son, he gains by it, and makes that the argument of his patience, which was the exercise of it; Behold my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life; how much more now may this Benjamite do it? The wickedness of an Absalom may rob his father of comfort, but shall help to add to his fathers goodness. It is the advantage of great crosses, that they swallow up the less. One mans sin cannot be excused by anothers, the lesser by the greater. If Absalom be a traitor, Shimei may not curse and rebel; but the passion conceived from the indignity of a stranger, may be abated by the harder measure of our own; if we can therefore suffer, because we have suffered, we have profited by our affliction. A weak heart faints with every addition of succeeding trouble; the strong recollects itself, and is grown so skilful, that it bears off one mischief with another.Bp. Hall.
2Sa. 16:12. According to His usual dealing with His poor afflicted. Howsoever, if He bring not down His will to theirs, He will bring up their will to His, which will make infinite amends for all their patience.Trapp.
We may here learn how falsely and wickedly men sometimes wrest the providence of God, to justify their unjust surmises, and gratify their malevolent passions. Many who are themselves living without God in the world, have, at the same time, no scruple in speaking of the calamities which befal others, as Divine judgments Jobs friends condemned him on this false principle, and our Lord censures a similar rash judgment which some in His day had formed of certain others, in consequence of their extraordinary sufferings.Lindsay.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(5) Bahurim.See Note on 2Sa. 3:16.
Of the family of the house of Saul.That is, of the family, in the larger sense of tribe. Many of the Benjamites naturally felt aggrieved when the royal house passed away from their tribe; and, although under restraint while Davids government was strong, were ever ready to show their opposition and hatred when opportunity offered, as now with Shimei, and a little later with Sheba, the son of Bichri (2Sa. 20:1-2).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
SHIMEI’S CURSING, 2Sa 16:5-14.
5. Bahurim See note on 2Sa 3:16.
Of the family of the house of Saul And therefore, doubtless, affected with the same bitter animosity towards David which was felt by Saul, and which seems to have been felt by all Saul’s distant relatives. Compare 2Sa 21:1-9.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
David Is Cursed By A Member Of The House Of Saul ( 2Sa 16:5-14 ).
We will have noted that up to this point each person who had approached David had been evidence to him that YHWH was with him:
The coming of the Ark and its setting up on the mount had been evidence that YHWH was watching over their departure.
The coming of Hushai had been evidence that YHWH had heard David’s prayer concerning Ahithophel.
The coming of Ziba had been evidence that YHWH would continue to provide for David and his people in the wilderness.
But now he would be met by a Saulide who would curse him to his face, and yet instead of punishing him David would take it as evidence that YHWH would turn the curse to his good, for he had already recognised that what was happening to him was in fact due to YHWH’s chastening because he had become so complacent and sinful, and it was now his hope that because it was now he who was being wronged YHWH would act on his behalf and against the one who was doing the wrong.
It is one of the signs of the true man of God that when tribulation comes on him he recognises it as being from the hand of the Lord to do him good, and that was what was happening to David. David had been asleep spiritually, but now he was once more wide awake, recognising the hand of God in all that was happening.
Analysis.
a
b He came out, and cursed still as he came. And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left (2Sa 16:6).
c And this is what Shimei said when he cursed, “Begone, begone, you man of blood, and base fellow, YHWH has returned on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead you have reigned, and YHWH has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son, and, behold, you are taken in your own mischief, because you are a man of blood” (2Sa 16:7-8).
d Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, I pray you, and take off his head” (2Sa 16:9).
e And the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah?” (2Sa 16:10 a).
d Because he curses, and because YHWH has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’ ”
c And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, “Consider the fact that my son, who came forth from my bowels, seeks my life, how much more may this Benjaminite now do it? Let him alone, and let him curse, for YHWH has bidden him. It may be that YHWH will look on the wrong done to me, and that YHWH will requite me good for his cursing of me this day” (2Sa 16:11-12).
b So David and his men went by the way, and Shimei went along on the hill-side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust (2Sa 16:13).
a And the king, and all the people who were with him, became weary, and he refreshed himself there (2Sa 16:14).
Note that in ‘a’ David comes to Bahurim, and in the parallel he refreshes himself there. In ‘b’ Shimei curses David and throws stones at him and his men, and in the parallel he does the same. In ‘c’ he is being cursed by a Saulide as a man of blood, and the Saulide rejoices over the fact that YHWH has delivered the kingdom into the hands of his son, and in the parallel David declares that in view of the fact that his own son seeks his life, it is hardly surprising that ‘this Benjaminite’ does the same. In ‘d’ Abishai asks why ‘this dead dog’ should be allowed to curse the king, and in the parallel David declares that it is because YHWH has told him curse him. Central in ‘e’ David distinguishes himself from the bloodlust of ‘the sons of Zeruiah’.
2Sa 16:5
‘ And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, there came out from there a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera. He came out, and cursed still as he came.’
Bahurim was the place to which Paltiel had come weeping when his wife Michal was taken from him by Ishbosheth and returned to David, the place at which Abner had curtly commanded him to go back to his home (2Sa 3:15-16). It was also the place where the spies who would leave Jerusalem would also hide (2Sa 17:18). It was just beyond the Mount of Olives on the way to the wilderness. That there were many in Israel, especially among the Benjaminites, who also resented David comes out in this incident. In some ways Shimei must have been a very brave man, for he alone of all of them expressed their feelings about David to him personally, and that in the face of David’s bodyguard. As a member of the house of Saul and therefore in some way related to Saul he had come out in order to express the bitterness of the house of Saul against David, and he did it by cursing him. David must have thought, ‘first Mephibosheth and now this man’. It was a reminder to him that although YHWH had raised him up over the house of Saul, he himself had failed too. The sight of the man standing on the hillside was a reminder of his own failure to obey YHWH. It is probable that Shimei was on a ridge overlooking the road where he felt himself safe from David’s men.
2Sa 16:6
‘ And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.’
The man then began to hurl stones towards the royal party. They were symbolic rather than intended to cause harm, a symbolic indication that David was dirt, and was not wanted in Israel. Indeed as David was surrounded on all sides by his most valiant warriors, they were unlikely to reach him. But the very fact that the man did it under those circumstances demonstrated how deeply he felt, for he had little protection against the swords of David’s men if they did try to reach him.
2Sa 16:7-8
‘ And this is what Shimei said when he cursed, “Begone, begone, you man of blood, and base fellow, YHWH has returned on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead you have reigned; and YHWH has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son, and, behold, you are taken in your own mischief, because you are a man of blood.”
The words of his curse are now described for us. It was a call on David to be gone because he was a man of blood and a base fellow. This was one heart that he had certainly not won. His view was that David had come to the throne of Israel by trampling over the blood of the Saulides. They had given their lives for Israel, and then David had taken advantage of it in order to seize the throne, trampling them out of the way. It was, of course a caricature of what had happened, for David had gone out of his way not to harm the house of Saul, but to a member of the family grief stricken at what had happened to his family it did not seem that way. All he had seen was that Saul and his three eldest sons had died gloriously, shedding their blood on Mount Gilboa, that his fourth son Ishbosheth had been cruelly murdered in his own bed, and that Abner his cousin had been assassinated at Hebron. And that was the way in which ‘this man’ had become king. Well, now ‘he’ was himself learning what it was like, for it was clear that even his own son had no longer been able to stand his ways and had rebelled against him, and had taken over his kingdom (Absalom’s propagandists had done a good job). And it was furthermore clearly YHWH Himself Who had done it to him because of his sinful behaviour and especially because of his bloodthirsy and murderous methods. To Shimei, looking in from the outside and not knowing the true facts, David was a bloodthirsty tyrant who was getting what he deserved. It is often the lot of God’s servants to be misunderstood.
2Sa 16:9
‘ Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, I pray you, and take off his head.” ’
Shimei’s words understandably angered David’s men. To curse the king was treason. And Abishai, David’s nephew and one of his generals, turned to David and said, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, I pray you, and take off his head.” To a man of Abishai’s experience climbing up to a ridge would have caused him little difficulty. What he did not realise was that he was in fact by this exemplifying the very attitude which had given David his bad reputation, and indeed that he was himself one of the two men (along with Joab) who were mostly responsible for that bad reputation (2Sa 3:39).
The description ‘dead dog’ was a regular indication of someone who was powerless, unimportant and incapable of doing any harm (2Sa 9:8; 1Sa 24:14). Dogs were seen as a nuisance and a scourge as they hovered around the edges of cities, but a dead dog had ceased even to be that. It no longer counted as it lay there in the dust until someone dragged away its carcase and cast it into the waste pit. And that would be David’s whole point, that Shimei was harmless and was to be pitied. He was just barking. He was not worthy of notice.
2Sa 16:10
‘ And the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? Because he curses, and because YHWH has said to him, ‘Curse David’? Who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’ ” ’
David then turned to Abishai and declared that he wanted nothing to do with the bloodthirsty attitudes of ‘you sons of Zeruiah’ (compare 2Sa 3:39). He did not look kindly on the ways of the sons of Zeruiah who were only too ready to remove the opposition by killing them. And he pointed out that all that the man was doing was cursing because he thought that YHWH had told him to curse David. Who were they to question his reasons? Did he not, a least in his own eyes, have some justification? David was clearly not concerned about a curse that was not justified because the one who cursed had got his facts wrong. He was more concerned not to kill men for little adequate reason. It is a reminder here that although David could slaughter men in battle with the best of them, and could carry out any measures that were seen as necessary without cringing, he was not into killing helpless people just because they displeased him. Essentially he was a humane man.
“What have I to do with you.” Literally ‘what is there to you and to me?’ For this phrase compare 1Ki 17:18; Joh 2:4; and see Jos 22:24; Luk 9:52-56.
2Sa 16:11-12
‘ And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, “Consider the fact that my son, who came forth from my bowels, seeks my life, how much more may this Benjaminite now do it? Let him alone, and let him curse, for YHWH has bidden him. It may be that YHWH will look on the wrong done to me (or ‘on my iniquity’), and that YHWH will requite me good for his cursing of me this day.” ’
Then David revealed something of the grief that was tearing at his own soul, for he called on Abishai to consider what his own true born son was doing to him. Forgetting the ties of blood he was intent on seeking his life because he had been offended, and in order to further his own advantage. At least this man Shimei was demonstrating his loyalty to his own family. How much more right he had than Absalom to curse David, for he was a Benjaminite of the house of Saul. So let him be left alone, and let him curse. It was obvious that YHWH had bidden him to do it.
David was acknowledging by this the fact that it was coming home to him that he himself had displeased YHWH. But in view of the fact that the main charge was not true (even though it may have appeared to be true to a Saulide who had only heard rumours) it could not hurt him. Indeed his hope was that YHWH would look on the wrong accusations which resulted from a false view of the facts, and would, rather than cursing David, return good to him as a result of the cursing that he was receiving. In other words that He would give him blessing for cursing because the cursing had been unfair.
Alternately we may see David as recognising his own sin (‘it may be that YHWH will look on my iniquity’) and praying that as YHWH did look at his sin He might have pity because David was also being blamed and cursed for what he had not done, and as a result might ‘do good’ towards him, as a result of the fact that David was seen to have ‘paid sufficient price’ for his great sin.
2Sa 16:13
‘ So David and his men went by the way, and Shimei went along on the hill-side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust.’
So leaving Shimei to his own devices David and his men went on their way, while Shimei walked along on a ridge above them, cursing David, throwing stones, and casting dust. In this way all the pent up anger of years was being revealed, and there would have been many others who felt similarly. That Shimei was in fact a wealthy man and a man of influence among the Benjaminites able to do considerable harm comes out later in that he was able to bring ‘a thousand’ Benjaminites to David. See 2Sa 19:16-23; 1Ki 2:8-9; 1Ki 2:36-46. He was thus a man who had to be regarded and watched.
2Sa 16:14
‘ And the king, and all the people who were with him, became weary (or ‘came to ‘Ayephim’) , and he refreshed himself there.’
The hurried flight from Jerusalem with all the organisation and rushing around that it had involved had clearly taken its toll on them, and the king’s group therefore decided to take a rest break once they had passed Bahurim (or we may translate once ‘they came to ‘Ayephim’). They now felt safer and were beginning to feel the strain of the flight and were already weary. The fact that they did so indicated that David was keenly aware of Absalom’s movements and knew that as yet there was no danger. (Messengers were no doubt constantly arriving from loyal supporters). And there they refreshed themselves before proceeding on towards the fords of the Jordan.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Sa 16:5-12. When king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came outShimeiand cursed. This vile and calumnious treatment of Shimei was one of the severest trials of patience that ever human magnanimity endured. The accusation, 2Sa 16:8 was notoriously false, and the king for that reason could bear it the better. But his servants saw it not in the light of their master’s equanimity, but of his enemy’s insolence. Abishai, David’s nephew, could not bear it, but begged the king’s permission to take off the traitor’s head that uttered it, 2Sa 16:9 which David absolutely refused; adding a rebuke to his refusal, 2Sa 16:10. What have I to do with you, &c.?So let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David. Here we have, in few words, a clear comment upon all the curses throughout David’s Psalms. They are prophetic denunciations of divine vengeance. The king then, turning to Abishai and the rest of his servants who were about them, asks, 2Sa 16:11. How it could be surprising to see a Benjamite reviling, when they beheld his own son in rebellion against him, and seeking his life? He adds, 2Sa 16:12. It may be that the Lord will look on mine affliction, &c. Although this was a chastisement from God upon him, yet, if he bore it as became him, it might become a means of mercy to him; his humble submission and resignation might call down the divine commiseration upon his patience and penitence. David’s penitence but more inflamed Shimei’s insolence; and, as David and his servants marched along, Shimei kept pace with them upon the side of an adjacent hill, and still continued cursing, reviling, and throwing dust and stones, unchastised. David endured it all: when he was reviled, he reviled not again: when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed his cause to HIM who judgeth righteously. 1Pe 2:23. How far he was in this instance an emblem of HIS suffering SON, is not, I presume, hard to discern, or adventurous to assert.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 321
DAVIDS PATIENCE AND FORBEARANCE
2Sa 16:5-12. And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came. And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial: the Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man. Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head. And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so? And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? Let him alone, and let him curse: for the Lord hath bidden him. It may be that the Lord will look on mine affliction, and that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day.
IT is thought by many, that situations of rank and eminence are conducive to happiness. But the very reverse of this will be found true for the most part, because persons in authority are beset with numberless temptations, to which their inferiors are scarcely at all exposed. Behold David exalted to a throne; and see to what trials he was reduced, by those who sought his favour, or envied him his power! It is the unhappy lot of kings to be surrounded no less by lying friends, than by bitter enemies. When David fled from Absalom, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, the son of Saul, met him with a present of needful provisions for himself and followers, under a feigned plea, that his master had joined the conspiracy of Absalom, in the hope of regaining his fathers kingdom: and thus he obtained from David an hasty and inadvertent grant of all Mephibosheths possessions; a grant, which David afterwards, when better informed, was constrained to rescind. Scarcely had David been thus betrayed by a pretended friend, before he was fiercely assaulted by a bitter enemy, who now took advantage of his misfortunes to load him with all manner of reproaches. From this evil, however, David escaped with far greater honour to himself. In the former case he was imposed upon, and was led to act with unwise precipitation: but in this latter case, when urged to avenge himself on the delinquent, he forbore; and thus manifested a disposition of mind that is worthy of universal imitation.
To place Davids conduct in its true light, I will set before you,
I.
His heavy trial
His condition, independent of Shimeis conduct, was exceedingly afflictive
[He was now driven from his throne, and forced to flee for his life. To this he was forced by his own subjects, led on by his most favourite son, Absalom. To be reduced to such an extremity by a foreign foe would have been an exceeding great calamity: but to be brought to it by his own beloved son, at the head of his rebellious subjects, was as afflictive a dispensation as could well be conceived.
But in this cup of sorrow there was an ingredient that was incomparably more bitter than even death itself; namely, a consciousness that it proceeded from God, as a punishment of the sin he had committed in the matter of Uriah. Nathan had long since delivered to him this warning from the Lord: Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine house [Note: 2Sa 12:11.]. And this judgment had already been executed in part, by Amnons ravishing of his sister Tamar; and by Absaloms murder of his brother Amnon; (in both of which there was an awful correspondence with his own sins in the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah:) and now it came home more immediately to his own person, in the conduct of Absalom towards himself. This consciousness very deeply oppressed his mind, and added a ten-fold poignancy to all his other stings.]
But the conduct of Shimei greatly aggravated his misfortunes at this time
[It came upon him at a time when he was wounded, and disconsolate, under the rebukes of the Almighty [Note: Psa 69:26.]. And the bitterness of this mans reproaches could scarcely be exceeded. Shimei, being a Benjamite, was zealous for his own tribe, from whence the sovereign authority had been transferred to the tribe of Judah. (Such jealousies, alas! pervade all ranks and classes of society throughout the world, from rival states to rival districts, communities, towns, families, and parties of every description: and often the feelings subsisting between the adverse parties, are scarcely less acrimonious than those of Shimei himself.) Besides, being of the family of Saul, perhaps Shimeis prospects in life were in a great measure blasted: and therefore, whilst he regarded David as the occasion of his ruin, he considered the Deity himself as vindicating his cause, in the punishment of the usurper. But his accusation of David, as having imbrued his hands in the blood of Saul, was without the least foundation: for it was well known that he had not been in the least degree accessory to the death of Saul, or Jonathan, or of Abner, or Ishbosheth, or of any whose blood was now laid to his charge. But such an accusation, at such a time, was most distressing to the feelings of the royal sufferer: and the rather too, because it brought the more forcibly to his mind the evils which he had indeed committed, and for which God was indeed inflicting upon him this sore punishment.]
We wonder not at the indignation of Abishai, or at the proposal which he made to avenge his masters cause on this insulting adversary. But we do wonder at Davids forbearance under this heavy trial, and at,
II.
His meek submission to it
David would not suffer Abishai to execute his project, and to inflict on this daring rebel the deserved punishment. He chose rather to endure all the insults that were heaped upon him: and to this he was led by two considerations:
1.
He saw the hand of God in this trial
[Repeatedly does he say, that God had bidden this virulent adversary to curse him: and from that consideration he puts the question to Abishai, Who then shall say, Wherefore hast thou done so [Note: ver. 10, 11.]? Of course, he did not imagine that God had enjoined this man to behave thus, or had actually infused into his mind a disposition to commit so great a transgression. When God hardened the heart of Pharaoh [Note: Exo 4:21.], he only left him to harden his own heart: and when he sent forth an evil and lying spirit into the prophets of Ahab, he only gave permission to the evil spirit to enter into them [Note: 1Ki 22:21-23.]. In fact, the creature, even whilst he acts most freely, executes, even as the murderers of our blessed Lord did, what His mind and His counsel had determined before to be done [Note: Act 4:28.]. The creature, whatever his own mind and purpose may be, is only a rod, or staff, or sword in Jehovahs hand, to execute his holy will [Note: Isa 10:5-7.]. And though this does not excuse the creature, who, in fact, thinks of doing his own will only, it must reconcile us to what is done, no less than if it had been done directly and immediately by God himself. Thus Job viewed the losses he sustained through the rapacity of the Chaldeans and Sabeans, who took away all his cattle, and slew his servants: Shall I receive good at the Lords hands, and shall I not receive evil? The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord [Note: Job 1:21; Job 2:10.]. From this consideration, David was enabled to submit with meekness to the invectives of Shimei, and to say, as Eli, It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good [Note: 1Sa 3:18.]. This is the account he himself gives us: I was dumb, and opened not my mouth, because thou didst it [Note: Psa 39:9.].]
2.
He looked to God to overrule it for his good
[It is Gods privilege to bring good out of evil, for the benefit of his believing people. David was no stranger to the history of Joseph, nor of the testimony which Joseph bore respecting the sufferings which had been inflicted on him by his brethren: It was not you that sent me hither; but God, to save your lives by a great deliverance. Ye indeed thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass as it is this day, to save much people alive [Note: Gen 45:7-8; Gen 50:20.]. And he fondly hoped that God would in some way sanctify to him this dispensation. He well knew, that God chastens his people for their profit, to make them partakers of his holiness: and that affliction, though not joyous at the present, but grievous, will, through Gods blessing upon it, work out the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby [Note: Heb 12:10-11.]. And he hoped that God would make this severe visitation work for his good [Note: Rom 8:28.]; or, at all events, whatever might be the effect of it here, it would issue well at the last, by working out for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory in the eternal world [Note: 2Co 4:17.]. This hope pacified and composed his mind, and enabled him to possess his soul in patience; whilst Abishai, yielding to the impulse of an irritated mind, would gladly have executed on the offender the judgment he deserved.]
Learn, then, Brethren, from this subject,
1.
What spirit you are to manifest under any injuries you sustain
[In no respect are you to indulge an angry and vindictive spirit; but, rather, to follow the example of our blessed Lord, who, under the most injurious treatment that ever was endured in this world, opened not his mouth, but was dumb, even as a sheep before its shearers. Instead of rendering evil for evil, we are to return nothing but good; and to seek for victory in no other way; as God has said, Be not overcome of evil; but overcome evil with good. Doubtless this is a difficult path: but it will surely bring upon us the divine blessing, both in this world and in the world to come.]
2.
How you are to obtain it
[You have seen what considerations influenced the mind of David: and the same will produce a similar effect on your minds. The first thing to be sought by you is a deep sense of your own sinfulness. Let that abide upon your minds, and nothing that man can inflict will greatly wound you. How heavy soever your trial may be, you will say, Shall a living man complain? a man for the punishment of his sins [Note: Lam 3:39.]? Any thing short of the miseries of hell, especially if it tend to avert those miseries, will be accounted rather a mercy to be thankful for, than a judgment to be deplored [Note: Mat 5:10-12; 1Pe 4:12-13.].
The next thing is, to realize in your souls the universal agency of Divine Providence; so as to see, that no trouble whatever springs out of the dust [Note: Job 5:6.], but that every thing, even to the falling of a sparrow, or of a hair from your head, is ordered of the Lord [Note: Mat 10:29-30.]. Your nature may indeed recoil from suffering; and you may deprecate it, even as our Lord himself did, when he desired that the cup which had been put into his hands might pass away from him. But this you will do with submission, saying, Not my will, but thine be done: and when you see what the Lords will is, you will chide your reluctant spirit, saying, The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it [Note: Joh 18:11.]?
Finally, look to the issue of your trials, and then you will be moved by nothing that either men or devils can do [Note: Act 20:24.]. You have seen in the case of Job the end of the Lord, even in this world [Note: Jam 5:11.]. And, if the furnace be to purge away your dross, you will not greatly regret that God suffers you to be put into it. You will expect his presence with you in your troubles for your comfort and support [Note: Mal 3:3; Dan 3:25.], and a rich compensation for them in the world to come [Note: 2Ti 2:12; Rev 7:14-15.].
Get but these thoughts wrought into your hearts, and you will bear with resignation even the heaviest calamities, and commit your souls to God in well doing, as into the hands of a faithful Creator [Note: 1Pe 4:19.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
(5) And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came. (6) And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. (7) And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial: (8) The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.
It is a very common thing in the trials of GOD’s people, that when the LORD scourgeth, the agents of the enemy assault and harass the mind also. And, no doubt, these things are permitted of the LORD; for whatever be our trial, let the instrument be what it may, it can go no further than the LORD permit. Reader! it is always profitable to discover the LORD in all.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Sa 16:5 And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name [was] Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came.
Ver. 5. And when king David came to Bahurim. ] Which was not far from Jerusalem. There is no small cruelty in picking out a time for mischief: that word would scarce wound at one season, that killeth at another. It is the murder of the tongue to insult upon those whom God hath humbled, and to draw blood from that back which is yet blue from the hand of the Almighty.
He came forth and cursed still as he came.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Bahurim. On east side of Olivet; “in tribe of Benjamin”.
man. Hebrew. ‘ish. App-14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Bahurim: This place is supposed to be the same as Almon – Jos 21:18, and Almeth – 1Ch 6:60, a city of Benjamin, north of Jerusalem, and apparently not far from Olivet. 2Sa 16:14, 2Sa 3:16, 2Sa 17:18
whose name: 2Sa 19:16-18, 1Ki 2:8, 1Ki 2:9, 1Ki 2:36-44, 1Ki 2:45, 1Ki 2:46
he came: etc. or, he still came forth and cursed
cursed: Exo 22:28, 1Sa 17:43, Psa 69:26, Psa 109:16-19, Psa 109:28, Pro 26:2, Ecc 10:20, Isa 8:21, Mat 5:11, Mat 5:12
Reciprocal: 2Sa 16:13 – cursed 2Sa 19:19 – did perversely 2Sa 19:20 – Joseph 2Sa 19:21 – cursed 1Ki 2:44 – Thou knowest 1Ch 5:4 – Shimei 1Ch 6:42 – Shimei Est 2:5 – the son of Shimei Job 30:11 – loosed Job 31:29 – General Psa 144:11 – and deliver me Pro 17:11 – General Pro 19:19 – man Pro 24:17 – General Isa 3:5 – base Zec 12:13 – Shimei Jam 3:9 – therewith curse
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Sa 16:5-6. When David came to Bahurim The next village in his way to the wilderness; that is, when he came to the territory of it, for he did not reach the place itself till afterward, as is mentioned 2Sa 16:14. Thence came out a man, and cursed still as he came Out of an inveterate hatred to David; whom he looked upon as the great enemy of the family of Saul, to which he belonged. And he cast stones, &c. To show his contempt of David and his servants. All his mighty men were on his right hand and on his left This is observed to show the prodigious madness of the man. He could not hurt David, who was so strongly guarded; but he might have been immediately killed himself.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
16:5 And when king David came to {c} Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name [was] Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came.
(c) Which was a city in the tribe of Benjamin.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Shimei’s curse 16:5-14
This second descendant of Saul demonstrated a reaction to David that was the opposite of Ziba’s. Ziba had been ingratiating and submissive, but Shimei, a "reptile of the royal house of Saul," [Note: Alexander Whyte, Bible Characters, p. 297.] was insulting and defiant (cf. Gen 12:3). The central focus of the chiasm in this section is Abishai’s desire for Shimei’s execution (2Sa 16:9; cf. 1Sa 17:46; 2Sa 4:7).
Bahurim evidently stood on the east side of Mt. Olivet but not far away from the Kidron Valley (cf. 2Sa 3:16; 2Sa 17:18). Shimei’s charge that David was a man of bloodshed (2Sa 16:8) was true; David had murdered Uriah. However, Shimei meant David was responsible for the murders of Abner and Ish-bosheth, which was not true. David appears to have felt his present distress might be God’s punishment for killing Uriah (2Sa 16:10-11). He hoped that by showing Shimei mercy God might be merciful to him (2Sa 16:12; cf. 2Sa 22:26). David’s attitude was entirely different from Abishai’s (2Sa 16:9; cf. 1Sa 26:8), and Abishai’s brother Joab’s, who often seized the initiative from God. "Sons of Zeruiah" was probably a disparaging form of address (cf. 1Sa 10:11; 1Sa 20:27).
"This is an interesting theological view, that coming from the hate-filled rantings of an apparent madman might be the voice of God to David. The willingness to listen to one’s critics and even to one’s enemies may be the only way to discover the truth of God. The natural tendency is to surround ourselves with friends who are often reluctant to tell us the things we need to know. This opens the possibility that we may do well at times to listen to people who wish us harm but tell us the truth. Here again we see David’s willingness to expose himself to God’s word for his life and to God’s judgment upon his life." [Note: Chafin, p. 338.]
Here, in contrast to the previous pericope, David succeeded. He did not let the criticism of a critic elicit an improper response from him. Rather, he listened for the voice of God in Shimei’s words (2Sa 16:10-11). Sometimes the complementary words of a friend (2Sa 16:1-4) are more difficult to handle than the curses of an enemy. David showed some growth here; previously he had reacted violently to the disdain of an enemy, namely, Nabal (cf. 1Sa 25:26; 1Sa 25:32-34). For David to control his temper was a greater victory than slaying Goliath (Pro 16:32). Times of stress bring out the best and the worst in people. This was true of David’s flight from Absalom as it had been true during his flight from Saul.