Bible Strands
1 Kings 2:36
Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — King Solomon summons Shimei after consolidating military and priestly leadership to enforce a royal decree. He confines Shimei to Jerusalem under threat of immediate execution.
The words — The command opens with בְּנֵה (beneh) and בַיִת (bayit), literally “build a house.” The text uses residential language to establish a legal boundary rather than grant property rights.
The thread — The restriction fulfills Solomon’s earlier charge in 1 Kings 2:8 to keep Shimei, the Benjamite who cursed David in 2 Samuel 16:5, under surveillance. It mirrors the house arrest of Absalom in 2 Samuel 14:24, where confinement substitutes for direct royal audience.
Why it lands — The passage records authority enforced through geographic limitation rather than theological argument. The reader must note that compliance is measured by physical movement, not internal conviction.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Build thee an house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not forth thence any whither.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 16:5 As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the family of the house of Saul was just coming out. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he approached, he kept yelling out curses.
- 1 Kings 2:8 Keep an eye on Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim who is with you. He called down bitter curses against me on the day I went to Mahanaim, but when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD: ‘I will never put you to the sword.’
- 2 Samuel 14:24 But the king added, “He may return to his house, but he must not see my face.” So Absalom returned to his own house, but he did not see the face of the king.
- 2 Samuel 14:28 Now Absalom lived in Jerusalem two years without seeing the face of the king.
- 1 Kings 1:53 So King Solomon summoned Adonijah down from the altar, and he came and bowed down before King Solomon, who said to him, “Go to your home.”
- Proverbs 20:8 A king who sits on a throne to judge sifts out all evil with his eyes.
- Proverbs 20:26 A wise king separates out the wicked and drives the threshing wheel over them.