Bible Strands
1 Kings 2:37
On the day you go out and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will die; your blood will be on your own head.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Solomon issues this warning to Shimei immediately after commanding him to remain in Jerusalem, just before Shimei agrees to stay.
The words — The Hebrew יָדֹ֥עַ (ya.Do.a') translates as "certainly know," fixing the death penalty to the specific moment Shimei exits and crosses the Kidron wadi (נַ֣חַל קִדְר֔וֹן).
The thread — The declaration "your blood will be on your own head" matches Joshua 2:19 and 2 Samuel 1:16, while the geographical marker recalls the royal procession in 2 Samuel 15:23.
Why it lands — The text establishes that violating a direct command triggers self-responsible judgment, leaving no room for claimed ignorance or accidental transgression.
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
For it shall be, that on the day thou goest out, and passest over the brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thine own head.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 1:16 For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood be on your own head because your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’”
- 2 Samuel 15:23 Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly as all the people passed by. And as the king crossed the Kidron Valley, all the people also passed toward the way of the wilderness.
- Joshua 2:19 If anyone goes out the door of your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head, and we will be innocent. But if a hand is laid on anyone with you in the house, his blood will be on our heads.
- Leviticus 20:9 If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood shall be upon him.
- 2 Kings 23:6 He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.
- Ezekiel 18:13 He engages in usury and takes excess interest. Will this son live? He will not! Since he has committed all these abominations, he will surely die; his blood will be on his own head.
- John 18:1 After Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley, where they entered a garden.
- 1 Kings 2:31 And the king replied, “Do just as he says. Strike him down and bury him, and so remove from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood that Joab shed.
- 1 Kings 2:33 Their blood will come back upon the heads of Joab and his descendants forever; but for David, his descendants, his house, and his throne, there shall be peace from the LORD forever.”
- 1 Kings 15:13 He also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley.