1 Kings 2:43

So why have you not kept your oath to the LORD and the command that I gave you?”

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Solomon addresses Shimei immediately after discovering his return to Jerusalem, which violated a sworn boundary restriction. The confrontation occurs during a judicial reckoning where Solomon recalls Shimei's prior verbal agreement.

The words — שְׁבֻעַת (shevu'at, “oath”) and מִצְוָה (mitzvah, “command”) form the core accusation. Solomon explicitly pairs the broken vow to Yahweh with the royal directive he personally issued.

The thread — The coupling of oath-bound obedience and royal decree appears in Ecclesiastes 8:2, which instructs subjects to keep the king’s command because of their oath before God.

Why it lands — The text demands direct accountability for explicit promises, treating broken oaths as factual breaches rather than abstract failures. It requires the reader to assess personal fidelity to stated commitments before addressing consequences.

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

וּמַדּ֕וּעַu./ma.Du.a'and/ why?לֹ֣אlo'not שָׁמַ֔רְתָּsha.Mar.tahave you kept אֵ֖ת'et<obj.>שְׁבֻעַ֣תshe.vu.'At[the] oath of יְהוָ֑הYah.wehYahweh וְאֶת־ve./'Etand/ <obj.>הַמִּצְוָ֖הha./mitz.Vahthe/ command אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-which צִוִּ֥יתִיtzi.Vi.tiI commanded עָלֶֽיךָ׃'a.Lei./khato/ you

King James Version

Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord, and the commandment that I have charged thee with?

Cross-references

2 Samuel 21:2 At this, David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites, but a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them, but in his zeal for Israel and Judah, Saul had sought to kill them.)
2 Chronicles 30:12 Moreover, the power of God was on the people in Judah to give them one heart to obey the command of the king and his officials according to the word of the LORD.
Ecclesiastes 8:2 Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
Ezekiel 17:18 He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Seeing that he gave his hand in pledge yet did all these things, he will not escape!’
Romans 13:5 Therefore it is necessary to submit to authority, not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience.