Bible Strands
1 Kings 2:44
The king also said, “You know in your heart all the evil that you did to my father David. Therefore the LORD will bring your evil back upon your head.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — King Solomon speaks to Shimei during a formal judicial proceeding, immediately after questioning his broken oath and before declaring a blessing on his own reign and David’s dynasty.
The words — The Hebrew יָדַ֙עְתָּ֙ (ya.Da'.ta) translates literally as “you know,” stressing Shimei’s conscious awareness of his past actions rather than mere factual knowledge.
The thread — The confrontation originates in 2 Samuel 16:5 where Shimei publicly curses David, and the principle of measured retribution mirrors the declaration in Psalms 7:16 that violence returns to the perpetrator.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to accept that deliberate wrongdoing, when fully known, triggers inevitable consequences, leaving no room for appeals to ignorance or unmerited favor.
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
The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father: therefore the Lord shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head;
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 Samuel 25:39 On hearing that Nabal was dead, David said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has upheld my cause against the reproach of Nabal and has restrained His servant from evil. For the LORD has brought the wickedness of Nabal down upon his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife.
- Psalms 7:16 His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.
- Ezekiel 17:19 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, I will bring down upon his head My oath that he despised and My covenant that he broke.
- 1 Kings 2:32 The LORD will bring his bloodshed back upon his own head, for without the knowledge of my father David he struck down two men more righteous and better than he when he put to the sword Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army.
- Proverbs 5:22 The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
- Hosea 4:9 And it shall be like people, like priest. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.
- John 8:9 When they heard this, they began to go away one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there.
- Romans 2:15 So they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts either accusing or defending them
- 1 John 3:20 Even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things.