Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him; but his hoar head bring thou down to the grave with blood.
Now therefore hold him not guiltless. He has the turbulent spirit of sedition, and may be of treason; do not regard him as an innocent, harmless person.
For thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do. I would have you to act toward him according to your discretion.
But his hoar head bring thou down to the grave with blood. This latter clause seems to revoke the former part of the counsel, and instead of the discretionary power with which David had at first invested his son and successor, to lay him under an obligation to put Shimei to death. But there is no real discrepancy between the two parts of the sentence, when its grammatical construction is properly, attended to. 'It is not uncommon in Hebrew,' says Kennicott ('Dissertation,' p. 131), 'to omit the negative in a second part of the sentence, and to consider it as repeated, when it has been once expressed, and is followed by the connecting particle' (Psalms 1:5; Psalms 9:13; Psalms 75:5). Applying this principle, the verse before us will run thus: 'Behold, thou hast with thee Shimei, who cursed me; but I sware to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword. Now therefore hold him NOT guiltless; because thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do, but bring NOT down his hoar head to the grave with blood.' It must not be supposed that in these dying instructions David was evincing a fierce, vindictive spirit. He is rather to be considered as acting in the character of a king and magistrate, in noticing crimes which he had not been in a condition to punish, and pointing out persons of whom Solomon would be under a necessity to rid himself, as dangerous to the state.
There are three different descriptions of character to whom Solomon's attention as a monarch is specially directed by his dying father. The first is Joab, who is very plainly consigned to the awards of public justice; the second is the family of Barzillai, who were entitled to the highest tokens of royal favour; and the third is Shimei, who was neither doomed to punishment nor recommended to favour, but on whom, as a dangerous character, the young king was counseled to keep a strictly vigilant eye, to steer a middle course, but observe him, and put him under a certain measure of restraint; and then, if he violated the conditions imposed on him, treat him as a malefactor. Solomon's subsequent conduct shows that this was the real spirit and purport of the parental advice. The grateful mention of Barzillai's kindness was, however, a personal feeling that does honour to the warmth of David's heart; and his silence as to Mephibosheth, the son of his beloved Jonathan, would imply the previous death of that prince. "For thou art a wise man." Solomon had given early indications of wisdom before his miraculous endowment with the heavenly gift (see the notes at 1 Kings 3:11); and his own sagacity would dictate the course that should be followed in any new offence Shimei might commit.