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.”
Parallel translations
- WEB For on the day you go out and pass over the brook Kidron, know for certain that you will surely die. Your blood will be on your own head.”
- KJV 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.
- NKJV For it shall be, on the day you go out and cross the Brook Kidron, know for certain you shall surely die; your blood shall be on your own head.”
- NASB For on the day you leave and cross the brook Kidron, you will know for certain that you will assuredly die; your blood will be on your own head.”
- NLT On the day you so much as cross the Kidron Valley, you will surely die; and your blood will be on your own head.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Solomon warns Shimei that crossing the Kidron will mean certain death, his blood on his own head. The terms of his life are made plain and just.
Overview
The king sets an unmistakable boundary: leaving the city and crossing the brook Kidron will forfeit Shimei's life. By declaring his blood would be on his own head, Solomon makes clear that any future death would be Shimei's own fault, not injustice. The clarity of the warning underscores personal responsibility before a righteous standard.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 2 Sam 1:16For 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 Sam 15:23Everyone 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.
- Josh 2:19If 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.
- Lev 20:9If 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 Kgs 23:6He 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.
- Ezek 18:13He 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 18:1After Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley, where they entered a garden.
- 1 Kgs 15:13He 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.
- Jer 31:40The whole valley of the dead bodies and ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east, will be holy to the LORD. It will never again be uprooted or demolished.”
- 2 Chr 29:16So the priests went inside the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and they brought out to the courtyard all the unclean things that they found in the temple of the LORD. Then the Levites took these things and carried them out to the Kidron Valley.
- 1 Kgs 2:33Their 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 Kgs 2:31And 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.
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 2:37 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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