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.”
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.
- BSB 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.”
- 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 1:16David said to him, “Your blood be on your head; for your mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have slain Yahweh’s anointed.’”
- 2 Sam 15:23All the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over. The king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.
- Josh 2:19It shall be that whoever goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be on his head, and we will be guiltless. Whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand is on him.
- Lev 20:9“‘For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death: he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
- 2 Kgs 23:6He brought out the Asherah from Yahweh’s house, outside of Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast its dust on the graves of the common people.
- Ezek 18:13has lent on interest, and has taken increase; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations. He shall surely die. His blood shall be on him.
- John 18:1When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered.
- 1 Kgs 15:13He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah. Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron.
- Jer 31:40The whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields to the brook Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy to Yahweh; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more forever.”
- 2 Chr 29:16The priests went into the inner part of Yahweh’s house to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in Yahweh’s temple into the court of Yahweh’s house. The Levites took it from there to carry it out to the brook Kidron.
- 1 Kgs 2:33So their blood will return on the head of Joab, and on the head of his offspring forever. But for David, for his offspring, for his house, and for his throne, there will be peace forever from Yahweh.”
- 1 Kgs 2:31The king said to him, “Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him; that you may take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father’s house.
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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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