So why have you not kept your oath to the LORD and the command that I gave you?”
Parallel translations
- WEB Why then have you not kept the oath of Yahweh, and the commandment that I have instructed you with?”
- KJV Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD, and the commandment that I have charged thee with?
- NKJV Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord and the commandment that I gave you?”
- NASB Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord, and the command which I imposed on you?”
- NLT Then why haven’t you kept your oath to the Lord and obeyed my command?”
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 asks why Shimei failed to keep the oath of Yahweh and the king's command. The question exposes Shimei's guilt as deliberate covenant-breaking.
Overview
Solomon presses Shimei on his failure to honor an oath sworn before the LORD. The breach is not merely against the king but against God, in whose name the agreement was made. The verse underscores the seriousness of vows taken before God and the accountability that follows their violation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 2 Sam 21:2At 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 Chr 30:12Moreover, 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.
- Eccl 8:2Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
- Ezek 17:18–19He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Seeing that he gave his hand in pledge yet did all these things, he will not escape!’
- Rom 13:5Therefore it is necessary to submit to authority, not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 2:43 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.