Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace.
Parallel translations
- WEB Do therefore according to your wisdom, and don’t let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace.
- BSB So act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace.
- NKJV Therefore do according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace.
- NASB So act as your wisdom dictates, and do not let his gray hair go down to Sheol in peace.
- NLT Do with him what you think best, but don’t let him grow old and go to his grave in peace.
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
David instructs Solomon to act wisely and not let Joab die peacefully in old age. He charges his son to bring Joab to justice.
Overview
David commits the matter of Joab to Solomon's wisdom, directing that the guilty commander not escape judgment through a peaceful natural death. The charge reflects the seriousness of unavenged bloodshed in the land. Faithful readers recognize both the demand for justice and the difficulty of disentangling it from political concerns in David's house.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 1 Kgs 2:9Now 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.
- Isa 48:22There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.
- Prov 20:26A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.
- Ps 37:37Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
- Isa 57:21There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
- Eccl 8:11Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
- Prov 28:17A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.
- 1 Kgs 2:28–34Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
- Isa 65:20There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.
- Isa 57:2He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.
- 2 Kgs 22:20Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.
- Num 35:33So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
- Gen 42:38And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
- Gen 9:6Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
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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 2:6 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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