This is what Shimei said when he cursed: “Go away, go away, you man of bloodshed and worthless man!
Parallel translations
- WEB Shimei said when he cursed, “Be gone, be gone, you man of blood, and base fellow!
- KJV And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:
- BSB And as he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Get out, get out, you worthless man of bloodshed!
- NKJV Also Shimei said thus when he cursed: “Come out! Come out! You bloodthirsty man, you rogue!
- NLT “Get out of here, you murderer, you scoundrel!” he shouted at David.
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
Shimei curses David as a worthless man of blood. He blames David for bloodshed connected to Saul's house.
Overview
Shimei's curses brand David a murderer and scoundrel, accusing him of shedding the blood of Saul's family. The charges are unjust, since David had repeatedly spared Saul and mourned his death. The false accusation against the suffering king foreshadows the unjust reproaches heaped upon Christ, who also bore reviling without retaliation (1 Peter 2:23).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 51:14Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation. My tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
- Deut 13:13certain base fellows have gone out from among you, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods,” which you have not known;
- 2 Sam 11:15–17He wrote in the letter, saying, “Send Uriah to the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck, and die.”
- 2 Sam 12:9Why have you despised Yahweh’s word, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
- 1 Sam 2:12Now the sons of Eli were wicked men. They didn’t know Yahweh.
- 1 Sam 25:17Now therefore know and consider what you will do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house; for he is such a worthless fellow that one can’t speak to him.”
- 2 Sam 3:37So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to kill Abner the son of Ner.
- Ps 5:6You will destroy those who speak lies. Yahweh abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
- 1 Kgs 21:10Set two men, base fellows, before him, and let them testify against him, saying, ‘You cursed God and the king!’ Then carry him out, and stone him to death.”
- 1 Kgs 21:13The two men, the base fellows, came in and sat before him. The base fellows testified against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king!” Then they carried him out of the city and stoned him to death with stones.
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Christ at the center
God's covenant with David — a son whose throne and kingdom would last forever (7:12–16) — finds its yes in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns without end.
How 2 Samuel 16:7 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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