^19:16Shimei son of Gera the Benjaminite from Bahurim came down quickly with the men of Judah to meet King David. ^19:17There were a thousand men from Benjamin with him, along with Ziba the servant²¹ of Saul’s household, and with him his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They hurriedly crossed²² the Jordan within sight of the king. ^19:18They crossed at the ford in order to help the king’s household cross and to do whatever he thought appropriate.

Now after he had crossed the Jordan, Shimei son of Gera threw himself down before the king. ^19:19He said to the king, “Don’t think badly of me, my lord, and don’t recall the sin of your servant on the day when you, my lord the king, left²³ Jerusalem!²⁴ Please don’t call it to mind! ^19:20For I, your servant,²⁵ know that I sinned, and I have come today as the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.”

^19:21Abishai son of Zeruiah replied, “For this should not Shimei be put to death? After all, he cursed the Lord’s anointed!” ^19:22But David said, “What do we have in common,²⁶ you sons of Zeruiah? You are like my enemy today! Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? Don’t you realize that today I am king over Israel?” ^19:23The king said to Shimei, “You won’t die.” The king vowed an oath²⁷ concerning this.

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Footnotes

21 Heb “youth.”
22 Heb “rushed into.”
23 Though this verb in the is 3rd person masculine singular, it should probably be read as 2nd person masculine singular. It is one of fifteen places where the Masoretes placed a dot over each of the letters of the word in question in order to call attention to their suspicion of the word. Their concern in this case apparently had to do with the fact that this verb and the two preceding verbs alternate from third person to second and back again to third. Words marked in this way in Hebrew manuscripts or printed editions are said to have puncta extrordinaria, or “extraordinary points.”
24 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
25 The Hebrew text has simply “your servant.”
26 Heb “what to me and to you.”
27 Heb “swore to him.”