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1 Kings 2:1-12 | Bible Study

David's mixed advice: Follow God and kill some people

David's Deathbed Advice

With the events of 1 Kings 1 (read blog posts for that chapter here) barely in the rear-view mirror, 1 Kings 2 opens with David's final instructions before he dies.

And, oh my, are they a doozy!

Things begin well when David encourages Solomon to follow Moses's law.

Unfortunately, David doesn't stop there. He encourages Solomon to consolidate power with shrewd political maneuvers.

Let's look at the passage, to see what I mean.

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1 Kings 2:1-12 (NIV) with highlights

1 When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son.

2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, 3 and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go 4 and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’

5 “Now you yourself know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to the two commanders of Israel’s armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He killed them, shedding their blood in peacetime as if in battle, and with that blood he stained the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet. 6 Deal with him according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace.

7 “But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead and let them be among those who eat at your table. They stood by me when I fled from your brother Absalom.

8 “And remember, you have with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, who called down bitter curses on me the day I went to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord: ‘I will not put you to death by the sword.’ 9 But now, do not consider him innocent. You are a man of wisdom; you will know what to do to him. Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood.”

10 Then David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. 11 He had reigned forty years over Israel—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 12 So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his rule was firmly established.

***The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 1 Ki 2:1–12.

Connections to other biblical stories

Joab - 2 Samuel 3:21-39; 20:1-13

Joab was David’s henchman. As one of David’s military leader, he eliminated threats to David’s throne.

Sadly, Joab was not always righteous. As we see in this first story, he killed a man in an act of revenge even though he told David it was for the king’s benefit.

Similarly, Amasa was another one of David’s trusted military leaders. It seems that Joab killed Amasa to remove a threat to his post as David’s commander.

David did nothing when Joab murdered these two men. Apparently, he never forgot though. So, before he died he charged Solomon with murdering Joab. His command to Solomon graphically reminds the reader of Joab’s method of murder: stabbing his opponent in the stomach at close range (1 Kings 2:5)

Barzillai - 2 Samuel 17:27-29; 19:31-32

Barzillai acted generously towards David when his son Absalom attempted to overthrow him. By feeding David, Barzillai made his allegiances clearly known: he stood with David and not Absalom.

When David encourages Solomon to treat the sons of Barzillai well, he is encouraging Solomon to be politically savvy. Barzillai was a wealthy, loyal supporter of the Davidic throne, Solomon would be wise to maintain that relationship as he established his throne.

Shimei - 2 Samuel 16:5-14; 19:18b-23

We need to know three facts about Shimei.

First, he comes from the tribe of Benjamin. More specifically, according to 2 Samuel 6:5, Shimei comes from the house of Saul.

Second, Shimei verbally and physically attacked David when Absalom tried to forcibly take the kingdom.

Third, David promised not to kill him.

These three facts help us understand something important about David’s comments to Solomon.

Shimei represented a threat from Israel’s first monarchy. From the tribe of Benjamin and the house of Saul, it is not surprising that he opposed the davidic monarchy. Presumably, he still supported Saul’s family line.

Interestingly, David seizes on a classic “legal loophole” in his advice to Solomon. David claims he said “I” would not kill Shimei, but that does not prevent Solomon from murdering him.

David apparently believes that Shimei still represents a threat to Solomon’s throne even though he was not a part of Adonijah’s coup (1 Kings 1:8).

Joshua - Joshua 1:7-8

David’s words in 1 Kings 2:1-4 recall God’s instructions to Joshua just before the people entered the promised land (Joshua 1:7-8).

God told Joshua to obey the law so that things would go well with the people and they would prosper. David’s advice is good because it mimics God’s desire for the leader of His people.

David - 2 Samuel 7:11-16

David also repeats the promise God gave to him in 2 Samuel 7:11-16. Interestingly, in those verses God’s promise is unconditional. In 1 Kings 2:4, David expresses that promise in terms of a condition.

If Solomon and all of David’s descendants follow the law, then the davidic line will last forever.

As we’ll see throughout our study of this book, this is a major question for the book’s authors:

What will happen to the davidic dynasty?
Is it destined to last forever or will the kings’ unfaithfulness result in God rejecting them?

David's Conflicting Advice

It’s hard to imagine a set of instructions that contrast more than David’s dying advice to Solomon.

On the one hand, he exhorts Solomon to follow the Lord’s commands to ensure the kingdom lasts forever.

On the other hand, David encourages Solomon to shrewdly consolidate his power through murder and political maneuvers.

The contrast between faithfulness and unfaithfulness is a theme that will turn up time and time again throughout the book. It is baked into the plot from the earliest parts of the story.

Summary

A lot happens in these verses. David is dead by the end of the passage. His death is honorable and marked by peace.

His dying advice, however, sets the stage for some major themes in the book. He mixes righteousness with unrighteousness. He encourages his son to embrace Torah obedience and cut-throat politics.

As we will discover, the mixed advice David gives to Solomon is reflected in Solomon’s life.

In some ways, he is the pinnacle of Israel’s monarchy. His reign is the ideal era for ancient Israel.

In other ways, Solomon’s life is a cautionary tale. He climbs to the highest of political heights, but he loses his soul in the process. By his death, the kingdom will sit on the precipice of a division from which it will never recover.

Recommended Resources

This blog post is a part of the Passage of the Week. Join the email list to get guided study notes sent to your inbox every Monday and Friday.

Check out the notes for this passage here and here.

Here are a couple of commentaries you might find helpful on the book of Kings.

Wray Beal, Lissa M. 1 & 2 Kings. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2014.

Leithart, Peter J. 1 & 2 Kings. Grand Rapids, Mich: Brazos Press, 2006.

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