In this verse, David returns to speak of another example of the need for justice of a punitive kind. This example was found in the person of Shimei, the son of Gera. The dying king reminded Solomon of the bitter curse that Shimei had called down upon David as he left Jerusalem in his flight from Absalom (2 Samuel 16:1–23). Cursing the Lord’s anointed was a capital crime according to the Mosaic law. We need to remember this as we evaluate David’s instructions to Solomon in the next verse.
David reminded Solomon of the oath he had sworn to Shimei to spare his life upon David’s victorious return. It is noteworthy that he omitted the fact that he had also saved Shimei’s life at the time of the commission of the crime by restraining his men from putting Shimei to death. At the time, David based his leniency on the supposition that the Lord might have instructed Shimei to curse him. This supposition was proved false.
David also omitted a full explanation of the circumstances of the oath he had sworn to Shimei. Shimei had come first of all to welcome David back to his capital with every outward mark of repentance and sorrow for his previous behaviour. The reading of the account in 2 Samuel 19:1–43 leaves the reader with a degree of suspicion as to the sincerity of Shimei’s repentance. Nevertheless, whether the repentance was genuine, the oath that David swore was binding upon him.
Why did David swear such an oath to Shimei? Scripture does not tell us beyond David’s statement at the time that he was unwilling to shed blood on an occasion of joy and rejoicing. We should not minimize this as a factor that motivated David. It reminds us that David was not by nature a man of cruelty and self-serving revenge.
However, we would also suggest the possibility of another issue contributing to the exhibition of David’s mercy. Since Absalom’s rebellion (2 Samuel 15:1–19:43) was one of the consequences of David’s heinous sins of adultery and murder (2 Samuel 12:10), we might conclude that the execution of Shimei would be viewed as self-serving revenge, not the execution of divine justice. David could have wished to avoid even the appearance of evil.
8 And there is also with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day when I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’