Solomon had dealt with three individuals that represented threats to his rule in Israel. It is important to remember that justice called for their punishment. Adonijah had sought to rebel against both David and Solomon. Abiathar had followed Adonijah in his rebellion. Joab had done the same, and in addition he was guilty of two brutal murders in a time of peace. Two of these men were executed, and one was sent away in disgrace to his home.
One person remained as a potential threat to Solomon. This was Shimei. He was not a follower of Adonijah, but he had supported Absalom in his rebellion (2 Samuel 19:16), cursing David as the rightful king (2 Samuel 16:1–23). There was no way Shimei’s apology to David could be proved sincere. David accepted it at the time since he did not want to give reason for another civil conflict with the tribe of Benjamin and others who formerly followed the house of Saul. The advice that we have seen that David gave to his son shows us conclusively that David did not trust Shimei and considered him guilty of treason.
For reasons that the writer does not mention, Solomon considered it time to begin the process that David advised. He called Shimei to him and ordered him on the pain of death to build a house in Jerusalem and confine himself to the city for the remainder of his life. Solomon said that if he left, it would be at the cost of his life.
This was a fairly severe kind of punishment. At the beginning of Solomon’s reign, Jerusalem was small. It was less than twenty acres and contained a population of about one thousand people. Yet we must remember that Shimei had committed a capital crime and was considered potentially dangerous. The command of Solomon placed Shimei in a situation in which Solomon could keep him under observation.
We must also remember that it was not impossible to live in such a situation. Shimei successfully did it for three years. It was not immediate execution, and it was not imprisonment in a dungeon. His life and his death had been placed in his own hands. Had he shown himself completely faithful, is it possible that Solomon might have lightened the punishment?
36 Then the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there to any place whatever.