Shimei chose to disobey Solomon by ignoring the clear royal directive under which he lived. Perhaps he believed that after three years Solomon would no longer be concerned about his whereabouts. Perhaps he believed that he could go to Gath and return with the missing servants before anyone noticed his departure. Perhaps he believed that, since he planned to return when he had found the runaways, his journey did not count as a real violation of the terms of his safety.
Scripture does not tell us what Shimei’s thought process was. It simply tells us that he went to Gath and returned from there with his servants. This fact is all that we need to conclude that Shimei had no one to blame but himself for the consequence of his action, and we will see that Solomon told Shimei this unpalatable truth.
40 Shimei arose and saddled a donkey and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants. Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath.