These two verses can be considered together, because they amount to one sentence spoken to Shimei by Solomon. The king asked Shimei if he remembered his command and the answer that Shimei had given. Then he demanded a reason for Shimei’s disobedience.
Before we conclude that there was no justification for his action that Shimei could offer, we must raise the question mentioned in the comment on 1 Kings 2:38. Here we observe that Solomon asked, Did I not make you swear by the Lord
As we look at the record of the previous conversation, we do not see any words that are in the form of an oath. Our answer is that the writer does not give us an exhaustive record of all that was said on that occasion. In any event, there is no record of Shimei disputing this point with Solomon.
There is no record that Shimei had any reply to Solomon’s questions. Indeed, no reply that he could have given would have justified his behaviour. Solomon reminded him that when the restriction of movement had been placed on him three years earlier, Shimei had replied that Solomon’s word to him was good
(1 Kings 2:38). Therefore, Shimei had given up any right to an appeal that the restrictions were unjust.
In our age, at least in Western culture, it is common to believe that any requirement should have a grace period before its provisions should be executed. Everyone deserves a second chance
is often repeated as a truism. That is not the case here, and it is good that we remember that there were no second chances given to Adam and Eve. The grace of God in Jesus Christ is no gift of a second chance, but the application to us of Christ’s obedience in his first chance.
It would have been good if Solomon had remembered this principle before he chose, at a later stage, to violate the command of the Mosaic law concerning the prohibitions to be placed upon Israel’s kings (Deuteronomy 7:3. They were not to have multiple wives, they were not to have multiple horses and chariots, and they were not to have large amounts of gold and silver. All of these conditions were violated by Solomon, and they contributed to his apostasy (or at least backsliding) at the end of his life (1 Kings 11:1–8). Solomon should have remembered Shimei.
42 the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the LORD and solemnly warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and go to any place whatever, you shall die’? And you said to me, ‘What you say is good; I will obey.’