2 Samuel 16:7

2Sa 16:7 And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:

Ver. 7. Come out, come out, &c.] Prima semper irarum tela maledicta aunt: et quod non possumus imbecilli, optamus irati. {a} Calvin {b} maketh mention of an insolent heretic, who, though he had as fair language given him as was possible, yet would never vouchsafe to speak better to that most worthy man than if he had had to deal with a dog.

Thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial.] Facundia plane canina. With what eagerness barketh this dead dog, no otherwise than if he had fetched every word as far as hell! Such a rabiosus canis was Porphyrie, Genebrard, Scioppius, &c.

{a} Sallust.

{b} Epist. ad Farell.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Sa 16:7-9. Come out — Or rather, go out, as the Hebrew properly means: begone out of thy kingdom, from which thou deservest to be expelled. Thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial — Probably he says this with a reference to David’s adultery with Bath-sheha, and the killing of Uriah. All the blood of the house of Saul — Either, 1st, The blood of Abner and Ish- bosheth; which he imputes to David, as if they had been killed by David’s contrivance: or, 2d, The death of Saul’s seven sons, 2Sa 21:8, which, though related after this, seems to have taken place before. Thou art taken — The same mischief thou didst bring upon others is now returned upon thy own head. “This surely,” says Delaney, “was one of the severest trials of patience that ever human magnanimity endured. The accusation was notoriously false, and the king could, for that reason, bear it the better; but his servants saw it not in the light of their master’s equanimity, but of his enemy’s insolence. Abishai, David’s nephew, could not bear it; but begged the king’s permission to take off the traitor’s head that uttered it,” saying, Why should this dead dog (an expression of the utmost contempt) curse my lord the king?

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16:7-8 Shimei cursed David, holding him responsible for the violent death of Saul and his clan.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Hebrew, man of Belial.

Hebrew, man of blood.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(7) Come out, come out.—Rather, Go out, go out. It is doubtful whether by the words, “thou bloody man,” Shimei meant anything more than that he considered David responsible for “the blood of the house of Saul”, (2Sa_16:8), especially in the case of Ishbosheth and of Abner, and the execution of Saul’s seven descendants at the demand of the Gibeonites (2Sa_21:1-9). Yet he may have known of the crime in regard to Uriah, and have wished to point his curse with the charge of shedding that innocent blood.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. Come out, come out] Out! out! from the land and from thy kingdom into exile.

thou bloody man] Thou man of blood, thou murderer. Shimei seems to have supplied Cromwell’s army with the terms of its resolution “to call Charles Stuart, that man of blood, to account for the blood he has shed and the mischief he has done to the utmost against the Lord’s cause and people in this poor nation.” Green’s Short History, p. 552.

thou man of Belial] Thou wicked man. See note on 1Sa_1:16.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And thus said Shimei, when he cursed, come out, come out,.... Or rather, "go out, go out" (t); that is, out of the nation, where he deserved not to live, as he judged, and out of the kingdom, which he had usurped, as he supposed; and the repeating the words not only denotes his vehement desire to have him gone, but the haste he should make to get out, or he was liable to be overtaken by Absalom and his forces; upbraiding him also with the hurry he was in, and the speedy flight he was making:

thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial; or wicked man; perhaps referring by these characters in the one to the murder of Uriah, and in the other to his adultery with Bathsheba; and these crimes coming fresh into David's mind hereby, might make him more mild and humble under his reproaches.

(t) "egredere, egredere", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Come out - Rather, “Go out,” namely, of the land, into banishment. Compare Jer 29:16.

Thou bloody man - See the margin. The Lord’s word to David 1Ch 22:8 was probably known to Shimei and now cast in David’s teeth by him, with special reference to the innocent blood of Uriah.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Belial; contemner of the laws, and murderer. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Or rather, go out, as the word properly signifies. Be gone out of thy kingdom, as thou deservest.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. Come out, come out — Rather, Go! go! That is, Away with thee!

Bloody man — So called for the reason given in the following verse.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Come out; rather, out, out; that is, "get out; begone, begone, thou murderer and worthless man." Shimei could scarcely have referred to the murders of Ishbosheth and Abner, which were too remote to have so rankled in his memory; hut as ch. 21. is not in its chronological order, what probably called forth his anger was the surrender of Saul"s sons and grandsons into the hands of the Gibeonites. Shimei, probably, even resented David"s taking the side of the Gibeonites, and treating as a crime to be severely punished what he and all Saul"s partisans regarded as righteous zeal for Israel. The three years" famine, followed by the execution of Saul"s sons, made more tragic by the noble conduct of Rizpah, contributed largely to the revolt of the nation from David, and helps to explain that abandonment of him by the people, which otherwise seems so hard to understand (on the date of the famine, see note on ch. 21.).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Shimei cursed thus: "Out, out (away, away), thou man of blood, and worthless man! Jehovah hath repaid thee (now) for all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast become king, and hath given the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son. Behold, now thou art in thy misfortune, for thou art a man of blood." דּמים אישׁ, a man of drops of blood, i.e., one who has shed blood or committed murder. What Shimei meant by "all the blood of the house of Saul," which David had shed, and because of which he was a man of blood, it is impossible to determine with certainty. He may possibly have attributed to David the murder of Ishbosheth and Abner, notwithstanding the fact that David was innocent of the death of both (see Sa2 3:27., and Sa2 4:6.). By "in whose stead thou hast reigned," he meant whose throne thou hast forcibly usurped; and by בּרעתך הנּך, "it is for this that punishment hat overtaken thee now."

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

villain

someone who is evil, a criminal or lawbreaker

man of blood

Here "blood" refers to all of men he was responsible for killing in battle. AT: "murderer" (See: Metonymy)

Yahweh has repaid

Yahweh repays them by punishing them. This can be stated clearly. AT: "Yahweh has punished" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

for the blood you shed within the family of Saul

Here "blood" refer to people who were killed from Saul's family. The king was responsible for them dying. AT: "for killing many of Saul's family" (See: Metonymy)

in whose place you have reigned

David reigned as king over the same people whom Saul had previously reigned. AT: "in whose place you have reigned as king" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

into the hand of Absalom

Here "hand" refers to control. AT: "into the control of Absalom" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

curse

blood

Yahweh

reign

kingdom

Absalom

ruin

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.