What Does 1 Kings 2:42 Mean in the King James?
And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Did I not make thee to swear by the LORD, and protested unto thee, saying, Know for a certain, on the day thou goest out, and walkest abroad any whither, that thou shalt surely die? and thou saidst unto me, The word that I have heard is good.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The boundary Shimei once accepted now shapes the king’s sentence, making his “good” part of what binds him.
THE MEANING
A spoken agreement can remain part of what shapes a person’s freedom after the conversation ends. Here the boundary is explicit: crossing it means death, and Shimei’s “good” confirms that he heard the terms. The verse holds the consequence plainly.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that words of assent are only passing sounds and lose their force once spoken.
THE ROOT
דָּבָר
dāḇār
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
To speak; the noun davar can mean both “word” and “matter” or “thing.”
The word Shimei says is also a matter at stake: his answer is not incidental dialogue but part of the terms now being recalled. Hebrew holds speech and the matter it concerns together in davar.
ALSO GROWS
dibber: He spoke
דִּבֵּר
The same root names the act of speaking that makes the agreement audible.
davar: Word, matter, or affair
דָּבָר
The shared form shows how a spoken word can also be the matter that shapes what follows.
שָׁבַע
shāvaʿ
GROWS FROM
שבע
sh-b-ʿ
To swear or bind oneself by an oath; the same consonants also appear in the Hebrew word for “seven.”
“swear” in this verse is shāvaʿ. The oath gives the boundary its force: Shimei’s agreement is a binding commitment, not a casual acknowledgment. Hebrew tradition associates the oath with sevenfold solemnity, though the historical link between the words is uncertain.
ALSO GROWS
shevuʿah: Oath
שְׁבוּעָה
This noun from the same root names the binding promise Solomon says he required.
sheva: Seven
שֶׁבַע
The shared consonants carry a traditional association between oath and sevenfold solemnity, adding weight to the act of swearing.
THE PATTERN
A warning accepted in words can return as the standard that exposes a breach.
If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.THE THREAD
He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.John names the word itself as judge; here, the king recalls Shimei’s accepted word as evidence of the boundary he crossed. Both verses show speech remaining active in consequence.
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