Shimei
Mentioned 1022–1010 BC traditional (Jones)
A Benjamite of the house of Saul, who stoned and cursed David when he reached Bahurim in his flight from Jerusalem on the occasion of the rebellion of Absalom (2 Sam. 16:5-13). After the defeat of Absalom he “came cringing to the king, humbly suing for pardon, bringing with him a thousand of his Benjamite tribesmen, and representing that he was heartily sorry for his crime, and had hurried the first of all the house of Israel to offer homage to the king” (19:16-23).
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897).
- Mentioned in the era of the Kingdom, 1050–587 BC.
- Named in the same verses as David, Gera, Achish, Abishai, Maachah, Solomon, and Zeruiah.
Computed from the data. Years are traditional (Jones).
Family
Two generations up and the children. Gold lines join partners; grey lines run from parent to child; a dotted line marks a parent named in the text but not by descent.
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Places
Places named in the same verses as Shimei, with the number of verses they share; a larger marker means more. Locations follow OpenBible.info, which grades each identification. A dashed ring on the map marks a region, river, or mountain rather than a town.
Timeline
The strip runs from Creation to AD 100; the shaded part, 1047–985 BC, is drawn below at a larger scale around these mentions, with 3 contemporaries. Years are traditional (Jones), shown as recorded, not as settled fact.
Mentions
15 tagged verses in 2 books. Select a book to read its verses.
The name in each translation
| Text | Occurrences of each name |
|---|---|
| BSB | Shimei 47 |
| KJV | Shimei 42 |
| ASV | Shimei 44 |
Whole-word, case-sensitive count of the name string (regex \bName\b, so possessives like "Abraham's" count) across the whole Bible text of each translation; this counts the string, not the person, so other people who share the name are included and pronoun references are not. How Begat counts
Every verse
All 15 tagged verses, by book, in canonical order. The Berean Standard Bible is shown; switch to the King James or American Standard Version.
2 Samuel7 verses
- 16:5
As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the family of the house of Saul was just coming out. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he approached, he kept yelling out curses.
- 16:7
And as he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Get out, get out, you worthless man of bloodshed!
- 16:13
So David and his men proceeded along the road as Shimei went along the ridge of the hill opposite him. As Shimei went, he yelled curses, threw stones, and flung dust at David.
- 19:16
Then Shimei son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, hurried down with the men of Judah to meet King David,
- 19:18
and crossed at the ford to carry over the king’s household and to do what was good in his sight. When Shimei son of Gera crossed the Jordan, he fell down before the king
- 19:21
But Abishai son of Zeruiah said, “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD’s anointed?”
- 19:23
So the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king swore an oath to him.
1 Kings8 verses
- 2:8
Keep an eye on Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim who is with you. He called down bitter curses against me on the day I went to Mahanaim, but when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD: ‘I will never put you to the sword.’
- 2:36
Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else.
- 2:38
“The sentence is fair,” Shimei replied. “Your servant will do as my lord the king has spoken.” And Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.
- 2:39
After three years, however, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. And Shimei was told, “Look, your slaves are in Gath.”
- 2:40
So Shimei saddled his donkey and set out to Achish at Gath in search of his slaves, and he brought them back from Gath.
- 2:41
When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned,
- 2:42
the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the LORD and warn you, ‘On the day you leave and go elsewhere, know for sure that you will die’? And you told me, ‘The sentence is fair; I will comply.’
- 2:44
The king also said, “You know in your heart all the evil that you did to my father David. Therefore the LORD will bring your evil back upon your head.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
The full entry, public domain, as printed in 1897.
A Benjamite of the house of Saul, who stoned and cursed David when he reached Bahurim in his flight from Jerusalem on the occasion of the rebellion of Absalom (2 Sam. 16:5-13). After the defeat of Absalom he “came cringing to the king, humbly suing for pardon, bringing with him a thousand of his Benjamite tribesmen, and representing that he was heartily sorry for his crime, and had hurried the first of all the house of Israel to offer homage to the king” (19:16-23). David forgave him; but on his death-bed he gave Solomon special instructions regarding Shimei, of whose fidelity he seems to have been in doubt (1 Kings 2:8, 9). He was put to death at the command of Solomon, because he had violated his word by leaving Jerusalem and going to Gath to recover two of his servants who had escaped (36-46).