Person Old Testament
Shimei
Shimei was a Benjamite who cursed David during Absalom's rebellion but later sought the king's forgiveness. Mentioned in 15 verses across 2 books, first at 2 Samuel 16:5.
Why it matters. Benjamite who cursed David during Absalom's rebellion.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Shimei
Shimei was a Benjamite from the family of Saul who encountered King David during Absalom's rebellion (2Sa. 16:5). As David fled Jerusalem, Shimei cursed him, threw stones at him, and accused him of being a murderer and a wicked man (2Sa. 16:7, 13). After Absalom's defeat, Shimei met David at the Jordan River, seeking forgiveness for his actions (2Sa. 19:16, 18). Although Abishai, one of David's men, wanted to kill Shimei, David spared his life (2Sa. 19:21, 23). However, on his deathbed, David instructed his son Solomon to deal with Shimei, suggesting that he should not be left unpunished (1Ki. 2:8-9). Solomon later confined Shimei to Jerusalem and warned him that leaving the city would result in his death, a condition Shimei initially accepted (1Ki. 2:36-38). However, when Shimei violated this agreement by leaving Jerusalem to retrieve his runaway servants, Solomon ordered his execution (1Ki. 2:39-46).
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
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Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
- Parents
- Gera
Appears in Scripture
Named in 15 verses across 2 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.