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[383]
A LITTLE afterward David also fell into a distemper, by reason of
his age; and perceiving that he was near to death, he called his son Solomon,
and discoursed to him thus: "I am now, O my son, going to my grave,
and to my fathers, which is the common way which all men that now are,
or shall be hereafter, must go; from which way it is no longer possible
to return, and to know any thing that is done in this world. On which account
I exhort thee, while I am still alive, though already very near to death,
in the same manner as I have formerly said in my advice to thee, to be
righteous towards thy subjects, and religious towards God, that hath given
thee thy kingdom; to observe his commands and his laws, which he hath sent
us by Moses; and neither do thou out of favor nor flattery allow any lust
or other passion to weigh with thee to disregard them; for if thou transgressest
his laws, thou wilt lose the favor of God, and thou wilt turn away his
providence from thee in all things; but if thou behave thyself so as it
behooves thee, and as I exhort thee, thou wilt preserve our kingdom to
our family, and no other house will bear rule over the Hebrews but we ourselves
for all ages. Be thou also mindful of the transgressions of Joab, 1
the captain of the host, who hath slain two generals out of envy, and those
righteous and good men, Abner the son of Ner, and Amasa the son of Jether;
whose death do thou avenge as shall seem good to thee, since Joab hath
been too hard for me, and more potent than myself, and so hath escaped
punishment hitherto. I also commit to thee the son of Barzillai the Gileadite,
whom, in order to gratify me, thou shalt have in great honor, and take
great care of; for we have not done good to him first, but we only repay
that debt which we owe to his father for what he did to me in my flight.
There is also Shimei the son of Gera, of the tribe of Benjamin, who, after
he had cast many reproaches upon me, when, in my flight, I was going to
Mahanaim, met me at Jordan, and received assurances that he should then
suffer nothing. Do thou now seek out for some just occasion, and punish
him."
1 David is here greatly blamed by some for recommending Joab and Shimei to be punished by Solomon, if he could find a proper occasion, after he had borne with the first a long while, and seemed to have pardoned the other entirely, which Solomon executed accordingly; yet I cannot discern any fault either in David or Solomon in these cases. Joab's murder of Abner and Amasa were very barbarous, and could not properly be forgiven either by David or Solomon; for a dispensing power in kings for the crime of willful murder is warranted by no law of God, nay, is directly against it every where; nor is it, for certain, in the power of men to grant such a prerogative to any of their kings; though Joab was so nearly related to David, and so potent in the army under a warlike administration, that David durst not himself put him to death, 2 Samuel 3:39; 19:7. Shimei's cursing the Lord's anointed, and this without any just cause, was the highest act of treason against God and his anointed king, and justly deserved death; and though David could forgive treason against himself, yet had he done no more in the case of Shimei than promised him that he would not then, on the day of his return and reinauguration, or upon that occasion, himself put him to death, 2 Samuel 19:22; and he swore to him no further, ver. 23, as the words are in Josephus, than that he would not then put him to death, which he performed; nor was Solomon under any obligation to spare such a traitor.
Flavius Josephus. The Works of Flavius Josephus. Translated by. William Whiston, A.M. Auburn and Buffalo. John E. Beardsley. 1895.
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