The Politics of Pardon Text: 2 Samuel 19:16-23
Introduction: The King and the Cur
We live in an age that is utterly confused about the relationship between justice and mercy. On the one hand, we have a sentimental, therapeutic culture that wants mercy without repentance. It wants forgiveness to be an automatic obligation, a cheap grace that costs nothing and therefore means nothing. On the other hand, we have a spirit of merciless retribution, a cancel culture that offers no path to restoration for those who have transgressed its ever-shifting moral code. Both are corrupt because both are detached from the character of God.
The world does not know what to do with its enemies. It either sentimentalizes them or liquidates them. But the Bible shows us a third way, the way of the king. When a rightful king is restored to his throne, his first actions are defining. They set the tone for his entire reign. Will it be a reign of terror and score-settling, or a reign of magnanimity and strength? Will he be a tyrant who rules by fear, or a king who is secure enough to show grace?
Here, at the Jordan River, King David is crossing back into his kingdom. The rebellion of his son Absalom is over, though the victory is drenched in the sorrow of a father. And as he sets foot on the bank, the first man to greet him is one of the last men who should have shown his face. It is Shimei, the Benjamite who had followed David out of Jerusalem, pelting him with rocks and curses in his lowest hour. Now the tables have turned, and Shimei's tune has changed dramatically. This encounter is not a mere historical anecdote. It is a master class in the politics of pardon, a demonstration of the difference between the graceless justice of men and the restorative wisdom of God's anointed king.
We must pay close attention, because we are all in this story. We are either Shimei, the repentant (or perhaps merely terrified) rebel. Or we are Abishai, demanding a justice that would condemn us all. Or, by the grace of God, we are learning to be like David, who, as a type of Christ, shows us how the true King establishes His throne.
The Text
Then Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David.
Now there were one thousand men of Benjamin with him, with Ziba the young man of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they rushed to the Jordan before the king.
Then they kept passing over the ford to cause the king’s household to pass over, and to do what was good in his sight. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king as he was about to pass over the Jordan.
So he said to the king, “Let not my lord consider me guilty, nor remember what your servant did wrong on the day when my lord the king went out from Jerusalem, so that the king would take it to heart.
For your servant knows that I have sinned; therefore behold, I have come today, the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.”
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah said, “Should not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the anointed of Yahweh?”
David then said, “What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be an adversary to me? Should any man be put to death in Israel today? For do I not know that I am king over Israel today?”
And the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” Thus the king swore to him.
(2 Samuel 19:16-23 LSB)
A Calculated Contrition (vv. 16-20)
We begin with the arrival of the turncoat.
"Then Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David... And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king..." (2 Samuel 19:16, 18)
Notice the details. Shimei is a Benjamite, from the tribe of Saul. His loyalty was never with David. He is from Bahurim, the very place where he stood on a ridge and cursed the king, throwing stones and dust. Now he "hurried." The political winds have shifted, and Shimei is a human weathervane. He is not alone. He brings a thousand Benjamites with him. This is not just a personal apology; it is a political delegation. This is the leader of a faction from the opposition party, making a show of submission. Is it a genuine welcome, or is it a subtle reminder that he still has influence over a thousand men?
His confession has all the right words. He falls on his face. He says, "Let not my lord consider me guilty." He asks David not to remember his sin, not to take it to heart. He confesses, "For your servant knows that I have sinned." He even presents himself as a leader in this new wave of loyalty: "I have come today, the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king." The "house of Joseph" is a term for the northern tribes, including Benjamin, who were the heart of Saul's support and Absalom's rebellion. Shimei is essentially saying, "Look, I'm bringing the opposition over to your side. I'm leading the way. Surely that's worth something."
Is this genuine repentance? We are not told. But it is certainly a calculated contrition. It is the kind of apology that is born of a radical change in circumstances. When David was down, Shimei cursed him. Now that David is back on the throne, Shimei grovels. This is the way of the world. Men will bow to power. But David, the king, must now decide how to deal with this sort of convenient submission.
The Justice of Zeruiah (v. 21)
Before David can answer, his hot-headed nephew Abishai weighs in with his customary solution for all diplomatic problems.
"But Abishai the son of Zeruiah said, 'Should not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the anointed of Yahweh?'" (2 Samuel 19:21 LSB)
We must give Abishai credit for consistency. This is exactly what he wanted to do the first time. Back in chapter 16, he said, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please, let me go over and take off his head." Abishai is a man of simple solutions. He represents a form of justice that is swift, severe, and utterly devoid of grace. And we must be clear: Abishai is not wrong on the law. According to the law of Moses, cursing the ruler of your people was a grave offense (Exodus 22:28). Shimei had publicly and viciously cursed God's anointed king. By the letter of the law, he deserved to die.
The sons of Zeruiah, Abishai and his brother Joab, are a constant foil to David throughout his reign. They are men of blood. They are useful in a fight, but they are a liability in peacetime. They understand vengeance, but not magnanimity. They know the rules of a blood feud, but not the wisdom of building a kingdom. Their brand of justice is the kind that would leave the kingdom a perpetual slaughterhouse of reprisals and score-settling. It is the justice of men, which is always a mixture of legalism and personal animosity.
The King's Wisdom (vv. 22-23)
David's response is swift and sharp, but it is directed not at his enemy, but at his friends.
"David then said, 'What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be an adversary to me? Should any man be put to death in Israel today? For do I not know that I am king over Israel today?'" (2 Samuel 19:22 LSB)
This is a stunning rebuke. David says that Abishai's call for justice is actually making him an "adversary" (in Hebrew, a satan). On this day of restoration, a call for retribution is an obstacle to the king's purpose. David's logic is profound. He asks, "Should any man be put to death in Israel today?" Why not? "For do I not know that I am king over Israel today?"
This is the heart of the matter. A weak, insecure ruler has to prove his authority by crushing all dissent. He has to make examples of people. But a strong, secure king, one who knows his throne is established by God, can afford to be gracious. David's power is not in question. His kingship has just been vindicated by God Himself through the defeat of Absalom's rebellion. Therefore, he does not need to solidify his reign with the blood of a pathetic creature like Shimei. Executing Shimei would be an act of weakness, suggesting that David felt threatened. Pardoning him is an act of supreme confidence and kingly strength.
And so, David turns to Shimei and gives his verdict.
"And the king said to Shimei, 'You shall not die.' Thus the king swore to him." (2 Samuel 19:23 LSB)
The pardon is sealed with an oath. This is both an act of mercy and a brilliant political move. With one word, David has begun to heal the rift between his house and the house of Saul. He has shown the rebellious northern tribes that he is not returning to purge his enemies, but to rule as king over all Israel. He is establishing his kingdom not on the principle of retribution, but on the foundation of grace.
Grace, For Now
This entire scene is a beautiful picture of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the greater David. Like Shimei, we were rebels. We sided with the usurper. We cursed the true King with our sin and our treason. Our repentance is often like Shimei's, mixed with fear and self-preservation. We come to the King because we see that He has won and we are on the losing side. And what does He do? He does not consult with the sons of Zeruiah. He does not listen to the accuser who demands our heads based on the letter of the law.
Instead, the King, who knows that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him, says to us, "You shall not die." He pardons us freely. He swears an oath, sealed not with his word alone, but with His own blood. This is the grace that establishes His kingdom.
But there is a final, hard-edged truth here that we must not miss. Years later, on his deathbed, David gives his son Solomon a final charge concerning Shimei. He tells Solomon, "do not hold him guiltless... bring his gray head down to the grave with blood" (1 Kings 2:9). Was David a liar? Did he violate his oath?
Not at all. David's oath was personal: I will not put you to death. He kept that oath. But David knew that Shimei's heart was unchanged. He had received a pardon, but he had not been transformed. He was a snake who was simply waiting for another opportunity. David, the earthly king, could grant a temporal pardon, but he could not grant a new heart. Therefore, he passed the problem of ultimate justice to the next king, who would finally deal with Shimei's treachery.
This points us to the glory of the new covenant. The pardon we receive from King Jesus is not merely a political stay of execution. It is not a temporary truce. When God says, "Let light shine out of darkness," He shines it into our hearts. He takes the heart of a Shimei and makes it the heart of a son. David's grace was provisional. Christ's grace is regenerative. David could keep a traitor from the executioner. Christ turns traitors into loyal followers. He does not just pardon our treason; He cures it. And that is why His kingdom, unlike David's, will have no end.