What Does II Samuel 16:9 Mean?

Abishai the son of Zeruiah, David's fiery nephew, responds to Shimei's assault with characteristic directness: "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head." Abishai's solution is swift and final: decapitation. The designation of Shimei as a "dead dog" echoes the language of contempt used throughout the books of Samuel, reducing the cursing Benjamite to an insignificance that does not merit the king's attention but does merit the executioner's sword.

Abishai's proposal represents the worldly response to suffering: eliminate the source of pain. It is the instinct of power when confronted with weakness, the reflex of the sword when confronted with the stone. In many ways, Abishai's impulse is justified by the conventions of the ancient Near East: cursing the king was a capital offense, and Shimei's behavior would have warranted execution under normal circumstances. But these are not normal circumstances, and David's response will transform the encounter from a political incident into a theological lesson.

Peter drew his sword in Gethsemane with the same instinct that Abishai displays: the reflex to defend the King through violence. And Christ's response to Peter echoes David's response to Abishai: "Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" The King who could have called legions of angels chose instead to receive the cup of suffering, and the restraint that He demonstrated was not the weakness of a man who could not fight but the love of a God who would not.