Shim . . . Shimmy . . . Shimei

This character came to a bloody end at the hands of an especially efficient enforcer named Benaiah. Consider his tale:

At one point his family had ruled the land. His handsome kinsman reigned as king with sons aplenty. But it all seemed to fall apart after the king had shown kindness to a young peasant lad. The scheming fellow had weaseled his way into the king’s own family and begun to beguile the whole kingdom. When the king had finally seen through the plot, the shrewd villain had escaped and thrown in his lot with the neighboring (and enemy) kingdom. In a pitched battle Shimei’s people had lost and both his kinsman and the heir to the throne lay dead on the battlefield.

With an amazing chutzpah the villainous fellow then initiated a civil war that claimed the lives of many more of Shimei’s kinspeople. Eventually the schemer had seized the throne, ruling over not just the kingdom, but Shimei as well.

After surviving several scandals this usurper had finally gotten his comeuppance. His own son had rebelled and had the villain on the run. Shimei seized his opportunity. As the king fled the capital Shimei positioned himself along the escape route pelting the old king with rocks and unleashing a torrent of curses. With an apparent disregard for his own safety, Shimei continued to vilify the usurper despite the threats from the fellow’s bodyguard. Surely God himself had seen to it that this schemer would pay for his transgressions and Shimei would extract his own revenge.

At least that’s the way it seemed to Shimei. You and I know that wasn’t quite right. The usurper he hated was actually King David, the "man after God’s own heart." How did David handle his bodyguard’s offer to get rid of Shimei?

"Let him curse . . . who knows, maybe God will see the trouble I’m in today and exchange the curses for something good."

So they did. (2 Samuel 16)

David was returned to his throne and Shimei lived in peace – until he broke the conditions Solomon had imposed after David’s death. Then Benaiah was called upon to dispense justice.