Verse Lens · Concise explanation
2 Samuel 19:20 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 20. 20For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence: “For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come the first this day….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Shimei Pleads and David Swears He Will Not Die.”
Read It With
- 2 Samuel 19:16–23
Read 2 Samuel 19:20 with 19:16–23. The wording “For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come the first this day…” supplies one step in the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Shimei arrives with Benjaminite support, confesses, Abishai asks for death, and David rejects the sons of Zeruiah and swears pardon.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Shimei Pleads and David Swears He Will Not Die,” 2 Samuel 19:20 advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence through the wording “For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come the first this day….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: 2 Samuel 19:9–15 establishes this prior movement: Israel debates restoration, David appeals to Judah through the priests, offers Amasa Joab's command, and wins Judah's return invitation. 2 Samuel 19:16–23 responds to the pressure already established; that demonstrated relationship, rather than sequence alone, explains its placement.
What Remains True
Truthful grief may honor real love and loss without denying harm, forcing praise, or converting sorrow into a political claim. In this unit, that truth is tested by the concrete movement: Shimei arrives with Benjaminite support, confesses, Abishai asks for death, and David rejects the sons of Zeruiah and swears pardon. In 2 Samuel 19:20, the concrete line “For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come the first this day…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come the first this day….” Distinguish restraint from exoneration: stop retaliatory violence, hear confession and evidence, preserve a lawful process, and do not use a pressured public pardon to silence later accountability. This response follows from the unit's own pattern—Shimei arrives with Benjaminite support, confesses, Abishai asks for death, and David rejects the sons of Zeruiah and swears pardon.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Samuel 19:16–23 — Shimei Pleads and David Swears He Will Not DieSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 2 Samuel 19:16-23, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Samuel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, repeated verbs, names, syntax, and the base text behind translation and textual discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Sam.xml, 19:16-23
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 2 Samuel with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Unit-bounded wording, older-English clarification, textual witnesses, syntax, names, numbers, and major historical or literary notes actually printed for these verses.
Exact location: NET Bible 2 Samuel PDF, printed pp. 569–572, translation and all translator notes attached to 19:16-23
Open source ↗