John Gill Bible Commentary

And the king sent and called for Shimei,.... He sent messengers to him, and by them ordered him to come to him, who accordingly came: and he said unto him, did not I make thee swear by the Lord; which, though not before mentioned, was no doubt done, nor did Shimei deny it: and protested unto thee; that is, declared before witnesses: saying, know for certain, that on the day thou goest out; namely, out of the city of Jerusalem: and walkest abroad any whither; further at most than the brook Kidron, or any other place equally distant from Jerusalem, on any side of it; for when he went to Gath, he did not go over Kidron, but went the road the other way around. Kidron lay to the east, and Gath to the west of Jerusalem: now the protestation made to him was, that if he went out of Jerusalem any way, that thou shalt surely die; it would be sure and certain death to him: and thou saidst unto me, the word that I have heard is good; not only he promised to obey it, and that with an oath, but declared it was agreeable and acceptable to him, and therefore the offence was a very aggravated one.