2 Samuel 16:9
Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head.
Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king,.... A sister's son of his, and a general in the army, who could not bear to hear the king abused in this manner:
Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? be suffered to do it with impunity; a "dog" he calls him, because of his vileness and baseness, and because of his impudence, and on account of his reproachful and abusive language, aptly signified by the snarling and barking of a dog; and a "dead" dog, as being useless, detestable, and abominable:
let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head; go over the plain where David and his men were, to the hill on which Shimei was, and strike off his head with his sword; which he could easily do, and soon put an end to his cursing.