Amnesty
Amnesty in scripture is a sovereign's deliberate refusal to exact the punishment that political offense would warrant. Several scenes turn on the choice: David at the Jordan after Absalom's revolt, Solomon at the altar at his accession, and the Persian kings restoring Judah after the exile.
David's Pardon of Shimei
When David returns across the Jordan after Absalom's defeat, the Benjamite who had cursed him on his flight comes out first to meet him: "And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, when he came over the Jordan. And he said to the king, Don't let my lord impute iniquity to me, neither remember that which your slave did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem" (2Sa 19:18-19). Abishai presses for execution — "Will not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed Yahweh's anointed?" (2Sa 19:21) — but David refuses on royal-political grounds: "Will there be any man put to death this day in Israel? For don't I know that I am this day king over Israel?" (2Sa 19:22). The pardon is then sworn, not merely granted: "And the king said to Shimei, You will not die. And the king swore to him" (2Sa 19:23).
David's Offer to Amasa
The same return-march pardons the rebel commander. Absalom had earlier installed his cousin Amasa over the army: "And Absalom set Amasa over the host instead of Joab" (2Sa 17:25). David's overture goes further than amnesty — it offers the rebel general the post itself: "And say⁺ to Amasa, Are you not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if you are not captain of the host before me continually in the place of Joab" (2Sa 19:13). Pardon and reinstatement are folded into one act.
Solomon and Adonijah
At Solomon's accession his older half-brother Adonijah, who had attempted to seize the throne, takes sanctuary at the altar: "And Adonijah feared because of Solomon; and he arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar" (1Ki 1:50). His request to Solomon is for a sworn amnesty: "Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will not slay his slave with the sword" (1Ki 1:51). Solomon's response is conditional pardon: "If he will show himself a worthy man, not a hair of him will fall to the earth; but if wickedness is found in him, he will die" (1Ki 1:52). The grant is made, but it is probationary: "And he came and did obeisance to King Solomon; and Solomon said to him, Go to your house" (1Ki 1:53).
The Persian Decrees
The empire-level form of amnesty is the imperial edict that ends the exile. Cyrus issues a written proclamation in his first regnal year: "Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and [put it] also in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth has Yahweh, the God of heaven, given me; and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah" (Ezr 1:1-2). Permission to return is given to "whoever there is among you⁺ of all his people," with material support drawn from neighbors and the imperial treasury (Ezr 1:3-4).
A generation later, when local opposition challenges the rebuilding, Darius searches the archives, finds Cyrus's roll, and reissues the decree as continuing imperial policy: "Cyrus the king made a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be built, the place where they offer sacrifices" (Ezr 6:3). Darius adds his own protective ruling — local officials are ordered to leave the work alone, and royal funds are to underwrite the rebuilding (Ezr 6:6-9). The penalty clause warns that "whoever will alter this word, let a beam be pulled out from his house, and let him be lifted up and fastened on it" (Ezr 6:11). The amnesty is no longer just a one-time edict of return; it is the standing law of the realm.