1 Kings 1 commentary

We have David sinking under infirmities. He was chastised for his recent sins, and felt the effects of his former toils and hardships.

Indulgent parents are often chastised with disobedient children, who are anxious to possess their estates. No worldly wisdom, nor experience, nor sacredness of character, can insure the continuance in any former course of those who remain under the power of self-love. But we may well wonder by what arts Joab and Abiathar could be drawn aside.

Observe Nathan's address to Bathsheba. Let me give thee counsel how to save thy own life, and the life of thy son. Such as this is the counsel Christ's ministers give us in his name, to give all diligence, not only that no man take our crown, Re 3:11, but that we save our lives, even the lives of our souls. David made a solemn declaration of his firm cleaving to his former resolution, that Solomon should be his successor. Even the recollection of the distresses from which the Lord redeemed him, increased his comfort, inspired his hopes, and animated him to his duty, under the decays of nature and the approach of death.

The people expressed great joy and satisfaction in the elevation of Solomon. Every true Israelite rejoices in the exaltation of the Son of David. Combinations formed upon evil principles will soon be dissolved, when self-interest calls another way. How can those who do evil deeds expect to have good tidings? Adonijah had despised Solomon, but soon dreaded him. We see here, as in a glass, Jesus, the Son of David and the Son of God, exalted to the throne of glory, notwithstanding all his enemies. His kingdom is far greater than that of his father David, and therein all the true people of God cordially rejoice. The prosperity of his cause is vexation and terror to his enemies. No horns of the altar, nor forms of godliness, nor pretences to religion, can profit those who will not submit to His authority, and accept of his salvation; and if their submission be hypocritical, they shall perish without remedy.

THE FIRST BOOK OF THE KINGS, COMMONLY CALLED THE THIRD BOOK OF THE KINGS.

Commentary by Robert Jamieson

CHAPTER 1

1Ki 1:1-4. Abishag Cherishes David in His Extreme Age.

1-2. Now king David was old--He was in the seventieth year of his age (2Sa 5:4, 5). But the wear and tear of a military life, bodily fatigue, and mental care, had prematurely, if we may say it, exhausted the energies of David's strong constitution (1Sa 16:12). In modern Palestine and Egypt the people, owing to the heat of the climate, sleep each in a "separate" bed. They only depart from this practice for medical reasons (Ec 4:11). The expedient recommended by David's physicians is the regimen still prescribed in similar cases in the East, particularly among the Arab population, not simply to give heat, but "to cherish," as they are aware that the inhalation of young breath will give new life and vigor to the worn-out frame. The fact of the health of the young and healthier person being, as it were, stolen to support that of the more aged and sickly is well established among the medical faculty. And hence the prescription for the aged king was made in a hygienic point of view for the prolongation of his valuable life, and not merely for the comfort to be derived from the natural warmth imparted to his withered frame [Porter, Tent and Khan]. The polygamy of the age and country may account for the introduction of this practice; and it is evident that Abishag was made a concubine or secondary wife to David (see on 1Ki 2:22).

3. a Shunammite--Shunem, in the tribe of Issachar (Jos 19:18), lay on an eminence in the plain of Esdraelon, five miles south of Tabor. It is now called Sulam.

1Ki 1:5-31. Adonijah Usurps the Kingdom.

5-6. Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself--Nothing is said as to the origin or rank of Haggith, so that it is probable she was not distinguished by family descent. Adonijah, though David's fourth son (2Sa 3:4; 1Ch 3:2), was now the oldest alive; and his personal attractions and manners (1Sa 9:2) not only recommended him to the leading men about court, but made him the favorite of his father, who, though seeing him assume an equipage becoming only the heir-presumptive to the throne (2Sa 15:1), said nothing; and his silence was considered by many, as well as by Adonijah, to be equivalent to an expression of consent. The sinking health of the king prompted him to take a decisive step in furtherance of his ambitious designs.

7. he conferred with Joab--The anxiety of Adonijah to secure the influence of a leader so bold, enterprising, and popular with the army was natural, and the accession of the hoary commander is easily accounted for from his recent grudge at the king (see on 2Sa 19:13).

and with Abiathar the priest--His influence was as great over the priests and Levites--a powerful body in the kingdom--as that of Joab over the troops. It might be that both of them thought the crown belonged to Adonijah by right of primogeniture, from his mature age and the general expectations of the people (1Ki 2:15).

8. But Zadok the priest--He had been high priest in the tabernacle at Gibeon under Saul (1Ch 16:39). David, on his accession, had conjoined him and Abiathar equal in the exercise of their high functions (2Sa 8:17; 15:24, 29, 35). But it is extremely probable that some cause of jealousy or discord between them had arisen, and hence each lent his countenance and support to opposite parties.

Benaiah--Distinguished for his bravery (1Sa 23:20), he had been appointed captain of the king's bodyguard (2Sa 8:18; 20:23; 1Ch 18:17), and was regarded by Joab as a rival.

Nathan the prophet--He was held in high estimation by David, and stood on the most intimate relations with the royal family (2Sa 12:25).

Shimei--probably the person of this name who was afterwards enrolled among Solomon's great officers (1Ki 4:18).

Rei--supposed to be the same as Ira (2Sa 20:26).

and the mighty men--the select band of worthies.

9-10. En-rogel--situated (Jos 15:7-10) east of Jerusalem, in a level place, just below the junction of the valley of Hinnom with that of Jehoshaphat. It is a very deep well, measuring one hundred twenty-five feet in depth; the water is sweet, but not very cold, and it is at times quite full to overflowing. The Orientals are fond of enjoying festive repasts in the open air at places which command the advantage of shade, water, and verdure; and those fetes champetres are not cold collations, but magnificent entertainments, the animals being killed and dressed on the spot. Adonijah's feast at En-rogel was one of this Oriental description, and it was on a large scale (2Sa 3:4, 5; 5:14-16; 1Ch 14:1-7). At the accession of a new king there were sacrifices offered (1Sa 11:15). But on such an occasion it was no less customary to entertain the grandees of the kingdom and even the populace in a public manner (1Ch 12:23-40). There is the strongest probability that Adonijah's feast was purely political, to court popularity and secure a party to support his claim to the crown.

11-27. Nathan spake unto Bath-sheba ... let me ... give thee counsel, &c.--The revolt was defeated by this prophet, who, knowing the Lord's will (2Sa 7:12; 1Ch 22:9), felt himself bound, in accordance with his character and office, to take the lead in seeing it executed. Hitherto the succession of the Hebrew monarchy had not been settled. The Lord had reserved to Himself the right of nomination (De 17:15), which was acted upon in the appointments both of Saul and David; and in the case of the latter the rule was so far modified that his posterity were guaranteed the perpetual possession of the sovereignty (2Sa 7:12). This divine purpose was known throughout the kingdom; but no intimation had been made as to whether the right of inheritance was to belong to the oldest son. Adonijah, in common with the people generally, expected that this natural arrangement should be followed in the Hebrew kingdom as in all others. Nathan, who was aware of the old king's solemn promise to Solomon, and, moreover, that this promise was sanctioned by the divine will, saw that no time was to be lost. Fearing the effects of too sudden excitement in the king's feeble state, he arranged that Bath-sheba should go first to inform him of what was being transacted without the walls, and that he himself should follow to confirm her statement. The narrative here not only exhibits the vivid picture of a scene within the interior of a palace, but gives the impression that a great deal of Oriental state ceremonial had been established in the Hebrew court.

28-31. Then king David answered and said, Call me Bath-sheba--He renews to her the solemn pledge he had given, in terms of solemnity and impressiveness which show that the aged monarch had roused himself to the duty the emergency called for.

1Ki 1:32-49. Solomon, by David's Appointment, Is Anointed King.

33. cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule--Directions were forthwith given for the immediate coronation of Solomon. A procession was to be formed by the "servants of their lord"--that is, the king's bodyguard. Mules were then used by all the princes (2Sa 13:29); but there was a state mule of which all subjects were forbidden, under pain of death, to make use, without special permission; so that its being granted to Solomon was a public declaration in his favor as the future king (see on Es 6:8, 9).

bring him down to Gihon--a pool or fountain on the west of Jerusalem (see on 2Ch 32:30), chosen as equally public for the counter proclamation.

34. anoint him--done only in the case of a new dynasty or disputed succession (see on 1Sa 16:13; 2Sa 2:1).

35. Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne--The public recognition of the successor to the throne, during the old king's lifetime, is accordant with the customs of the East.

39. an horn of oil out of the tabernacle--It was the sacred oil (Ex 30:25) with which the kings were anointed.

40. all the people came up after him--that is, from the valley to the citadel of Zion.

41-49. Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating--The loud shouts raised by the populace at the joyous proclamation at Gihon, and echoed by assembled thousands, from Zion to En-rogel, were easily heard at that distance by Adonijah and his confederates. The arrival of a trusty messenger, who gave a full detail of the coronation ceremony [1Ki 1:43-48], spread dismay in their camp. The wicked and ambitious plot they had assembled to execute was dissipated, and every one of the conspirators consulted his safety by flight.

1Ki 1:50-53. Adonijah, Fleeing to the Horns of the Altar, Is Dismissed by Solomon.

50-53. Adonijah ... went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar--most probably the altar of burnt offering which had been erected on Mount Zion, where Abiathar, one of his partisans, presided as high priest. The horns or projections at the four corners of the altar, to which the sacrifices were bound, and which were tipped with the blood of the victim, were symbols of grace and salvation to the sinner. Hence the altar was regarded as a sanctuary (Ex 21:14), but not to murderers, rebels, or deliberate perpetrators. Adonijah, having acted in opposition to the will of the reigning king, was guilty of rebellion, and stood self-condemned. Solomon spared his life on the express condition of his good behavior--living in strict privacy, leading a quiet, peaceable life, and meddling with the affairs of neither the court nor the kingdom.

Now King David was old - He was probably now about sixty-nine years of age. He was thirty years old when he began to reign, reigned forty, and died in the seventieth year of his age, 2Sam 5:4, and 1Kgs 2:11; and the transactions mentioned here are supposed to have taken place about a year before his death.

But he gat no heat - Sixty-nine was not an advanced age; but David had been exhausted with various fatigues, and especially by family afflictions, so that he was much older in constitution than he was in years. Besides he seems to have labored under some wasting maladies, to which there is frequent reference in the Psalms.

Let there be sought - a young virgin - This was the best remedy which in his state could be prescribed. His nearly exhausted frame would infallibly absorb from her young and healthy body an additional portion of animal heat, and consequently trim and revive the flame of animal life. This is properly, as I have elsewhere expressed it, Friar Bacon's secret for the cure of old age.

The king knew her not - The maxim of Bacon in his enigmatical cure is, "Take all you can from the medicine, but give nothing to it; if you give any thing, it increases the disease and hastens death." I have seen this abundantly verified; but it is a subject on which it would be improper to dilate except in a medical work. An extract from Friar Bacon's Cure of Old Age may be found at the end of the chapter.

Adonijah the son of Haggith - Who this woman was we know not; Adonijah was evidently David's eldest son now living, and one of whom his father was particularly fond; see 1Kgs 1:6.

Prepared him chariots and horsemen - He copied the conduct of his brother Absalom in every respect. See 2Sam 15:1.

And he conferred with Joab - Joab well knew, if he made the new king, he would necessarily be continued in the command of the army, and so govern him.

And Nathan - Some suppose that he was the preceptor of Solomon.

Slew sheep and oven - Making a royal feast, in reference to his inauguration. As he had Abiathar the priest with him, no doubt these animals were offered sacrificially, and then the guests fed on the flesh of the victims. He had not only a splendid feast, but a great sacrifice; and he gave by this a popular color to his pretensions, by affecting to receive his authority from God.

Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign - He was now considered as being legally appointed to the regal office, and no doubt was about to begin to perform its functions.

Save thine own life, and the life of thy son - Nathan took for granted that Adonijah would put both Bath-sheba and Solomon to death as state criminals, if he got established on the throne. O cursed lust of rule! a father will destroy his son, a son depose his father, and a brother murder a brother, in order to obtain a crown! At this time the monarchy of Israel was unsettled; no man knew who was to succeed to the crown, and the minds of the people were as unsettled as the succession. I have examined both systems, and find that, with all its alleged disadvantages, hereditary monarchy has a high balance of evidence in its favor beyond that which is elective, and is every way more safe for the state and more secure for the subject.

Go and get thee in unto King David - He knew that this woman had a sovereign influence over the king. If Bath-sheba was a source of pleasure to David, must she not also have been a source of pain to him? For could he ever forget the guilty manner in which he acquired her?

Didst not thou - swear - It is very likely that David made such an oath, and that was known only to Bath-sheba and Nathan. It is nowhere else mentioned.

That thou shouldest tell - who shall sit on the throne - This was a monarchy neither hereditary nor elective; the king simply named his successor. This obtained less or more, anciently, in most countries.

Shall be counted offenders - When Adonijah and his party shall find that I and my son have had this promise from thee by oath, he will slay us both.

Call me Bath-sheba - She had gone out when Nathan came in, and he retired when she was re-admitted. Each had a separate audience, but to Nathan the king did not express any will.

Take with you the servants of your lord - By these we may understand the kings guards, the guards of the city, the Cherethites and Pelethites, who were under the command of Benaiah; and in short, all the disposable force that was at hand.

Solomon - to ride upon mine own mule - No subject could use any thing that belonged to the prince, without forfeiting his life. As David offered Solomon to ride on his own mule, this was full evidence that he had appointed him his successor.

Blow ye with the trumpet - After he has been anointed, make proclamation that he is king.

Sit upon my throne - The matter of conducting a business of this kind seems to have been this:

1. The king elect was placed on the mule of his predecessor, and caused to ride abroad to one of the public wells, or to a river where there was the greatest concourse of people, that they might see who he was that was appointed. Solomon was here taken to the river Gihon, in order to be anointed; the continual stream or constantly running fountain, denoting the perpetuity of the kingdom.

2. The priest and the prophet anointed him in the name of the Lord; and thereby signified that he should be endued with all the kingly virtues; that he should reign by, under, and for the Lord.

3. The trumpet was then to be blown, and solemn proclamation made, that he was anointed king.

4. He was then brought and solemnly placed on the throne, to signify that he had now assumed the reins of government, and was about to administer justice and judgement to the people.

Make his throne greater than the throne of - David - A wish of this kind a king will suffer in behalf of his son, but it is never in ordinary cases considered a compliment to say, "I hope this child will make a better man than his father," because it seems to insinuate some reflections on his father's conduct or character. Many foolish people deal in such compliments, and they may rest assured, for the reasons given above, that they are far from being either welcome or agreeable.

Claudian, in his panegyric De Quarto Consulatu Honorii Augusti, ver. 428, has words something similar to those of Benaiah, when he describes a father, worn out with toils and difficulties, committing the reins of government to the hands of his son: -

Adspice, completur votum: jam natus adaequat

Te meritis; et, quod magis est optabile, vincit. "Behold, thy desire is accomplished.

Even now thy son equals thee in worth; and what is still more desirable, surpasses thee.

Zadok - took a horn of oil - Pottery and glass were little in use in those times; and horns were frequently used to hold oil and wine. The oil used here was the holy anointing oil, which was laid up in the tabernacle, and which was used for the anointing of both priests and kings.

The people piped with pipes - They danced, sang, and played on what instruments of music they possessed.

The earth rent - We use a similar expression in precisely the same sense: They rent the air with their cries.

Jonathan answered - He was properly a messenger about the court; we have met with him and Ahimaaz before, 2Sam 15:36. He had now been an observer, if not a spy, on all that was doing, and relates the transactions to Adonijah, in the very order in which they took place.

1. David has nominated Solomon his successor.

2. Zadok, Nathan, and Benaiah, have been appointed to set him on the king's mule.

3. They have taken him to Gihon, and anointed him there.

4. They have brought him up to Jerusalem and placed him on the throne of the kingdom.

Moreover, the king's servants came - The king himself was at this time confined to his own house, and probably to his bed, and could not possibly see these ceremonies; therefore his confidential servants came and told him. We know not how Jonathan, in so short a time, possessed himself of so much information.

Adonijah feared - He knew he had usurped the kingdom, and had not his father's consent; and, as he finds now that Solomon is appointed by David, he knows well that the people will immediately respect that appointment, and that his case is hopeless; he therefore took sanctuary, and, fleeing to the tabernacle, laid hold on one of the horns of the altar, as if appealing to the protection of God against the violence of men. The altar was a privileged place, and it was deemed sacrilege to molest a man who had taken refuge there. See 1Kgs 2:28.

If he will show himself a worthy man - If, from henceforth, he behave well, show himself to be contented, and not endeavor to make partisans, or stir up insurrections among the people, he shall be safe; but if wickedness be found in him - if he act at all contrary to this - he shall die; his blood shall be upon him.

Go to thine house - Intimating that he should have no place about the king's person, nor under the government. Adonijah must have seen that he stood continually on his good behavior.

Friar Bacon's method of restoring and strengthening the Natural Heat "I have read many volumes of the wise: I find few things in physic which restore the natural heat, weakened by dissolution of the innate moisture, or increase of a foreign one. "But certain wise men have tacitly made mention of some medicine, which is likened to that which goes out of the mine of the noble animal. They affirm that in it there is a force and virtue which restores and increases the natural heat. As to its disposition, they say it is like youth itself, and contains an equal and temperate complexion. "And the signs of a temperate complexion in men are when their color is made up of white and red, when the hair is yellow, inclined to redness and curling. "This medicine indeed is like to such a complexion, for it is of a temperate heat: its flame is temperate and sweet, and grateful to the smell. When it departs from this temperature, it departs so far from its virtue and goodness. "This medicine therefore temperately heats, because it is temperately hot; it therefore heals because it is whole. When it is sick, it makes a man sick; when it is distempered, it breeds distempers, and changes the body to its own disposition, because of the similitude it has with the body. "For the infirmity of a brute animal rarely passes into a man, but into another animal of the same kind; but the infirmity of man passes into man; and so does health, because of likeness. "This thing is seldom found; and although sometimes it be found, yet it cannot commodiously be had of all men. "Now, when this thing is like to youth, that is, of temperate complexion, it has good operations; if its temperature be better, it produces better effects: sometimes it is even in the highest degree of its perfection, and then it operates best; and then there is that property whereof we have spoken before. "This differs from other medicines and nutriments, which heat and moisten after a certain temperate manner, and are good for old men. For other medicines principally heat and moisten the body; and, secondarily, they strengthen the native heat, and after that refresh the body, by moistening and heating it. For it brings back this heat in old men, who have it but weakly and deficient, to a certain stronger and more vehement power. "If a plaster be made hereof, and applied to the stomach, it will help very much, for it will refresh the stomach itself, and excite an appetite; it will very much recreate an old man, and change him to a kind of youth; and will make complexions, by what means soever depraved or corrupted, better. But it is to be observed, that Venus doth weaken and diminish the power and virtue of this thing! "And it is very likely that the son of the prince, in his second canon of the Operations of Simple Medicines spoke of this thing, where he saith, that there is a certain medicine, concealed by wise men, lest the incontinent should offend their Creator. There is such a heat in this thing, as is in young men of sound complexion; and if I durst declare the properties of this heat, this most hidden secret should presently be revealed. For this heat doth help the palsical, it restores and preserves the wasted strength of the native heat, and causeth it to flourish in all the members, and gently revives the aged. "But the simple medicine which restores the native heat, when wasted and weakened, is that which is likened to the complexion of a healthy young man."

All this covered and enigmatical description is intended simply to point out that very medicine recommended by the Jewish physicians to restore and invigorate the dying king. I could show the bearing of every sentence, but I must leave something to the good sense of my readers. By attending to the words in italics, the sense will be more easily discovered. See my note on Rut 4:16 (note).

NOW king David was old, and stricken in years , and they covered him with cloathes, but he gat no heat .

Being in the end of his seventieth Year.

Which is not strange in a person not onely of so great an age, but also who had been exercised with so many hardships in War, and with such tormenting cares, and fears, and sorrows, for his own sins (as divers of his Psalms witness) and for the sins and miseries of his Children and People. See Prov. 17. 22. Besides, this might be from the nature of his Disease, or Bodily Distemper.

Marginal references: Heb. entred into days.

2 Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin , and let her stand before the king , and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom , that my lord the king may get heat.

His Physicians.

Whose Natural heat is fresh and wholsom, and not impaired with bearing or breeding of Children. The same counsel doth Galen give for the cure of some cold and dry Distempers.

i. e. Minister unto him, or wait upon him, (as this Phrase is oft used) in his sickness, as occasion requires.

As his Wife or Concubine: for that she was so, may appear by divers arguments. First, Otherwise this had been a wicked counsel and course; which therefore neither his Servants durst have prescribed, nor would David have used, especially being now in a dying condition. And seeing this was easily prevented by his taking her for his Concubine, which then was esteemed allowable, it is absurd to think that he would not chuse the safer way. 2dly, That passage v. 4. but the king knew her not, implies that the King might have had carnal knowledge of her without sin or scandal. Thirdly, It appears from this Phrase of lying in his bosom, which is every where in Scripture mentioned as the priviledge of a Wife and Concubine, as Gen. 16. 5. Deut. 13. 6. 2 Sam. 12. 8. Mic. 7. 5. Fourthiy, This made Adonijah's crime in desiring her to Wife, so hainous in Solomon's account, because he wisely saw, that by Marrying the Kings Wife he designed to revive his pretence to the Kingdom, at least in case of Solomon's death; which pretence had been ridiculous, if she had been onely the Kings handmaid.

Marginal references: Heb. let them seek.; Heb. a damsel a virgin.; Heb. be a cherisher unto him.

3 So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel; and found Abishag a Shunammite , and brought her to the king.

Whose beauty might ingage his affections, and refresh his spirits, and invite him to those embraces which might communicate some of her Natural heat to him, as was designed.

Of the City of Shunem in Issachar, Ios. 19. 18. See 2 King. 4. 8.

4 And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministred unto him: but the king knew her not .

Which is mentioned to note the continuance and progress of the Kings malady, and the ground of Adonijah's Rebellion, and of his following request, chap. 2. 17.

5 ¶ Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself , saying, I will be king : and he prepared him charets, and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him .

Upon notice of the desperateness of the Kings Disease, and the approach of his death.

See 2 Sam. 3. 4.

Entertained high thoughts and designs.

As the right of the Kingdom is mine, v. 6. so I will now take possession of it, lest Solomon attempt to deprive me of it.

As Absalom had done upon the like occasion, 2 Sam. 15. 1. such ill use did he make of that example, that he committed the same wickedness which he had done, and yet feared not the same disappointment and destruction which he brought upon himself.

Marginal references: Heb. reign.

6 And his father had not displeased him at any time , in saying, Why hast thou done so ? And he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom ▪

This is noted as David's great error, and the occasion of Adonijah's presumption.

He neither restrained him from, nor reproved him for, his miscarriages: which was a great sin against that plain Law, Levit. 19. 17. and severely punished in Eli, which David was not ignorant of, except Adonijah's errors were small or concealed from David.

This particle relates either, [illegible: 1+ letters]irst, To Absalom here following, who also was a goodly man. Or rather, Secondly, to what goes before, to signifie that this was a second ground of his confidence, because his great comeliness made him amiable in the peoples eyes, as his Fathers indulgence was the first.

i. e. Next after Absalom was born of his Mother: See 2 Sam. 3. 3, 4.

Marginal references: Heb. from his days.

7 And he conferred with Joab the son of Ze ruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah, helped him .

Either, because they thought the right of the Crown was his: or rather, from secret grudges, because they perceived themselves neglected by David, and possibly by Solomon too; and from carnal policy, that they might secure and advance their own Interest, which they saw to be in manifest danger.

Marginal references: Heb. his words were with Joab.; Heb. helped after Adonijah.

8 But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to David , were not with Adonijah.

His great and famous Commanders, and the Guards, and Soldiers under them.

Marginal references: Chap. 4. 18.; 2 Sam, [illegible: 1+ letters]3. 8.

9 And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen, and fat cattel , by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by Enrogel , and called all his brethren the kings sons , and all the men of Judah the kings servants .

Partly, for a Sacrifice; and partly, for Feasts, that he might engage God to be on his side, and draw a multitude of people after him.

Or, the fountain of Rogel, or, of the Fuller: a place nigh to Ierusalem. See Ios. 15. 7. and 18. 16. 2 Sam. 17. 17.

Either, because he knew they envied, and were discontented with Solomon, and therefore would favour him, or that he might engage them so to do.

Except these here excepted, v. 10.

Marginal references: Or, the well Rogel.

10 But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men , and Solomon his brother he called not.

Because he knew they favoured Solomon his Competitor

11 ¶ Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bathsheba the mother of Solomon , saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not ?

Being prompted to it both by his Piety in fulfilling the will of God declared to him, and by him to David concerning Solomon's Succession, 2 Sam. 7. 13. 1 Chron. 22. 8, 9. and by his prudence, as knowing that Adonijah hated him for being the principal instrument of Solomon's advancement.

Who being retired and private in her appartment, was yet ignorant of what was done abroad: and, who was likely to be most zealous in the cause, and most prevalent with David.

So far is he from consenting to it, as thou mayest fear, or others think, that they have not yet acquainted him with it.

Marginal references: 2 Sam. 34.

12 Now therefore come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy son Solomon .

For he will never reckon himself safe till his Competitor and his Friends be taken out of the way.

13 Go, and get thee in unto king David, and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thine hand maid , saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne ? Why then doth Adonijah reign ▪

i. e. Thou didst Swear; which David himself owneth, v. 30. which probably he did to satisfie Bathsheba's doubts and fears about it, and to oblige himself to a compliance with the Divine will declared about it. See chap. 2. 15. and 1 Chron. 28. 5.

So she calleth her self, to testify her reverence and subjection to him, not onely as her Husband, but as her King.

Another expression of the same thing, to signify David's sincerity and fervency in his Swearing, which adds to his obligation.

How comes this to pass? Or why do[illegible: 1+ letters]t thou suffer it?

Marginal references: 1 Chr. 22. 9.

17 And she said unto him, My lord, thou swarest by the LORD thy God unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne:

To whom thou art highly obliged, whose name thou justly fearest and honourest, and therefore thou wilt'st not pollute it by Perjury, but make Conscience of thy Oath.

18 And now behold, Adonijah reigneth; and now my lord the king, thou knowest it not .

This she adds, partly, lest she should seem to accuse the King of inconstancy and perfidiousness; and partly, to aggravate Adonijah's crime, from that gross neglect and contempt of the King, which did accompany it.

19 And he hath slain oxen, and fat cattel, and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host: but Solomon thy servant hath he not called.

Who is not so presumptuous as Adonijah, usurping the Throne before his time, but carries himself modestly, and submissively, as thy Son, and Servant, and Subject.

20 And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee , that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit upon the throne of my lord the king after him .

The generality of the People are in suspence, whether Adonijah's practices be with thy consent or no, and wait for thy Sen[illegible: 1+ letters]ence, which they will readily embrace.

She speaks onely in general, as owning the Kings Prerogative to give the Crown to which of his Sons he pleased, if he had not restrained himself by his Oath to Solomon.

i. e. After thy death. Whereby she taxeth Adonijah's ambition, who usurped the Crown whilst his Father lived.

21 Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers , that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders .

i. e. Die as his Fathers did. See Gen. 47. 30.

We shall be punished with death as Malefactors, as guilty of practising against the right Heir of the Crown, and transferring the Kingdom to Solomon, and covering our ambitious designs with a pretence of Religion.

Marginal references: Heb. shall be sinners.

22 ¶ And lo, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in .

To discourse with the King; which made it fit for her to withdraw, as she did, v. 28.

24 And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said , Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne?

Is this done by thy consent, without which it seems strange that he durst attempt it?

26 But me, even me thy servant , and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon hath he not called.

Whom he knew to be acquainted with thy mind, and with the mind of God in this matter: and therefore his neglect of me herein gives me cause to suspect that this is done without thy privity: which now I come to know.

27 Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewed it unto thy servant , who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?

Who, having been an instrument in delivering Gods message to thee concerning thy Successor, might reasonably expect that if the king had changed his mind, or God had since made some revelation contrary to the former, thou wouldest have acquainted me with it, as being both a Prophet of the Lord, and one whom thou hast always found Faithful to thee, and to whom thou hast used to communicate thy secret counsels.

28 ¶ Then king David answered and said, Call me Bathsheba: and she came into the kings presence, and stood before the king.

Who, upon Nathan's approach to the King had modestly withdrawn her self, either into another Room, or into another part of this Room, more remote from the Bed upon which David lay.

Marginal references: Heb. before the king.

31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever .

i. e. For a long time, as that word is oft used, as Chap. 2. 33. Dan. 2. 4. Though I desire thy Oath may be kept, and the right of Succession confirmed to my Son, yet I am far from thirsting after thy death for his advancement, and should rather rejoyce, if it were possible for thee to live and enjoy thy Crown for ever.

33 The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord , and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule , and bring him down to Gihon .

i. e. My publick Officers, and my Guards.

As a token that the Royal Dignity is transferred upon Solomon, and that by my consent. Compare Gen. 41. 43. Esth. 6. 8.

A River near Ierusalem, on the West side, as may be gathered from 2 Chron. 32. 30. as En-rogel, where Adonijah was inaugurated, was on the East-side. This place David chose, either, as remore from Adonijah and his company, that so the people might go thither, and be there without fear of Tumults or Bloodshed; or to shew that Solomon was chosen King in opposition to Adonijah: or, because this was a place of great resort, and fit to receive and display that numerous company, which he knew would follow Solomon thither: or, that he might from thence return and make the more magnificent entrance into the City.

Marginal references: Heb. which belongeth to me.

34 And let Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet , and say, God save king Solomon.

As they used to do where there was any thing new, or doubtful, extraordinary in the Succession, as 1 Sam. 10. 1. and 16. 12, 13. 1 King. 19. 15, 16. 2 King. 9. 3. And this unction signified both the designation of the Persons to the Office, and the Gifts and Graces which were necessary for their Office, and which, they seeking them sincerely from God, might expect to receive.

To make the action more Solemn, and Glorious, and Publick.

35 Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead ; and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel, and over Judah .

My Deputy and Vice-King whilst I live, and absolutely King when I die. Or, if David and Solomon were Joint-Kings, it is no more than was afterwards frequent at Rome, where the Father and Son, or two other persons were not seldom Joint-Emperors.

And that by Divine direction.

This is added, partly, as being the most Eminent and Royal Tribe, it being frequent, together with the general distinction, to mention one of the most eminent particulars, as 1 King. 11. 1. Psal. 18. title. Mark 16. 7. and partly, lest the men of Iudah, who were in a special manner invited by Adonijah, v. 9. might think themselves exempted from his Jurisdiction.

Marginal references: Heb. commanded him. So Gr.

36 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen : The LORD God of my lord the king say so too .

Which was both an approbation of the Kings Fact, and a profession of his Allegiance to the new King, and a Petition to God to ratify and confirm it.

The Lord stablish Solomon's Throne in spight of Adonijah, and all his other Enemies.

37 As the LORD hath been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David .

Which Petition, albeit it might have offended an unworthy, vain-glorious and envious Father, he knew would be welcome to so pious and generous a Man as David was, and to one so kind and indulgent to his Children.

39 And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle , and anointed Solomon: and they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, God save king Solomon.

For though he was not the High-Priest, he might do this office, especially having the direction of the Prophet Nathan, v. 34.

That which David had erected for the Ark, 2 Sam. 6. 17. in which Oyl was kept for divers Sacred uses: for Moses his Tabernacle was at Gibeon, 1 Chron. 16. 39. and 21. 29. which was too remote for the present occasion, which required all possible expedition.

Marginal references: Exod. 3[illegible: 1+ letters]. 25, 32.

40 And all the people came up after him , and the people piped with pipes, and rejoyced with great joy , so that the earth rent with the sound of them.

Which flocked thither in abundance, some out of curiosity to see so Solemn an action; others to do their Duty; and others in expectation of some advantage by their chearful attendance upon the new King.

Partly, because this would certainly prevent Civil Wars, under which they had so lately and so sorely groaned, and which they had reason to fear from Adonijah's pretence to the Crown, and the assistance he might have from the great and famous Lord General Ioab, and from Abiathar the High-Priest, and from others who were or might easily be engaged for him, if David had not ended the controversie in his life-time: and partly, because of the singular wisdom and vertue for which Solomon was even then famous. See chap. 2. 5, 9.

An Hyperbolical expression: yet even solid Bodies have been oft broken and rent by great sounds.

Marginal references: Or, flu[illegible: 1+ letters]es

41 ¶ And Adonijah, and all the guests that were with him, heard it, as they had made an end of eating : and when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city, being in an uproar?

For Nathan having given wise counsel, took all due care to expedite the execution of it, that it might not be spoiled by delays, as frequently happens.

42 And while he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came, and Adonijah said unto him, Come in, for thou art a valiant man , and bringest good tidings.

Who it seems was left at Ierusalem for a Spy, as he had formerly been under Absalom.

Or; a man of vertue or worth, as this Hebrew word is used, Prov. 12. 4. and therefore an happy man, and hast good news for thy self and us. Compare 2 Sam. 18. 27.

43 And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily , our lord king David hath made Solomon king.

Or, but, or, nay but; i. e. The matter is not as thou expectest, but quite contrary.

46 And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom.

i. e. Is put into actual possession of the Kingdom.

47 And moreover, the kings servants came to bless our lord king David , saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed .

To praise and thank him for his great and good care, in leaving them in the hands of so excellent a Successor, under whom they might expect Peace and all Prosperity; and to congratulate with him for Gods great Mercy to him, in giving him such a Son and Successor, and that his Eyes had now seen the actual accomplishment of Gods promise made to him concerning this thing.

Adoring God for this great Mercy, and thereby declaring his hearty approbation and consent to this action. Compare Gen. 47. 31.

49 And all the guests that were with Adonijah, were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way .

i. e. The way to his own House, lest they should be discovered and taken.

50 ¶ And Adonijah feared, because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar .

Either, that which was at Gibeon, as appears from 1 Chron. 16. 39. 2 Chron. 1. 3. and was made with four Horns, Exod. 38. 2. to which the Sacrifices were bound, Psal. 118. 27. Or rather, that which David had lately set up in the Threshing-floor of Araunah, which doubtless was made after the same form as that at Gibeon: For, First, This was next at hand. Secondly, The Altar onely is mentioned here, whereas in Ioab's case there is mention of the Tabernacle and Altar both, Chap. 2. 28, 29. which seems to be noted to distinguish the two Altars: for Adonijah being the Kings Son, he might safely go to Araunah's Altar, and the People would not be forward to seize upon him, or bring him to Justice: but Ioab truly thought it was not safe for him to venture himself there, and therefore he flieth to Gibeon, as a place more remote from Ierusalem. Hither he fled, either to implore Gods Mercy; or rather, to avoid Solomon's Rage; sapposing that his Reverence to that Sacred place would not permit him to pollute it with his Brothers blood; or that the consideration of Gods Grace and Mercy, which himself needed and begged of God, in pardoning his offences, and accepting the Sacrifices which he should offer there, would engage and dispose him to shew Mercy to his offending and now penitent Brother; or, that his Piety would not allow him violently to pluck him as it were out of the Arms of God, into which he had put himself. And for these or such like reasons the Altar was esteemed a kind of Sanctuary or place of Refuge, not onely among the Gentiles, but also among the Hebrews, though it be not called by that name, as may be gathered from Exod. 21. 14. 1 King. 2. 28.

51 And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me to day, that he will not slay his servant with the sword.

He owns Solomon as his King, and himself as his Servant and Subject; and being sensible of his great guilt, and of the jealousie which Kings have of their competitors, could not be satisfied without Solomon's Oath.

52 And Solomon said, If he will shew himself a worthy man , there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth : but if wickedness shall be found in him , he shall die.

Heb. a man of strength or courage: for it requires great strength of mind, and resolution, to resist all temptations of vice, and to do vertuously.

Herein Solomon manifests his Clemency and Brotherly affection, and withal his prudence in sparing him, whom, being his Brother, and his eldest Brother too, it would have been invidious to have slain.

Not onely if he shall be guilty of some capital crime, but of any great wickedness or evil design. For as this pardon was Solomon's free act, so he might justly qualify it as he pleased.

Marginal references: Heb. a son of vertue, or valour.; 1 Sam. 14. 4[illegible: 1+ letters]. 2 Sam. 14. 11. Act. 27. 34.

53 So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar; and he came and bowed himself to king Solomon: and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house .

Lead a private, or retired and quiet life, without noise and numerous attendants, and meddle not with the Affair[illegible: 1+ letters] of the Court and Kingdom.

The Books of Kings

Introduction

Contents- and Character- Origin and Sources- of the Books of the Kings.

The books of the Kings, which were but one book originally like the books of Samuel, and which like the latter, were divided into two books by the Alexandrian translators (see the Introduction to the books of Samuel), contain, in accordance with their name (מלכים), the history of the Israelitish theocracy under the kings, from the accession of Solomon to the extinction of the monarchy on the overthrow of the kingdom of Judah, when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Chaldaeans and the people were carried away into exile in Babylon. they embrace a period of 455 years, from 1015 to 560 b.c., that is to say, to the reign of the Babylonian king Evil-merodach. And as every kingdom culminates in its king, and the government of the kings determines the fate of the kingdom, the contents of the books before us, which are named after the kings of Israel, consist for the most part of a history of those kings; inasmuch as, whilst on the one hand the reigns of the several kings form the historical and chronological framework for the description of the historical development of the people and kingdom, on the other hand the leading phases which the monarchy assumed furnish the basis of the three periods, into which the history of this epoch and the contents of our books are divided.

The first period (1015-975 b.c.) embraces the forty years of Solomon’s reign over the undivided kingdom of the twelve tribes of Israel, when the Israelitish kingdom of God stood at the summit of its earthly power and glory; though towards the end of this period it began to decline inasmuch as the rebellion of Solomon against the Lord in the closing years of his reign prepared the way for the rebellion of the ten tribes against the house of David. - The second period commences with the division of the one kingdom into the two kingdoms, Israel (or the ten tribes) and Judah, and stretches over the whole period during which these two kingdoms existed side by side, terminating with the destruction of the kingdom of the ten tribes by the Assyrians, i.e., from 975 to 722 b.c. - The third period embraces the still remaining years of the continuance of the kingdom of Judah, until its eventual dissolution by the Chaldaeans and the carrying away of the people into exile in Babylon, viz., from 722 to 560 b.c.

The first part of our books (1 Kings 1-11) therefore contains a description of the reign of Solomon, (a) in its commencement, viz., his ascent of the throne and the consolidation of his power (1 Kings 1 and 2); (b) in the gradual development of the strength and glory of his government, by his marriage, his sacrifice and prayer at Gibeon, his judicial wisdom, and his court (1 Kings 3:1-5:14)-also by the building of the temple and royal palace and the dedication of the temple (1 Kings 5:15-9:9), by the erection of his other edifices and the introduction of navigation and commerce (1 Kings 9:10-28), by the spreading abroad of the fame of his wisdom, and by the increase of his wealth (1 Kings 10); and (c) in its eventual decline in consequence of the sin into which the aged monarch fell through his polygamy and idolatry (1 Kings 11). The second part opens with an account of the falling away of the ten tribes from the royal family of David, and relates in a synchronistic narrative the history of the two kingdoms in the three stages of their development: viz., (a) the early enmity between the two, from Jeroboam to Omri of Israel (1 Kings 12:1-16:28); (b) the establishment of friendship and intermarriage between the two royal houses under Ahab and his sons, down to the destruction of the two kings Joram of Israel and Ahaziah of Judah by Jehu (1 Kings 16:29-2 Kings 10); (c) the renewal of hostilities between the two kingdoms, from Jehu’s ascent of the throne in Israel and Athaliah’s usurpation of the throne in Judah to the overthrow of the kingdom of Israel in the sixth year of Hezekiah’s reign in Judah (2 Kings 11-17). And, lastly, the third part contains the history of the kingdom of Judah from Hezekiah to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldaeans, and carries it down to the thirty-seventh year of the imprisonment of king Jehoiachin in exile (2 Kings 18-25).

Now, although the history of the kings, or the account of both the duration and character of their reigns, and also of their various enterprises, so far as they promoted or hindered the progress of the kingdom of God, forms the principal substance of these books, they do not consist of a mere chronicle of the deeds and fortunes of the several kings, but describe at the same time the ministry of the prophets in the two kingdoms, and that to some extent in so elaborate a manner, that whilst some have discovered in this a peculiarly “prophetico-didactic purpose” (Hävernick, De Wette, etc.), others regard it as an endeavour “to set forth the history of the Israelitish and Jewish kings in its relation to the demands, the doings, the proclamations, and the predictions of the prophets, from Solomon to the Babylonian exile” (Kern). But however unmistakable the prophetico-didactic character may be, which the books of Kings have in common with the whole of the historical writings of the Old Testament, a closer investigation of their character will show that there is no ground for the assertion that there is any prophetico-didactic purpose in the mode in which the history is written. For the account of the ministry of the prophets is introduced into the history of the kings as the spiritual leaven which pervaded the Israelitish monarchy from the beginning to the end, and stamped upon its development the character of the theocracy or divine rule in Israel. Jehovah, as the invisible but yet real King of the covenant nation, had created the peculiar instruments of His Spirit in the prophets who maintained His law and right before the kings, standing by their side to advise and direct, or to warn and punish, and, wherever it was necessary, proving their utterances to be words of God by signs and wonders which they did before the people. Thus the Lord directed the prophet Samuel to anoint Saul and David princes over His people, and the prophet Nathan to communicate to David the promise of the everlasting endurance of his throne (2 Sam 7). But when at a later period David sinned (2 Sam 11 and 24), it was the prophets Nathan and Gad who threatened him with punishment from God, and on his confession of sin and repentance announced the forgiveness and favour of God (2Sa 12:1-15; 2Sa 24:11-19). Through the medium of the prophet Nathan, Solomon was also appointed the successor of David upon the throne (2Sa 12:25), and not only anointed king, but installed in defiance of the machinations of Adonijah (1 Kings 1). But since the monarchy was transmitted from Solomon in a direct line through his descendants by virtue of the divine promise in 2 Sam 7, it is only in connection with important enterprises, or when the kingdom is involved in difficulties, that we find the prophets coming forward in after times to help or advise those kings who walked in the ways of the Lord; whereas under the idolatrous and godless rulers they offer, in the power of God, such energetic resistance to idolatry and to everything evil and ungodly, that princes and people are compelled to bow before them and succumb to their divine words. In this way the prophets accompanied the monarchy in all its course from Solomon to the Captivity as guardians of the rights of the God-King, and as interpreters of His counsel and will. Under Solomon, indeed, there was apparently a long period, during which prophecy fell into the background; since the Lord Himself not only appeared to this king in a dream at Gibeon shortly after he ascended the throne, but also appeared to him a second time after the dedication of the temple, and promised him the fulfilment of his prayers, and the glorification and eternal continuance of his kingdom, on condition of his faithful observance of the divine commands (1Ki 3:5., 1Ki 9:1.). But towards the end of his reign it rose up again in all the more threatening attitude, against the king who was then disposed to fall away from Jehovah. It was no doubt a prophet who announced to him the separation of ten parts of his kingdom (1Ki 11:11.)-possibly the same Ahijah who promised Jeroboam the government over ten tribes (1Ki 11:29.). But after the division of the kingdom, when Jeroboam proceeded, in order to fortify his throne, to make the political division into a religious one, and to this end exalted the image-worship into the state religion, the prophets continued to denounce this apostasy and proclaim to the sinful kings the destruction of their dynasties. And when at a still later period Ahab the son of Omri, and his wife Jezebel, endeavoured to make the Phoenician worship of Baal and Asherah into the national religion in Israel, Elijah the Tishbite, “the prophet as fire, whose words burned as a torch” (Ecclus. 48:1), came forward with the irresistible power of God and maintained a victorious conflict against the prophets and servants of Baal, warding off the utter apostasy of the nation by uniting the prophets into societies, in which the worship of God was maintained, and the godly in Israel were supplied with a substitute for that legal worship in the temple which was enjoyed by the godly in Judah. And in the kingdom of Judah also where were never wanting prophets to announce the judgments of the Lord to idolatrous kings, and to afford a vigorous support to the pious and God-fearing rulers in their endeavours to promote the religious life of the nation, and to exalt the public worship of God in the temple. But since the kingdom of Judah possessed the true sanctuary, with the legal worship and an influential body of priests and Levites; and since, moreover, the monarchy of the house of David was firmly established by divine promises resting upon that house, and among the kings who sat upon the throne, from Rehoboam onwards, there were many godly rulers who were distinguished for their lofty virtues as governors; the labours of the prophets did not assume the same prominent importance here as they did in the kingdom of the ten bribes, where they had to fight against idolatry from the beginning to the end.

This explains the fact that the ministry of the prophets assumes so prominent a position in the books of the Kings, whereas the history of the kings appears sometimes to fall into the background in comparison. Nevertheless the historical development of the monarchy, or, to express it more correctly, of the kingdom of God under the kings, forms the true subject-matter of our books. It was not a prophetico-didactic purpose, but the prophetico-historical point of view, which prevailed throughout the whole work, and determined the reception as well as the treatment of the historical materials. The progressive development of the kingdom was predicted and described by the Lord Himself in the promise communicated to David by the prophet Nathan: “And when thy days shall be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name; and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his Father, and he shall be my son, that if he go astray, I may chasten him with man’s rod, and with stripes of the children of men; but my mercy will not depart from him, as I caused it to depart from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thy house and thy kingdom shall be for ever before thee, thy throne will be established for ever” (2Sa 7:12-16). This thoroughly glorious promise forms the red thread which runs through the history of the kings from Solomon to the Babylonian captivity, and constitutes the leading idea in the record of this history in our books. The author’s intention is to show in the history of the kings how the Lord fulfilled this gracious word, how He first of all chastised the seed of David for its transgressions, and then cast it off, though not for ever. To this end he shows in the history of Solomon, how, notwithstanding the usurpation of the throne attempted by Adonijah, Solomon received the whole of his father’s kingdom, as the seed of David promised by the Lord, and established his power; how the Lord at the very beginning of his reign renewed to him at Gibeon the promise made to his father on the condition of his faithful observance of His law, and in answer to his prayer gave him not only a wise and understanding heart, but also riches and honour, so that his equal was not to be found among all the kings of the earth (1 Kings 1:1-5:14); how Solomon then carried out the work of building the temple, entrusted to him by his father according to the will of the Lord; and how, after it was finished, the Lord again assured him of the fulfilment of that promise (1 Kings 5:15-9:9); and, lastly, how Solomon, having attained to the highest earthly glory, through the completion of the rest of his buildings, through the great renown of his wisdom, which had reached to nations afar off, and through his great riches, acquired partly by marine commerce and trade, and partly from tributes and presents, forgot his God, who had bestowed this glory upon him, and in his old age was led astray into unfaithfulness towards the Lord through his numerous foreign wives, and had at last to listen to this sentence from God: “Because thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and give it to thy servant: notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it, for David thy father’s said; but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. Howbeit I will not rend away all thy kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen” (1 Kings 9:10-11:13). Thus, because God had promised to the seed of David the eternal possession of the throne (2Sa 7:12.), one portion of the kingdom was to be left to the son of Solomon, with the chosen city of Jerusalem, and his servant (Jeroboam, 1Ki 11:26-40) was only to obtain dominion over ten tribes. The historical realization of this prophecy is shown in the history of the two divided kingdoms.

In the synchronistic account of these kingdoms, according to the principle already adopted in the book of Genesis, of disposing of the subordinate lines of the patriarchs before proceeding with the main line, the reigns of the kings of Israel are described before those of the contemporaneous kings of Judah, and to some extent in a more elaborate manner. The reason of this, however, is, that the history of the kingdom of Israel, in which one dynasty overthrew another, whilst all the rulers walked in the sin of Jeroboam, and Ahab even added the worship of Baal to that sin, supplied the author with more materials for the execution of his plan than that of the kingdom of Judah, which had a much quieter development under the rule of the house of David, and of which, therefore, there was less to relate. Apart from this, all the events of the kingdom of Judah which are of any importance in relation to the progress of the kingdom of God, are just as elaborately described as those connected with the kingdom of Israel; and the author does equal justice to both kingdoms, showing how the Lord manifested Himself equally to both, and bore with them with divine long-suffering and grace. But the proof of this necessarily assumed different forms, according to the different attitudes which they assumed towards the Lord. Jeroboam, the founder of the kingdom of Israel, when told that he would be king over the ten tribes, had received the promise that Jehovah would be with him, and build him a lasting house as He built for David, and give Israel to him, on condition that he would walk in the ways of God (1Ki 11:37-38). This implied that his descendants would rule over Israel (of the ten tribes) so long as this kingdom should stand; for it was not to last for ever, but the separation would come to an end, and therefore he is not promised the everlasting continuance of his kingdom (see at 1Ki 11:38). But Jeroboam did not fulfil this condition, nor did any of the rulers of Israel who succeeded him. Nevertheless the Lord had patience with the kings and tribes who were unfaithful to His law, and not only warned them continually by His prophets, and chastised them by threats of punishment and by the fulfilment of those threats upon the kings and all the people, but repeatedly manifested His favour towards them for the sake of His covenant with Abraham (2Ki 13:23), to lead them to repentance-until the time of grace had expired, when the sinful kingdom fell and the ten tribes were carried away to Media and Assyria. - In the kingdom of David, on the contrary, the succession to the throne was promised to the house of David for all time: therefore, although the Lord caused those who were rebellious to be chastised by hostile nations, yet, for His servant David’s sake, He left a light shining to the royal house, since He did not punish the kings who were addicted to idolatry with the extermination of their family (1Ki 15:4; 2Ki 8:19); and even when the wicked Athaliah destroyed all the royal seed, He caused Joash, the infant son of Ahaziah, to be saved and raised to the throne of his fathers (2 Kings 11). Consequently this kingdom was able to survive that of the ten tribes for an entire period, just because it possessed a firm political basis in the uninterrupted succession of the Davidic house, as it also possessed a spiritual basis of no less firmness in the temple which the Lord had sanctified as the place where His name was revealed. After it had been brought to the verge of destruction by the godless Ahaz, it received in Hezekiah a king who did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah, as his father David had done, and in the severe oppression which he suffered at the hands of the powerful army of the proud Sennacherib, took refuge in the Lord, who protected and saved Jerusalem, “for His own and His servant David’s sake,” at the prayer of the pious king of Jerusalem (2Ki 19:34; 2Ki 20:6). But when at length, throughout the long reign of Manasseh the idolater, apostasy and moral corruption prevailed to such an extent in Judah also, that even the pious Josiah, with the reformation of religion which he carried out with the greatest zeal, could only put down the outward worship of idols, and was unable to effect any thorough conversion of the people to the Lord their God, and the Lord as the Holy One of Israel was obliged to declare His purpose of rejecting Judah from before His face on account of the sins of Manasseh, and to cause that purpose to be executed by Nebuchadnezzar (2Ki 23:26-27; 2Ki 24:3-4); Jehoiachin was led away captive to Babylon, and under Zedekiah the kingdom was destroyed with the burning of Jerusalem and the temple. Yet the Lord did not suffer the light to be altogether extinguished to His servant David; but when Jehoiachin had pined in captivity at Babylon for thirty-seven years, expiating his own and his fathers’ sins, he was liberated from his captivity by Nebuchadnezzar’s son, and raised to honour once more (2Ki 25:27-30). - The account of this joyful change in the condition of Jehoiachin, with which the books of the Kings close, forms so essential a part of their author’s plan, that without this information the true conclusion to his work would be altogether wanting. For this event shed upon the dark night of the captivity the first ray of a better future, which was to dawn upon the seed of David, and with it upon the whole nation in its eventual redemption from Babylon, and was also a pledge of the certain fulfilment of the promise that the Lord would not for ever withdraw His favour from the seed of David.Stähelin makes the following remark in his Einleitung (p.122): “The books of the Kings form an antithesis to the history of David. As the latter shows how obedience to God and to the utterances of His prophets is rewarded, and how, even when Jehovah is obliged to punish, He makes known His grace again in answer to repentance; so do the books of the Kings, which relate the overthrow of both the Hebrew states, teach, through the history of these two kingdoms, how glorious promises are thrown back and dynasties fall in consequence of the conduct of individual men (compare 1Ki 11:38 with 1Ki 14:10, and still more with 2Ki 21:10. and 2Ki 23:27). The sins of one man like Manasseh are sufficient to neutralize all the promises that have been given to the house of David.” There is no need to refute this erroneous statement, since it only rests upon a misinterpretation of 2Ki 21:10., and completely misses the idea which runs through both books of the Kings; and, moreover, there is no contradiction between the manifestation of divine mercy towards penitent sinners and the punishment of men according to their deeds.

Thus the books of the Kings bring down the history of the Old Testament kingdom of God, according to the divine plan of the kingdom indicated in 2 Sam 7, from the close of David’s reign to the captivity; and the fact that in 1Ki 1:1 they are formally attached to the books of Samuel is an indication that they are a continuation of those books. Nevertheless there is no doubt that they formed from the very first a separate work, the independence and internal unity of which are apparent from the uniformity of the treatment of the history as well as from the unity of the language. From beginning to end the author quotes from his original sources, for the most part with certain standing formulas; in all important events he gives the chronology carefully (1Ki 6:1, 1Ki 6:37-38; 1Ki 7:1; 1Ki 9:10; 1Ki 11:42; 1Ki 14:20-21, 1Ki 14:25; 1Ki 15:1-2, 1Ki 15:9-10, etc.); he judges the conduct of the kings throughout according to the standard of the law of Moses (1Ki 2:3; 1Ki 3:14; 2Ki 10:31; 2Ki 11:12; 2Ki 14:6; 2Ki 17:37; 2Ki 18:6; 2Ki 21:8; 2Ki 22:8., 2Ki 23:3, 2Ki 23:21, etc.); and he nearly always employs the same expressions when describing the commencement, the character, and the close of each reign, as well as the death and burial of the kings (compare 1Ki 11:43; 1Ki 14:20, 1Ki 14:31; 1Ki 15:8, 1Ki 15:24; 1Ki 22:51; 2Ki 8:24; 2Ki 13:9; 2Ki 14:29; and for the characteristics of the several kings of Judah, 1Ki 15:3, 1Ki 15:11; 1Ki 22:43; 2Ki 12:3; 2Ki 14:3; 2Ki 15:3, etc.; and for those of the kings of Israel, 1Ki 14:8; 1Ki 15:26, 1Ki 15:34; 1Ki 16:19, 1Ki 16:26, 1Ki 16:30; 1Ki 22:53; 2Ki 3:2-3; 2Ki 10:29, 2Ki 10:31; 2Ki 13:2, 2Ki 13:11, etc.). And so, again, the language of the books remains uniform in every part of the work, if we except certain variations occasioned by the differences in the sources employed; since we find throughout isolated expressions and forms of a later date, and words traceable to the Assyrian and Chaldaean epoch, such as כּר for חמר in 1Ki 5:11; צדנין in 1Ki 11:33; רצין in 2Ki 11:13; מדינות in 1Ki 20:14-15, 1Ki 20:17, 1Ki 20:19; קבל in 2Ki 15:10; החילים שׂרי in 1Ki 15:20; 2Ki 25:23, 2Ki 25:26; טבּחים רב in 2Ki 25:8; פּחה in 1Ki 10:15; 1Ki 20:24; 2Ki 18:24; and many others, which do not occur in the earlier historical books. - The books of the Kings are essentially distinguished from the books of Samuel through these characteristic peculiarities; but not so much through the quotations which are so prominent in the historical narrative, for these are common to all the historical books of the Old Testament, and are only more conspicuous in these books, especially in the history of the kings of the two kingdoms, because in the case of all the kings, even of those in relation to whom there was nothing to record of any importance to the kingdom of God except the length and general characteristics of their reign, there are notices of the writings which contain further information concerning their reigns. - The unity of authorship is therefore generally admitted, since, as De Wette himself acknowledges, “you cannot anywhere clearly detect the interpolation or combination of different accounts.” The direct and indirect contradictions, however, which Thenius imagines that he has discovered, prove to be utterly fallacious on a closer inspection of the passages cited as proofs, and could only have been obtained through misinterpretations occasioned by erroneous assumptions. (See, on the other hand, my Lehrbuch der Einleitung in das A. T. p. 184ff.)

All that can be determined with certainty in relation to the origin of the books of Kings is, that they were composed in the second half of the Babylonian captivity, and before its close, since they bring the history down to that time, and yet contain no allusion to the deliverance of the people out of Babylon. The author was a prophet living in the Babylonian exile, though not the prophet Jeremiah, as the earlier theologians down to Hävernick have assumed from the notice in the Talmud (Baba bathra, f. 15, 1): Jeremias scripsit librum suum et librum Regum et Threnos. For even apart from the fact that Jeremiah ended his days in Egypt, he could hardly have survived the last event recorded in our books, namely, the liberation of Jehoiachin from prison, and his exaltation to royal honours by Evil-merodach. For inasmuch as this event occurred sixty-six years after his call to be a prophet, in the thirteenth year of Josiah, he would have been eighty-six years old in the thirty-seventh year after Jehoiachin had been carried away into exile, even if he had commenced his prophetic career when only a young man of twenty years of age. Now, even if he had reached this great age, he would surely not have composed our books at a later period still. Moreover, all that has been adduced in support of this is seen to be inconclusive on closer inspection. The similarity in the linguistic character of our books and that of the writings of Jeremiah, the sombre view of history which is common to the two, the preference apparent in both for phrases taken from the Pentateuch, and the allusions to earlier prophecies-all these peculiarities may be explained, so far as they really exist, partly from the fact that they were written in the same age, since all the writers of the time of the captivity and afterwards cling very closely to the Pentateuch and frequently refer to the law of Moses, and partly also from the circumstance that, whilst Jeremiah was well acquainted with the original sources of our books, viz., the annals of the kingdom of Judah, the author of our books was also well acquainted with the prophecies of Jeremiah. But the relation between 2Ki 24:18. and Jer is not of such a nature, that these two accounts of the destruction of Jerusalem and the carrying away of the remnant of the people could have emanated from the hand of Jeremiah; on the contrary, a closer inspection clearly shows that they are extracts from a more elaborate description of this catastrophe (see at 2Ki 24:18.).

As sources from which the author has obtained his accounts, there are mentioned, for the history of Solomon, a שּׁלמה דּברי ספר, or book of the acts (affairs) of Solomon (1Ki 11:41); for the history of the kings of Judah, יהוּדה למלכי הימים דּברי ספר, book of the daily occurrences of the kings of Judah (1Ki 14:29; 1Ki 15:7, 1Ki 15:23; 1Ki 22:46; 2Ki 8:23; 2Ki 12:20, etc.); and for that of the kings of Israel, ישׂראל למלכי הימים דּברי ספר, book of the daily occurrences of the kings of Israel (1Ki 14:19; 1Ki 15:31; 1Ki 16:5, 1Ki 16:14, 1Ki 16:20, 1Ki 16:27; 1Ki 22:39; 2Ki 1:18). These are quoted as writings in which more is written concerning the life, the deeds, and the particular undertakings, buildings and so forth, of the several kings. The two last-named works were evidently general annals of the kingdoms: not, indeed, the national archives of the two kingdoms, or official records made by the מזכּירים of the reigns and acts of the kings, as Jahn, Movers, Stähelin, and others suppose; but annals composed by prophets, and compiled partly from the public year-books of the kingdom or the national archives, and partly from prophetic monographs and collections of prophecies, which reached in the kingdom of Israel down to the time of Pekah (2Ki 15:31), and in that of Judah to the time of Jehoiakim (2Ki 24:5). Moreover, they were not written successively by different prophets, who followed one another, and so carried on the work in uninterrupted succession from the rise of the two kingdoms to the death of the two kings mentioned; but they had been worked out into a “Book of the history of the times of the Kings” for each of the two kingdoms, a short time before the overthrow of the kingdom of Judah, by collecting together the most important things that had been written both concerning the reigns of the several kings by annalists and other historians who were contemporaneous with the events, and also concerning the labours of the prophets, which were deeply interwoven with the course of public affairs, whether composed by themselves or by their contemporaries. And in this finished form they lay before the author of our work. This view of the annals of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel follows unquestionably from the agreement which exists between our books of the Kings and the second book of the Chronicles, in the accounts common to both, and which can only be explained from the fact that they were drawn from one and the same source. But in the Chronicles there are different writings of individual prophets quoted, beside the day-books of the kings of Judah and Israel; and it is expressly stated in relation to some of them that they were received into the annals of the kings (compare 2Ch 20:34 and 2Ch 32:32, and the Introduction to the books of the Chronicles). Moreover, there are no historical traces of public annalists to be found in the kingdom of the ten tribes, and their existence is by no means probable, on account of the constant change of dynasties. The fact, however, that the frequently recurring formula “to this day” (1Ki 9:13; 1Ki 10:12; 2Ki 2:22; 2Ki 10:27; 2Ki 14:7; 2Ki 16:6; 2Ki 17:23, 2Ki 17:34, 2Ki 17:41; 2Ki 20:17; 2Ki 21:15) never refers to the time of the captivity, except in the passages enclosed in brackets, but always to the time of the existing kingdom of Judah, and that it cannot therefore have emanated from the author of our books of the Kings, but can only have been taken from the sources employed, is a proof that these annals of the kingdom were composed towards the close of the kingdom of Judah; and this is placed beyond all doubt, by the fact that this formula is also found in many passages of the books of the Chronicles (compare 1Ki 8:8 with 2Ch 5:9; 1Ki 9:21 with 2Ch 8:8; 1Ki 12:19 with 2Ch 10:19; and 2Ki 8:22 with 2Ch 21:10). - In a similar manner to this must we explain the origin of the שּׁלמה דּברי ספר, since three prophetic writings are quoted in 1Ch 29:29 in connection with Solomon’s reign, and their account agrees in all essential points with the account in the books of the Kings. Nevertheless this “history of Solomon” never formed a component part of the annals of the two kingdoms, and was certainly written much earlier. - The assumption that there were other sources still, is not only sustained by no historical evidence, but has no certain support in the character or contents of the writings before us. If the annals quoted were works composed by prophets, the elaborate accounts of the working of the prophets Elijah and Elisha might also have been included in them. - Again, in the constant allusion to these annals we have a sure pledge of the historical fidelity of the accounts that have been taken from them. If in his work the author followed writings which were composed by prophets, and also referred his readers to these writings, which were known and accessible to his contemporaries, for further information, he must have been conscious of the faithful and conscientious employment of them. And this natural conclusion is in harmony with the contents of our books. The life and actions of the kings are judged with unfettered candour and impartiality, according to the standard of the law of God; and there is no more concealment of the idolatry to which the highly renowned Solomon was led astray by his foreign wives, than of that which was right in the eyes of God, when performed by the kings of the ten tribes, which had fallen away from the house of David. Even in the case of the greatest prophet of all, namely Elijah, the weakness of his faith in being afraid of the vain threats of the wicked Jezebel is related just as openly as his courageous resistance, in the strength of the Lord, to Ahab and the prophets of Baal. - Compare my Einleitung in das Alte Test. §56-60, where adverse views are examined and the commentaries are also noticed.

The Book of 1 Kings

I. History Of Solomon’s Reign - 1 Kings 1-11.

David had not only established the monarchy upon a firm basis, but had also exalted the Old Testament kingdom of God to such a height of power, that all the kingdoms round about wee obliged to bow before it. This kingdom was transmitted by divine appointment to his son Solomon, in whose reign Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea-shore, and dwelt in security, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree (1Ki 4:20; 1Ki 5:5). The history of this reign commences with the account of the manner in which Solomon had received the kingdom from his father, and had established his own rule by the fulfilment of his last will and by strict righteousness (1 Kings 1 and 2). Then follows in 1 Kings 3-10 the description of the glory of his kingdom, how the Lord, in answer to his prayer at Gibeon, not only gave him an understanding heart to judge his people, but also wisdom, riches, and honour, so that his equal was not to be found among the kings of the earth; and through his wise rule, more especially through the erection of the house of Jehovah and of a splendid royal palace, he developed the glory of the kingdom of God to such an extent that his fame penetrated to remote nations. The conclusion, in 1 Kings 11, consists of the account of Solomon’s sin in his old age, viz., his falling into idolatry, whereby he brought about the decay of the kingdom, which manifested itself during the closing years of his reign in the rising up of opponents, and at his death in the falling away of ten tribes from his son Rehoboam. But notwithstanding this speedy decay, the glory of Solomon’s kingdom is elaborately depicted on account of the typical significance which it possessed in relation to the kingdom of God. Just as, for example, the successful wars of David with all the enemies of Israel were a prelude to the eventual victory of the kingdom of God over all the kingdoms of this world; so was the peaceful rule of Solomon to shadow forth the glory and blessedness which awaited the people of God, after a period of strife and conflict, under the rule of Shiloh the Prince of peace, whom Jacob saw in spirit, and who would increase government and peace without end upon the throne of David and in his kingdom (Isa 9:5-6; Psa 72:1).

Anointing And Accession Of Solomon - 1 Kings 1

The attempt of Adonijah to seize upon the throne when David’s strength was failing (1Ki 1:1-10), induced the aged king, as soon as it was announced to him by Bathsheba and the prophet Nathan, to order Solomon to be anointed king, and to have the anointing carried out (vv. 11-40); whereupon Adonijah fled to the altar, and received pardon from Solomon on condition that he would keep himself quiet (1Ki 1:41-53).

1Ki 1:1-2

When king David had become so old that they could no longer warm him by covering him with clothes, his servants advised him to increase his vitality by lying with a young and robust virgin, and selected the beautiful Abishag of Shunem to perform this service. This circumstance, which is a trivial one in itself, is only mentioned on account of what follows - first, because it shows that David had become too weak from age, and too destitute of energy, to be able to carry on the government any longer; and, secondly, because Adonijah the pretender afterwards forfeited his life through asking for Abishag in marriage. - The opening of our book, והמּלך (and the King), may be explained from the fact that the account which follows has been taken from a writing containing the earlier history of David, and that the author of these books retained the Vav cop. which he found there, for the purpose of showing at the outset that his work was a continuation of the books of Samuel. בּיּמים בּא זקן as in Jos 13:1; Jos 23:1; Gen 24:1, etc. “They covered him with clothes, and he did not get warm.” It follows from this that the king was bedridden, or at least that when lying down he could no longer be kept warm with bed-clothes. בּגדים does not mean clothes to wear here, but large cloths, which were used as bed-clothes, as in 1Sa 19:13 and Num 4:6. יחם is used impersonally, and derived from חמם, cf. Ewald, §193, b., and 138, b. As David was then in his seventieth year, this decrepitude was not the natural result of extreme old age, but the consequence of a sickly constitution, arising out of the hardships which he had endured in his agitated and restless life. The proposal of his servants, to restore the vital warmth which he had lost by bringing a virgin to lie with him, is recommended as an experiment by Galen (Method. medic. viii. 7). And it has been an acknowledged fact with physicians of all ages, that departing vitality may be preserved and strengthened by communicating the vital warmth of strong and youthful persons (compare Trusen, Sitten Gebräuche u. Krankheiten der Hebräer, p. 257ff.). The singular suffix in לאדני is to be explained on the ground that one person spoke. בתוּלה נערה, a maid who is a virgin. לפני עמד, to stand before a person as servant = to serve (cf. Deu 1:38 with Exo 24:13). סכנת, an attendant or nurse, from סכן = שׁכן, to live with a person, then to be helpful or useful to him. With the words “that she may lie in thy bosom,” the passage passes, as is frequently the case, from the third person to a direct address.

1Ki 1:3-4

They then looked about for a beautiful girl for this purpose, and found Abishag of Shunem, the present Sulem or Solam, at the south-eastern foot of the Duhy of Little Hermon (see at Jos 19:18), who became the king’s nurse and waited upon him. The further remark, “and the king knew her not,” is not introduced either to indicate the impotence of David or to show that she did not become David’s concubine, but simply to explain how it was that it could possibly occur to Adonijah (1Ki 2:17) to ask for her as his wife. Moreover, the whole affair is to be judged according to the circumstances of the times, when there was nothing offensive in polygamy.

1Ki 1:5

Adonijah seized the opportunity of David’s decrepitude to make himself king. Although he was David’s fourth son (2Sa 3:4), yet after the death of Ammon and Absalom he was probably the eldest, as Chileab, David’s second son, had most likely died when a child, since he is never mentioned again. Adonijah therefore thought that he had a claim to the throne (cf. 1Ki 2:15), and wanted to secure it before his father’s death. But in Israel, Jehovah, the God-King of His people, had reserved to Himself the choice of the earthly king (Deu 17:15), and this right He exercised not only in the case of Saul and David, but in that of Solomon also. When He gave to David the promise that his seed should rule for ever (2Sa 7:12-16), He did not ensure the establishment of the throne to any one of his existing sons, but to him that would come out of his loins (i.e., to Solomon, who was not yet born); and after his birth He designated him through the prophet Nathan as the beloved of Jehovah (2Sa 12:24-25). David discerned from this that the Lord had chosen Solomon to be his successor, and he gave to Bathsheba a promise on oath that Solomon should sit upon the throne (1Ki 1:13 and 1Ki 1:30). This promise was also acknowledged in the presence of Nathan (1Ki 1:11.), and certainly came to Adonijah’s ears. Adonijah said, “I will be king,” and procured chariots and horsemen and fifty runners, as Absalom had done before (2Sa 15:1). רכב, in a collective sense, does not mean fighting or war chariots, but state carriages, like מרכּבה in 2Sa 15:1; and פּרשׁים are neither riding nor carriage horses, but riders to form an escort whenever he drove out.

1Ki 1:6 “And (= for) his father had never troubled him in his life (מיּמיו, a diebus ejus, i.e., his whole life long), saying, “Why hast thou done this?” Such weak oversight on the part of his father encouraged him to make the present attempt. Moreover, he “was very beautiful,” like Absalom (see at 2Sa 14:25), and born after Absalom, so that after his death he appeared to have the nearest claim to the throne. The subject to ילדה is left indefinite, because it is implied in the idea of the verb itself: “she bare,” i.e., his mother, as in Num 26:59 (vid., Ewald, §294, b.). There was no reason for mentioning the mother expressly by name, as there was nothing depending upon the name here, and it had already been given in Num 26:5.

1Ki 1:7

He conferred (for the expression, compare 2Sa 3:17) with Joab and Abiathar the priest, who supported him. אהרי  עזר, to lend a helping hand to a person, i.e., to support him by either actually joining him or taking his part. Joab joined the pretender, because he had fallen out with David for a considerable time (cf. 1Ki 2:5-6), and hoped to secure his influence with the new king if he helped him to obtain possession of the throne. But what induced Abiathar the high priest (see at 2Sa 8:17) to join in conspiracy with Adonijah, we do not know. Possibly jealousy of Zadok, and the fear that under Solomon he might be thrown still more into the shade. For although Zadok was only high priest at the tabernacle at Gibeon, he appears to have taken the lead; as we may infer from the fact that he is always mentioned before Abiathar (cf. 2Sa 8:17; 2Sa 20:25, and 2Sa 15:24.). For we cannot imagine that Joab and Abiathar had supported Adonijah as having right on his side (Thenius), for the simple reason that Joab did not trouble himself about right, and for his own part shrank from no crime, when he thought that he had lost favour with the king.

1Ki 1:8

If Adonijah had powerful supporters in Joab the commander-in-chief and the high priest Abiathar, the rest of the leading officers of state, viz., Zadok the high priest (see at 2Sa 8:17), Benaiah, captain of the king’s body-guard (see at 2Sa 8:18 and 2Sa 23:20-21), the prophet Nathan, Shimei (probably the son of Elah mentioned in 1Ki 4:18), and Rei (unknown), and the Gibborim of David (see at 2Sa 23:8.), were not with him.

1Ki 1:9-10

Adonijah commenced his usurpation, like Absalom (2Sa 15:2), with a solemn sacrificial meal, at which he was proclaimed king, “at the stone of Zocheleth by the side of the fountain of Rogel,” i.e., the spy’s fountain, or, according to the Chaldee and Syriac, the fuller’s fountain, the present fountain of Job or Nehemiah, below the junction of the valley of Hinnom with the valley of Jehoshaphat (see at 2Sa 7:17 and Jos 15:7). E. G. Schultz (Jerusalem, eine Vorlesung, p. 79) supposes the stone or rock of Zocheleth to be “the steep, rocky corner of the southern slope of the valley of Hinnom, which casts so deep a shade.” “The neighbourhood (Wady el Rubâb) is still a place of recreation for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” To this festal meal Adonijah invited all his brethren except Solomon, and “all the men of Judah, the king’s servants,” i.e., all the Judaeans who were in the king’s service, i.e., were serving at court as being members of his own tribe, with the exception of Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, and the Gibborim. The fact that Solomon and the others mentioned were not included in the invitation, showed very clearly that Adonijah was informed of Solomon’s election as successor to the throne, and was also aware of the feelings of Nathan and Benaiah.

Adonijah’s attempt was frustrated by the vigilance of the prophet Nathan.

1Ki 1:11-13

Nathan informed Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba (see at 2Sa 11:3), that Adonijah was making himself king (מלך כּי, that he had become as good as king: Thenius), and advised her, in order to save her life and that of her son Solomon (וּמלטי, and save = so that thou mayest save; cf. Ewald, §347, a.), to go to the king and remind him of his promise on oath, that her son Solomon should be king after him, and to inquire why Adonijah had become king. If Adonijah had really got possession of the throne, he would probably have put Solomon and his mother out of the way, according to the barbarous custom of the East, as his political opponents.

1Ki 1:14

While she was still talking to the king, he (Nathan) would come in after her and confirm her words. דּבר מלּא, to make a word full, i.e., not to supply what is wanting, but to make full, like πληροῦν, either to fill by accomplishing, or (as in this case) to confirm it by similar assertion.

1Ki 1:15-21

Bathsheba followed this advice, and went to the king into the inner chamber (החדרה), since the very aged king, who was waited upon by Abishag, could not leave his room (משׁרת for משׁרתת; cf. Ewald, §188, b., p. 490), and, bowing low before him, communicated to him what Adonijah had taken in hand in opposition to his will and without his knowledge. The second ועתּה is not to be altered into ואתּה, inasmuch as it is supported by the oldest codices and the Masora,Kimchi says: “Plures scribae errant in hoc verbo, scribentes ואתה cum Aleph, quia sensui hoc conformius est; sed constat nobis ex correctis MSS et masora, scribendum esse ועתה cum Ain.” Hence both Norzi and Bruns have taken ועתה under their protection.Compare de Rossi, variae lectt. ad h. l. although about two hundred codd. contain the latter reading. The repetition of ועתּה (“And now, behold, Adonijah has become king; and now, my lord king, thou knowest it not”) may be explained from the energy with which Bathsheba speaks. “And Solomon thy servant he hath not invited” (1Ki 1:19). Bathsheba added this, not because she felt herself injured, but as a sign of Adonijah’s feelings towards Solomon, which showed that he had reason to fear the worst if Adonijah should succeed in his usurpation of the throne. In 1Ki 1:20, again, many codd. have ועתּה in the place of ואתּה; and Thenius, after his usual fashion, pronounces the former the “only correct” reading, because it is apparently a better one. But here also the appearance is deceptive. The antithesis to what Adonijah has already done is brought out quite suitably by ואתּה: Adonijah has made himself king, etc.; but thou my lord king must decide in the matter. “The eyes of all Israel are turned towards thee, to tell them who (whether Adonijah or Solomon) is to sit upon the throne after thee.” “The decision of this question is in thy hand, for the people have not yet attached themselves to Adonijah, but are looking to thee, to see what thou wilt do; and they will follow thy judgment, if thou only hastenest to make Solomon king.” - Seb. Schmidt. To secure this decision, Bathsheba refers again, in 1Ki 1:21, to the fate which would await both herself and her son Solomon after the death of the king. They would be הטּאים, i.e., guilty of a capital crime. “We should be punished as though guilty of high treason” (Clericus).

1Ki 1:22-27

While Bathsheba was still speaking, Nathan came. When he was announced to the king, Bathsheba retired, just as afterwards Nathan went away when the king had Bathsheba called in again (cf. 1Ki 1:28 with 1Ki 1:32). This was done, not to avoid the appearance of a mutual arrangement (Cler., Then., etc.), but for reasons of propriety, inasmuch as, in audiences granted by the king to his wife or one of his counsellors, no third person ought to be present unless the king required his attendance. Nathan confirmed Bathsheba’s statement, commencing thus: “My lord king, thou hast really said, Adonijah shall be king after me...? for he has gone down to-day, and has prepared a feast, ... and they are eating and drinking before him, and saying, Long live king Adonijah!” And he then closed by asking, “Has this taken place on the part of my lord the king, and thou hast not shown thy servants (Nathan, Zadok, Benaiah, and Solomon) who is to sit upon the throne of my lord the king after him?” The indirect question introduced with אם is not merely an expression of modesty, but also of doubt, whether what had occurred had emanated from the king and he had not shown it to his servants.

1Ki 1:28-30

The king then sent for Bathsheba again, and gave her this promise on oath: “As truly as Jehovah liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all distress (as in 2Sa 4:9), yea, as I swore to thee by Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying, Solomon thy son shall be king after me, ... yea, so shall I do this day.” The first and third כּי serve to give emphasis to the assertion, like imo, yea (cf. Ewald, §330, b.). The second merely serves as an introduction to the words.

1Ki 1:31

Bathsheba then left the king with the deepest prostration and the utterance of a blessing, as an expression of her inmost gratitude. The benedictory formula, “May the king live for ever,” was only used by the Israelites on occasions of special importance; whereas the Babylonians and ancient Persians constantly addressed their kings in this way (cf. Dan 2:4; Dan 3:9; Dan 5:10; Dan 6:22; Neh 2:3. Aeliani var. hist. i. 32, and Curtius de gestis Alex. vi. 5).

1Ki 1:32-40

David then sent for Zadok, Nathan, and Benaiah, and directed them to fetch the servants of their lord (אדניכם, a pluralis majestatis, referring to David alone), and to conduct Solomon to Gihon riding upon the royal mule, and there to anoint him and solemnly proclaim him king. The servants of your lord (אדניכם עבדי) are the Crethi and Plethi, and not the Gibborim also (Thenius), as 1Ki 1:38 clearly shows, where we find that these alone went down with him to Gihon as the royal body-guard. לי אשׁר על־הפּרדּה, upon the mule which belongs to me, i.e., upon my (the king’s) mule. When the king let any one ride upon the animal on which he generally rode himself, this was a sign that he was his successor upon the throne. Among the ancient Persians riding upon the king’s horse was a public honour, which the king conferred upon persons of great merit in the eyes of all the people (cf. Est 6:8-9). פּרדּה, the female mule, which in Kahira is still preferred to the male for riding (see Rosenmüller,bibl. Althk. iv. 2, p. 56). Gihon (גּחון) was the name given, according to 2Ch 32:30 and 2Ch 33:14, to a spring on the western side of Zion, which supplied two basins or pools, viz., the upper watercourse of Gihon (2Ch 32:30) or upper pool (2Ki 18:17; Isa 7:3; Isa 36:2), and the lower pool (Isa 22:9). The upper Gihon still exists as a large reservoir built up with hewn stones, though somewhat fallen to decay, which is called by the monks Gihon, by the natives Birket el Mamilla, about 700 yards W.N.W. from the Joppa gate, in the basin which opens into the valley of Hinnom. The lower pool is probably the present Birket es Sultan, on the south-western side of Zion (see Robinson, Palestine, i. p. 485ff., 512ff., and Biblical Researches, p. 142ff.). The valley between the two was certainly the place where Solomon was anointed, as it is not stated that this took place at the fountain of Gihon. And even the expression גּחון על אתו הורדתּם (take him down to Gihon) agrees with this. For is you go from Zion to Gihon towards the west, you first of all have to descend a slope, and then ascend by a gradual rise; and this slope was probably a more considerable one in ancient times (Rob. Pal. i. p. 514, note).The conjecture of Thenius, that גּחון should be altered into גּבעון, is hardly worth mentioning; for, apart from the fact that all the ancient versions confirm the correctness of גּחון, the objections which Thenius brings against it amount to mere conjectures or groundless assumptions, such as that Zadok took the oil-horn out of the tabernacle at Gibeon, which is not stated in v. 39. Moreover, Gibeon was a three hours’ journey from Jerusalem, so that it would have been absolutely impossible for the anointing, which was not commanded by David till after Adonijah’s feast had commenced, to be finished so quickly that the procession could return to Jerusalem before it was ended, as is distinctly recorded in v. 41.

1Ki 1:41-42

The noise of this shouting reached the ears of Adonijah and his guests, when the feast was just drawing to a close. The music, therefore, and the joyful acclamations of the people must have been heard as far off as the fountain of Rogel. When Joab observed the sound of the trumpet, knowing what these tones must signify, he asked “wherefore the sound of the city in an uproar” (i.e., what does it mean)? At that moment Jonathan the son of Abiathar arrived (see 2Sa 15:27; 2Sa 17:17.). Adonijah called out to him: “Come, for thou art a brave man and bringest good tidings;” suppressing all anxiety with these words, as he knew his father’s will with regard to the succession to the throne, and the powerful and influential friends of Solomon (see 1Ki 1:5, 1Ki 1:19, 1Ki 1:26).

1Ki 1:43-48

Jonathan replied: אבל, “yea but,” corresponding to the Latin imo vero, an expression of assurance with a slight doubt, and then related that Solomon had been anointed king by David’s command, and the city was in a joyous state of excitement in consequence (תּהם as in Rth 1:19), and that he had even ascended the throne, that the servants of the king had blessed David for it, and that David himself had worshipped and praised Jehovah the God of Israel that he had lived to see his son ascend the throne. The repetition of וגם three times (1Ki 1:46-48) gives emphasis to the words, since every new point which is introduced with וגם raises the thing higher and higher towards absolute certainty. The fact related in 1Ki 1:47 refers to the words of Benaiah in 1Ki 1:36 and 1Ki 1:37. The Chethib אלהיך is the correct reading, and the Keri אלהים an unnecessary emendation. The prayer to God, with thanksgiving for the favour granted to him, was offered by David after the return of his anointed son Solomon to the royal palace; so that it ought strictly to have been mentioned after 1Ki 1:40. The worship of grey-headed David upon the bed recalls to mind the worship of the patriarch Jacob after making known his last will (Gen 47:31).

1Ki 1:49-50

The news spread terror. All the guests of Adonijah fled, every man his way. Adonijah himself sought refuge from Solomon at the horns of the altar. The altar was regarded from time immemorial and among all nations as a place of refuge for criminals deserving of death; but, according to Exo 21:14, in Israel it was only allowed to afford protection in cases of unintentional slaying, and for these special cities of refuge were afterwards provided (Num 35). In the horns of the altar, as symbols of power and strength, there was concentrated the true significance of the altar as a divine place, from which there emanated both life and health (see at Exo 27:19). By grasping the horns of the altar the culprit placed himself under the protection of the saving and helping grace of God, which wipes away sin, and thereby abolishes punishment (see Bähr, Symbolik des Mos. Cult. i. p. 474). The question to what altar Adonijah fled, whether to the altar at the ark of the covenant in Zion, or to the one at the tabernacle at Gibeon, or to the one built by David on the threshing-floor of Araunah, cannot be determined with certainty. It was probably to the first of these, however, as nothing is said about a flight to Gibeon, and with regard to the altar of Araunah it is not certain that it was provided with horns like the altars of the two sanctuaries.

1Ki 1:51-52

When this was reported to Solomon, together with the prayer of Adonijah that the king would swear to him that he would not put him to death with the sword (אם before ימית, a particle used in an oath), he promised him conditional impunity: “If he shall be brave (בּן־חיל, vir probus), none of his hair shall fall to the earth,” equivalent to not a hair of his head shall be injured (cf. 1Sa 14:45); “but if evil be found in him,” i.e., if he render himself guilty of a fresh crime, “he shall die.”

1Ki 1:53

He then had him fetched down from the altar (הוריד( ratl, inasmuch as the altar stood upon an eminence); and when he fell down before the king, i.e., did homage to him as king, he gave him his life and freedom in the words, “Go to thy house.” The expression לביתך לך does not imply his banishment from the court (compare 1Ki 2:13 and 2Sa 14:24). Solomon did not wish to commence his own ascent of the throne by infliction of punishment, and therefore presented the usurper with his life on the condition that he kept himself quiet.

First Kings

Many histories are books of kings and their reigns, to which the affairs of their kingdoms are reduced; this is a piece of honour that has commonly been paid to crowned heads. The holy Scripture is the history of the kingdom of God among men, under the several administrations of it; but there the King is one and his name one. The particular history now before us accounts for the affairs of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, yet with special regard to the kingdom of God among them; for still it is a sacred history, much more instructive and not less entertaining than any of the histories of the kings of the earth, to which (those of them that are of any certainty) it is prior in time; for though there were kings in Edom before there was any king in Israel, Gen. xxxvi. 31 (foreigners, in that point of state, got the precedency), yet the history of the kings of Israel lives, and will live, in holy Writ, to the end of the world, whereas that of the kings of Edom is long since buried in oblivion; for the honour that comes from God is durable, while the honour of the world is like a mushroom, which comes up in a night and perishes in a night.—The Bible began with the story of patriarchs, and prophets, and judges, men whose converse with heaven was more immediate, the record of which strengthens our faith, but is not so easily accommodated to our case, now that we expect not visions, as the subsequent history of affairs like ours under the direction of common providence; and here also we find, though not many types and figures of the Messiah, yet great expectations of him; for not only prophets, but kings, desired to see the great mysteries of the gospel, Luke x. 24—The two books of Samuel are introductions to the books of the Kings, as they relate the origin of the royal government in Saul and of the royal family in David. These two books give us an account of David's successor, Solomon, the division of his kingdom, and the succession of the several kings both of Judah and Israel, with an abstract of their history down to the captivity. And as from the book of Genesis we may collect excellent rules of economics, for the good governing of families, so from these books we may collect rules of politics, for the directing of public affairs. There is in these books special regard had to the house and lineage of David, from which Christ came. Some of his sons trod in his steps, and others did not. The characters of the kings of Judah may be thus briefly given:—David the devout, Solomon the wise, Rehoboam the simple, Abijah the valiant, Asa the upright, Jehoshaphat the religious, Jehoram the wicked, Ahaziah the profane, Joash the backslider, Amaziah the rash, Uzziah the mighty, Jotham the peaceable, Ahaz the idolater, Hezekiah the reformer, Manasseh the penitent, Amon the obscure, Josiah the tender-hearted, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, all wicked, and such as brought ruin quickly on themselves and their kingdom. The number of the good and bad is nearly equal, but the reigns of the good were generally long and those of the bad short, the consideration of which will make the state of Israel not altogether so bad in this period as at first it seems. In this first book we have, I. The death of David, ch. i. and ii. II. The glorious reign of Solomon, and his building the temple (ch. iii.-x.), but the cloud his sun set under, ch. xi. III. The division of the kingdoms in Rehoboam, and his reign and Jeroboam's, ch. xii.-xiv. IV. The reigns of Abijah and Asa over Judah, Baasha and Omri over Israel, ch. xv. and xvi. V. Elijah's miracles, ch. xvii.-xix. VI. Ahab's success against Benhadad, his wickedness and fall, ch. xx.-xxii. And in all this history it appears that kings, though gods to us, are men to God, mortal and accountable.

In this chapter we have, I. David declining in his health, ver. 1-4. II. Adonijah aspiring to the kingdom, and treating his party, in order to it, ver. 5-10. III. Nathan and Bathsheba contriving to secure the succession to Solomon, and prevailing for an order from David for the purpose, ver. 11-31. IV. The anointing of Solomon accordingly, and the people's joy therein, ver. 32-40. V. The effectual stop this put to Adonijah's usurpation, and the dispersion of his party thereupon, ver. 41-49. VI. Solomon's dismission of Adonijah upon his good behaviour, ver. 50-53.

Introduction. (b. c. 1015.)

1 Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat. 2 Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat. 3 So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4 And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.

David, as recorded in the foregoing chapter, had, by the great mercy of God, escaped the sword of the destroying angel. But our deliverances from or through diseases and dangers are but reprieves; if the candle be not blown out, it will burn out of itself. We have David here sinking under the infirmities of old age, and brought by them to the gates of the grave. He that cometh up out of the pit shall fall into the snare; and, one way or other, we must needs die. 1. It would have troubled one to see David so infirm. He as old, and his natural heat so wasted that no clothes could keep him warm, v. 1. David had been a valiant active man and a man of business, and very vehement had the flame always been in his breast; and yet now his blood is chilled and stagnated, he is confined to his bed, and there can get no heat. He was now seventy years old. Many, at that age, are as lively and fit for business as ever; but David was now chastised for his former sins, especially that in the matter of Uriah, and felt from his former toils and the hardships he had gone through in his youth, which then he made nothing of, but was now the worse for. Let not the strong man glory in his strength, which may soon be weakened by sickness, or at last will be weakened by old age. Let young people remember their Creator in the days of their youth, before these evil days come. What our hand finds to do for God, and our souls, and our generation, let us do with all our might, because the night comes, the night of old age, in which no man can work; and, when our strength has gone, it will be a comfort to remember that we used it well. 2. It would have troubled one to see his physicians so weak and unskilful that they knew no other way of relieving him than by outward applications. No cordials, no spirits, but, (1.) They covered him with clothes, which, where there is any inward heat, will keep it in, and so increase it; but, where it is not, they have none to communicate, no, not royal clothing. Elihu makes it a difficulty to understand how our garments are warm upon us (Job xxxvii. 17); but, if God deny his blessing, men clothe themselves, and there is none warm (Hag. i. 6), David here was not. (2.) They foolishly prescribed nuptials to one that should rather have been preparing for his funeral (v. 2-4); but they knew what would gratify their own corruptions, and perhaps were too willing to gratify his, under colour of consulting his health. His prophets should have been consulted as well as his physicians in an affair of this nature. However, this might be excused then, when even good men ignorantly allowed themselves to have many wives. We now have not so learned of Christ, but are taught that one man must have but one wife (Matt. xix. 5), and further that it is good for a man not to touch a woman, 1 Cor. vii. 1. That Abishag was married to David before she lay with him, and was his secondary wife, appears from its being imputed as a great crime to Adonijah that he desired to marry her (ch. ii. 22) after his father's death.

Adonijah's Ambition. (b. c. 1015.)

5 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. 6 And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom. 7 And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him. 8 But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. 9 And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En-rogel, and called all his brethren the king's sons, and all the men of Judah the king's servants: 10 But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not.

David had much affliction in his children. Amnon and Absalom had both been his grief; the one his first-born, the other his third, 2 Sam. iii. 2, 3. His second, whom he had by Abigail, we will suppose he had comfort in; his fourth was Adonijah (2 Sam. iii. 4); he was one of those that were born in Hebron; we have heard nothing of him till now, and here we are told that he was a comely person, and that he was next in age, and (as it proved) next in temper to Absalom, v. 6. And, further, that in his father's eyes he had been a jewel, but was now a thorn.

I. His father had made a fondling of him, v. 6. He had not displeased him at any time. It is not said that he never displeased his father; it is probably that he had done so frequently, and his father was secretly troubled at his misconduct and lamented it before God. But his father had not displeased him, by crossing him in his humours, denying him any thing he had a mind to, or by calling him to an account as to what he had done and where he had been, or by keeping him to his book or his business, or reproving him for what he saw or heard of that he did amiss; he never said to him, Why hast thou done so? because he saw it was uneasy to him, and he could not bear it without fretting. It was the son's fault that he was displeased at reproof and took it for affront, whereby he lost the benefit of it; and it was the father's fault that, because he saw it displeased him, he did not reprove him; and now he justly smarted for indulging him. Those who honour their sons more than God, as those do who keep them not under good discipline, thereby forfeit the honour they might expect from their sons.

II. He, in return, made a fool of his father. Because he was old, and confined to his bed, he thought no notice was to be taken of him, and therefore exalted himself, and said, I will be king, v. 5. Children that are indulged learn to be proud and ambitious, which is the ruin of a great many young people. The way to keep them humble is to keep them under. Observe Adonijah's insolence. 1. He looked upon the days of mourning for his father to be at hand, and therefore he prepared to succeed him, though he knew that by the designation both of God and David Solomon was to be the man; for public notice had been given of it by David himself, and the succession settled, as it were by act of parliament, in pursuance of God's appointment, 1 Chron. xxii. 9; xxiii. 1. This entail Adonijah attempted by force to cut off, in contempt both of God and his father. Thus is the kingdom of Christ opposed, and there are those that say, "We will not have him to reign over us." 2. He looked upon his father as superannuated and good for nothing, and therefore he entered immediately upon the possession of the throne. He cannot wait till his father's head be laid low, but it must now be said, Adonijah reigns (v. 18), and, God save king Adonijah, v. 25. His father is not fit to govern, for he is old and past ruling, nor Solomon, for he is young, and not yet able to rule; and therefore Adonijah will take the government upon him. It argues a very base and wicked mind for children to insult over their parents because of the infirmities of their age. 3. In pursuance of this ambitious project, (1.) He got a great retinue (v. 5), chariots and horsemen, both for state and strength, to wait on him, and to fight for him. (2.) He made great interest with no less than Joab, the general of the army, and Abiathar the high priest, v. 7. That he should make his court to those who by their influence in church and camp were capable of doing him great service is not strange; but we may well wonder by what arts they could be drawn to follow him and help him. They were old men, who had been faithful to David in the most difficult and troublesome of his times, men of sense and experience, who, one would think, would not easily be wheedled. They could not propose any advantage to themselves by supporting Adonijah, for they were both at the top of their preferment and stood fast in it. They could not be ignorant of the entail of the crown upon Solomon, which it was not in their power to cut off, and therefore it was their interest to oblige him. But God, in this matter, left them to themselves, perhaps to correct them for some former misconduct with a scourge of their own making. We are told (v. 8) who those were that were of such approved fidelity to David that Adonijah had not the confidence so much as to propose his project to them—Zadok, Benaiah, and Nathan. A man that has given proofs of his resolute adherence to that which is good shall not be asked to do a bad thing. (3.) He prepared a great entertainment (v. 9) at En-rogel, not far from Jerusalem; his guests were the king's sons, and the king's servants, whom he feasted and caressed to bring them over to his party; but Solomon was not invited, either because he despised him or because he despaired of him, v. 10. Such as serve their own belly, and will be in the interest of those that will feast them what side soever they are of, are an easy prey to seducers, Rom. xvi. 18. Some think that Adonijah slew these sheep and oxen, even fat ones, for sacrifice, and that it was a religious feast he made, beginning his usurpation with a show of devotion, as Absalom under the colour of a vow (2 Sam. xv. 7), which he might do the more plausibly when he had the high priest himself on his side. It is a pity that any occasion should ever be given to say, In nomine Domini incipit omne malam—In the name of the Lord begins all evil, and that all religious exercises should be made to patronise all religious practices.

David Makes Solomon King. (b. c. 1015.)

11 Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not? 12 Now therefore come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy son Solomon. 13 Go and get thee in unto king David, and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? why then doth Adonijah reign? 14 Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also will come in after thee, and confirm thy words. 15 And Bathsheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered unto the king. 16 And Bathsheba bowed, and did obeisance unto the king. And the king said, What wouldest thou? 17 And she said unto him, My lord, thou swarest by the Lord thy God unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne. 18 And now, behold, Adonijah reigneth; and now, my lord the king, thou knowest it not: 19 And he hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host: but Solomon thy servant hath he not called. 20 And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 21 Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders. 22 And, lo, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in. 23 And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. 24 And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? 25 For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king's sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah. 26 But me, even me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, hath he not called. 27 Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not showed it unto thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him? 28 Then king David answered and said, Call me Bathsheba. And she came into the king's presence, and stood before the king. 29 And the king sware, and said, As the Lord liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress, 30 Even as I sware unto thee by the Lord God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day. 31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.

We have here the effectual endeavours that were used by Nathan and Bathsheba to obtain from David a ratification of Solomon's succession, for the crushing of Adonijah's usurpation. 1. David himself knew not what was doing. Disobedient children think that they are well enough off if they can but keep their good old parents ignorant of their bad courses; but a bird of the air will carry the voice. 2. Bathsheba lived retired, and knew nothing of it either, till Nathan informed her. Many get very comfortably through this world that know little how the world goes. 3. Solomon, it is likely, knew of it, but was as a deaf man that heard not. Though he had years, and wisdom above his years, yet we do not find that he stirred to oppose Adonijah, but quietly composed himself and left it to God and his friends to order the matter. Hence David, in his Psalm for Solomon, observes that while men, in pursuit of the world, in vain rise early and sit up late, God giveth his beloved (his Jedidiahs) sleep, in giving them to be easy, and to gain their point without agitation, Ps. cxxvii. 1, 2. How then is the design brought about?

I. Nathan the prophet alarms Bathsheba by acquainting her with the case, and puts her in a way to get an order from the king for the confirming of Solomon's title. He was concerned, because he knew God's mind, and David's and Israel's interest; it was by him that God had named Solomon Jedidiah (2 Sam. xii. 25), and therefore he could not sit still and see the throne usurped, which he knew was Solomon's right by the will of him from whom promotion cometh. When crowns were disposed of by immediate direction from heaven, no marvel that prophets were so much interested and employed in that matter; but now that common providence rules the affairs of the kingdom of men (Dan. iv. 32) the subordinate agency must be left to common persons, and let not prophets intermeddle in them, but keep to the affairs of the kingdom of God among men. Nathan applied to Bathsheba, as one that had the greatest concern for Solomon, and could have the freest access to David. He informed her of Adonijah's attempt (v. 11), and that it was not with David's consent or knowledge. He suggested to her that not only Solomon was in danger of losing the crown, but that he and she too were in danger of losing their lives if Adonijah prevailed. A humble spirit may be indifferent to a crown, and may be content, notwithstanding the prospect of it, to sit down short of the possession of it. But the law of self-preservation, and the sixth commandment, obliges us to use all possible endeavours to secure our own life and the life of others. Now, says Nathan, let me give thee counsel how to save thy own life and the life of thy son, v. 12. Such as this is the counsel that Christ's ministers give us in his name, to give all diligence, not only that no man take our crown (Rev. iii. 11), but that we save our lives, even the lives of our souls. He directs her (v. 13) to go to the king, to remind him of his word and oath, that Solomon should be his successor; and to ask him in the most humble manner, Why doth Adonijah reign? He thought David was not so cold but this would warm him. Conscience, as well as a sense of honour, would put life into him upon such an occasion as this; and he promised (v. 24) that, while she was reasoning with the king in this matter, he would come in and second her, as if he came accidentally, which perhaps the king might look upon as a special providence (and he was one that took notice of such evidences, 1 Sam. xxv. 32, 33), or, at least, it would help to awaken him so much the more.

II. Bathsheba, according to Nathan's advice and direction, loses no time, but immediately makes her application to the king, on the same errand on which Esther came to king Ahasuerus, to intercede for her life. She needed not wait for a call as Esther did, she knew she should be welcome at any time; but it is remarked that when she visited the king Abishag was ministering to him (v. 15), and Bathsheba took no displeasure either at him or her for it, also that she bowed and did obeisance to the king (v. 16), in token of her respect to him both as her prince and as her husband; such a genuine daughter was she of Sarah, who obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. Those that would find favour with superiors mush show them reverence, and be dutiful to those whom they expect to be kind to them. Her address to the king, on this occasion, is very discreet. 1. She reminded him of his promise made to her and confirmed with a solemn oath, that Solomon should succeed him, v. 17. She knew how fast this would hold such a conscientious man as David was. 2. She informed him of Adonijah's attempt, which he was ignorant of (v. 18): "Adonijah reigns, in competition with thee for the present and in contradiction to thy promise for the future. The fault is not thine, for thou knewest it not; but now that thou knowest it thou wilt, in pursuance of thy promise, take care to suppress this usurpation." She told him who were Adonijah's guests, and who were in his interest, and added, but "Solomon thy servant has he not called, which plainly shows he looks upon him as his rival, and aims to undermine him, v. 19. It is not an oversight, but a contempt of the act of settlement, that Solomon is neglected." 3. She pleads that it is very much in his power to obviate this mischief (v. 20): The eyes of all Israel are upon thee, not only as a king, for we cannot suppose it the prerogative of any prince to bequeath his subjects by will (as if they were his goods and chattels) to whom he pleases, but as a prophet. All Israel knew that David was not only himself the anointed of the God of Jacob, but that the Spirit of the Lord spoke by him (2 Sam. xxiii. 1, 2), and therefore waiting for and depending upon a divine designation, in a matter of such importance, David's word would be an oracle and a law to them; this therefore (says Bathsheba) they expect, and it will end the controversy and effectually quash all Adonijah's pretensions. A divine sentence is in the lips of the king. Note, Whatever power, interest or influence, men have, they ought to improve it to the utmost for the preserving and advancing of the kingdom of the Messiah, of which Solomon's kingdom was a type. 4. She suggested the imminent peril which she and her son would be in if this matter was not settled in David's life-time, v. 21. "If Adonijah prevail, as he is likely to do (having Joab the general and Abiathar the priest on his side) unless speedily suppressed, Solomon and all his friends will be looked upon as traitors and dealt with accordingly." Usurpers are most cruel. If Adonijah had got into the throne, he would not have dealt so fairly with Solomon as Solomon did with him. Those hazard everything who stand in the way of such as against right force their entrance.

III. Nathan the prophet, according to his promise, seasonably stepped in, and seconded her, while she was speaking, before the king had given his answer, lest, if he had heard Bathsheba's representation only, his answer should be dilatory and only that he would consider of it: but out of the mouth of two witnesses, two such witnesses, the word would be established, and he would immediately give positive orders. The king is told that Nathan the prophet has come, and he is sure to be always welcome to the king, especially when either he is not well or has any great affair upon his thoughts; for, in either case, a prophet will be, in a particular manner, serviceable to him. Nathan knows he must render honour to whom honour is due, and therefore pays the king the same respect now that he finds him sick in bed as he would have done if he had found him in his throne: He bowed himself with his face to the ground, v. 23. He deals a little more plainly with the king than Bathsheba had done. In this his character would support him, and the present languor of the king's spirits made it necessary that they should be roused. 1. He makes the same representation of Adonijah's attempt as Bathsheba had made (v. 25, 26), adding that his party had already got to such a height of assurance as to shout, God save king Adonijah, as if king David were already dead, taking notice also that they had not invited him to their feast (Me thy servant has he not called), thereby intimating that they resolved not to consult either God or David in the matter, for Nathan was secretioribus consiliis—intimately acquainted with the mind of both. 2. He makes David sensible how much he was concerned to clear himself from having a hand in it: Hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me? (v. 24), and again (v. 27), "Is this thing done by my lord the king? If it be, he is not so faithful either to God's word or to his own as we all took him to be; if it be not, it is high time that we witness against the usurpation, and declare Solomon his successor. If it be, why is not Nathan made acquainted with it, who is not only in general, the king's confidant, but is particularly concerned in this matter, having been employed to notify to David the mind of God concerning the succession; but, if my lord the king knows nothing of the matter (as certainly he does not), what daring insolence are Adonijah and his party guilty of!" Thus he endeavoured to incense David against them, that he might act the more vigorously for the support of Solomon's interest. Note, Good men would do their duty if they were reminded of it, and put upon it, and told what occasion there is for them to appear; and those who thus are their remembrancers do them a real kindness, as Nathan here did to David.

IV. David, hereupon, made a solemn declaration of his firm adherence to his former resolution, that Solomon should be his successor. Bathsheba is called in (v. 28), and to her, as acting for and on behalf of her son, the king gives these fresh assurances. 1. He repeats his former promise and oath, owns that he had sworn unto her by the Lord God of Israel that Solomon would reign after him, v. 30. Though he is old, and his memory begins to fail him, yet he remembers this. Note, An oath is so sacred a thing that the obligations of it cannot be broken, and so solemn a thing that the impressions of it, one would think, cannot be forgotten. 2. He ratifies it with another, because the occasion called for it: As the Lord liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress, even so will I certainly do this day, without dispute, without delay. His form of swearing seems to be what he commonly used on solemn occasions, for we find it, 2 Sam. iv. 9. And it carries in it a grateful acknowledgment of the goodness of God to him, in bringing him safely through the many difficulties and hardships which had lain in his way, and which he now makes mention of to the glory of God (as Jacob, when he lay a dying, Gen. xlviii. 16), thus setting to his seal, from his own experience, that that was true which the Spirit of the Lord spoke by him. Ps. xxxiv. 22, The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants. Dying saints ought to be witnesses for God, and speak of him as they have found. Perhaps he speaks thus, on this occasion, for the encouragement of his son and successor to trust in God in the distresses he also might meet with.

V. Bathsheba receives these assurances (v. 31), 1. With great complaisance to the king's person; she did reverence to him; while Adonijah and his party affronted him. 2. With hearty good wishes for the king's health; Let him live. So far was she from thinking that he lived too long that she prayed he might live for ever, if it were possible, to adorn the crown he wore and to be a blessing to his people. We should earnestly desire the prolonging of useful lives, however it may be the postponing of any advantages of our own.

Solomon Declared Successor. (b. c. 1015.)

32 And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king. 33 The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon: 34 And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon. 35 Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. 36 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: the Lord God of my lord the king say so too. 37 As the Lord hath been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David. 38 So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon. 39 And Zadok the priest took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon. 40 And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.

We have here the effectual care David took both to secure Solomon's right and to preserve the public peace, by crushing Adonijah's project in the bud. Observe,

I. The express orders he gave for the proclaiming of Solomon. The persons he entrusted with this great affair were Zadok, Nathan, and Benaiah, men of power and interest whom David had always reposed a confidence in and found faithful to him, and whom Adonijah had passed by in his invitation, v. 10. David orders them forthwith, with all possible solemnity, to proclaim Solomon. They must take with them the servants of their lord, the lifeguards, and all the servants of the household. They must set Solomon on the mule the king used to ride, for he kept not such stables of horses as his son afterwards did. He appoints them whither to go (v. 33 and v. 34, 35), and what to do. 1. Zadok and Nathan, the two ecclesiastical persons, must, in God's name, anoint him king; for though he was not the first of his family, as Saul and David were, yet he was a younger son, was made king by divine appointment, and his title was contested, which made it necessary that hereby it should be settled. This unction was typical of the designation and qualification of the Messiah, or Christ, the anointed one, on whom the Spirit, that oil of gladness, was poured without measure, Heb. i. 9; Ps. lxxxix. 20. And all Christians, being heirs of the kingdom (Jam. ii. 5), do from him receive the anointing, 1 John ii. 27. 2. The great officers, civil and military, are ordered to give public notice of this, and to express the public joy upon this occasion by sound of trumpet, by which the law of Moses directed the gracing of great solemnities; to this must be added the acclamations of the people: "Let king Solomon live, let him prosper, let his kingdom be established and perpetuated, and let him long continue in the enjoyment of it;" so it had been promised concerning him. Ps. lxxii. 15, He shall live. 3. They must then bring him in state to the city of David, and he must sit upon the throne of his father, as his substitute now, or viceroy, to despatch public business during his weakness and be his successor after his death: He shall be king in my stead. It would be a great satisfaction to David himself, and to all parties concerned, to have this done immediately, that upon the demise of the king there might be no dispute, or agitation, in the public affairs. David was far from grudging his successor the honour of appearing such in his life-time, and yet perhaps was so taken up with his devotions on his sick-bed that, if he had not been put in mind of it by others, this great good work, which was so necessary to the public repose, would have been left undone.

II. The great satisfaction which Benaiah, in the name of the rest, professed in these orders. The king said, "Solomon shall reign for me, and reign after me." "Amen" (says Benaiah heartily); "as the king says, so say we; we are entirely satisfied in the nomination, and concur in the choice, we give our vote for Solomon, nemine contradicente—unanimously, and since we can bring nothing to pass, much less establish it, without the concurrence of a propitious providence, The Lord God of my lord the king say so too!" v. 36. This is the language of his faith in that promise of God on which Solomon's government was founded. If we say as God says in his word, we may hope that he will say as we say by his providence. To this he adds a prayer for Solomon (v. 37), that God would be with him as he had been with David, and make his throne greater. He knew David was not one of those that envy their children's greatness, and that therefore he would not be disquieted at this prayer, nor take it as an affront, but would heartily say Amen to it. The wisest and best man in the world desires his children may be wiser and better than he, for he himself desires to be wiser and better than he is; and wisdom and goodness are true greatness.

III. The immediate execution of these orders, v. 38-40. No time was lost, but Solomon was brought in state to the place appointed, and there Zadok (who, though he was not as yet high priest, was, we may suppose, the suffragan, the Jews called him the sagan, or second priest) anointed him by the direction of Nathan the prophet and David the king, v. 39. In the tabernacle, where the ark was now lodged, was kept among other sacred things, the holy oil for many religious services thence Zadok took a horn of oil, which denotes both power and plenty, and therewith anointed Solomon. We do not find that Abiathar pretended to anoint Adonijah: he was made king by a feast, not by an unction. Whom God calls, he will qualify, which was signified by the anointing; usurpers had it not. Christ signifies anointed, and he is the king whom God hath set upon his holy hill of Sion, according to decree, Ps. ii. 6, 7. Christians also are made to our God (and by him) kings, and they have an unction from the Holy One, 1 John ii. 20. The people, hereupon, express their great joy and satisfaction in the elevation of Solomon, surround him with their Hosannas—God save king Solomon, and attend him with their music and shouts of joy, v. 40. Hereby they declared their concurrence in the choice, and that he was not forced upon them, but cheerfully accepted by them. The power of a prince can be little satisfaction to himself, unless he knows it to be a satisfaction to his people. Every Israelite indeed rejoices in the exaltation of the Son of David.

Solomon Proclaimed. (b. c. 1015.)

41 And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar? 42 And while he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah said unto him, Come in; for thou art a valiant man, and bringest good tidings. 43 And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord king David hath made Solomon king. 44 And the king hath sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the king's mule: 45 And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon: and they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that ye have heard. 46 And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom. 47 And moreover the king's servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed. 48 And also thus said the king, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it. 49 And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way. 50 And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. 51 And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me to day that he will not slay his servant with the sword. 52 And Solomon said, If he will show himself a worthy man, there shall not a hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die. 53 So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to king Solomon: and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house.

We have here,

I. The tidings of Solomon's inauguration brought to Adonijah and his party, in the midst of their jollity: They had made an end of eating, and, it should seem, it was a great while before they made an end, for all the affair of Solomon's anointing was ordered and finished while they were at dinner, glutting themselves. Thus those who serve not our Lord Christ, but oppose him, are commonly such as serve their own belly (Rom. xvi. 18) and made a god of it, Phil. iii. 19. Their long feast intimates likewise that they were very secure and confident of their interest, else they would not have lost so much time. The old world and Sodom were eating and drinking, secure and sensual, when their destruction came, Luke xvii. 26, &c. When they made an end of eating, and were preparing themselves to proclaim their king, and bring him in triumph into the city, they heard the sound of the trumpet (v. 41), and a dreadful sound it was in their ears, Job xv. 21. Joab was an old man, and was alarmed at it, apprehending the city to be in an uproar; but Adonijah was very confident that the messenger, being a worthy man, brought good tidings, v. 42. Usurpers flatter themselves with the hopes of success, and those are commonly least timorous whose condition is most dangerous. But how can those who do evil deeds expect to have good tidings? No, the worthiest man will bring them the worst news, as the priest's son did here to Adonijah, v. 43. "Verily, the best tidings I have to bring you is that Solomon is made king, so that your pretensions are all quashed." He relates to them very particularly, 1. With what great solemnity Solomon was made king (v. 44, 45), and that he was now sitting on the throne of the kingdom, v. 46. Adonijah thought to have stepped into the throne before him, but Solomon was too quick for him. 2. With what general satisfaction Solomon was made king, so that that which was done was not likely to be undone again. (1.) The people were pleased, witness their joyful acclamations, v. 45. (2.) The courtiers were pleased: The kings servants attended him with an address of congratulation upon this occasion, v. 47. We have here the heads of their address: They blessed king David, applauded his prudent care for the public welfare, acknowledged their happiness under his government, and prayed heartily for his recovery. They also prayed for Solomon, that God would make his name better than his father's, which it might well be when he had his father's foundation to build upon. A child, on a giant's shoulders, is higher than the giant himself. (3.) The king himself was pleased: He bowed himself upon the bed, not only to signify his acceptance of his servants' address, but to offer up his own address to God (v. 48): "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who, as Israel's God, for Israel's good, has brought this matter to such a happy issue, my eyes even seeing it." Note, It is a great satisfaction to good men, when they are going out of the world, to see the affairs of their families in a good posture, their children rising up in their stead to serve God and their generation, and especially to see peace upon Israel and the establishment of it.

II. The effectual crush which this gave to Adonijah's attempt. It spoiled the sport of his party, dispersed the company, and obliged every man to shift for his own safety. The triumphing of the wicked is short. They were building a castle in the air, which, having no foundation, would soon fall and crush them. They were afraid of being taken in the fact, while they were together hatching their treason, and therefore each one made the best of his way.

III. The terror Adonijah himself was in, and the course he took to secure himself. He was now as much depressed as he had been elevated, v. 42, 50. He had despised Solomon as not worthy to be his guest (v. 10), but now he dreads him as his judge: He feared because of Solomon. Thus those who oppose Christ and his kingdom will shortly be made to tremble before him, and call in vain to rocks and mountains to shelter them from his wrath. He took hold on the horns of the altar, which was always looked upon as a sanctuary, or place of refuge (Exod. xxi. 14), intimating hereby that he durst not stand a trial, but threw himself upon the mercy of his prince, in suing for which he relied upon no other plea than the mercy of God, which was manifested in the institution and acceptance of the sacrifices that were offered on that altar and the remission of sin thereupon. Perhaps Adonijah had formerly slighted the service of the altar, yet now he courts the protection of it. Many who in the day of their security neglect the great salvation, under the arrests of the terrors of the Lord would gladly be beholden to Christ and his merit, and, when it is too late, will catch hold of the horns of the altar.

IV. His humble address to Solomon for mercy. By those who brought Solomon tidings where he was, he sent a request for his life (v. 51): Let king Solomon swear to me that he will not slay his servant. He owns Solomon for his prince, and himself his servant, dares not justify himself, but makes supplication to his judge. It was a great change with him. He that in the morning was grasping at a crown is before night begging for his life. Then Adonijah reigned, now Adonijah trembles, and cannot think himself safe unless Solomon promise, with an oath, not to put him to death.

V. The orders Solomon gave concerning him. He discharges him upon his good behaviour, v. 52, 53. He considered that Adonijah was his brother, and that it was the first offence. Perhaps, being so soon made sensible of his error and then not persisting in his rebellion, he might prove not only a peaceable, but a serviceable subject, and therefore, if he will conduct himself well for the future, what is past shall be pardoned: but if he be fond disaffected, turbulent, and aspiring, this offence shall be remembered against him, he shall be called up upon his former conviction (as our law speaks), and execution shall be awarded against him. Thus the Son of David receives those to mercy that have been rebellious: if they will return to their allegiance, and be faithful to their Sovereign, their former crimes shall not be mentioned against them; but, if still they continue in the interests of the world and the flesh, this will be their ruin. Adonijah is sent for, and told upon what terms he stands, which he signifies his grateful submission to, and then is told to go to his house and live retired there. Solomon not only gave him his life, but his estate, thus establishing his throne by mercy.