You, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you should tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
Parallel Translations
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You, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you should tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
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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.
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And thou, my lord the 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.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to 1 Kings 1:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Samuel 23:2 “Yahweh’s Spirit spoke by me. His word was on my tongue.
- 1 Chronicles 22:8-10 But Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, ‘You have shed blood abundantly, and have made great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight. Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of peace. I will give him rest from all his enemies all around; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for my name; and he will be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’
- 1 Chronicles 28:5-6 Of all my sons (for Yahweh has given me many sons), he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of Yahweh’s kingdom over Israel. He said to me, ‘Solomon, your son, shall build my house and my courts; for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.
- 1 Chronicles 28:10 Take heed now; for Yahweh has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong, and do it.”
- 1 Chronicles 29:1 David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great; for the palace is not for man, but for Yahweh God.
- 2 Chronicles 20:12 Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that comes against us. We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
- Psalms 25:15 My eyes are ever on Yahweh, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
- Psalms 123:2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress; so our eyes look to Yahweh, our God, until he has mercy on us.
- Zechariah 3:9 For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes: behold, I will engrave its engraving,’ says Yahweh of Armies, ‘and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Ki 1:20 And thou, my lord, O king, the…
1Ki 1:20 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.
Ver. 20. That thou shouldest tell them, &c.] This some princes love not to do, - Queen Elizabeth for instance. A false Jesuit wrote, that she wished she might after her death hang a while in the air, to see what scuffling there would be for her kingdom. Os durum! fowl mouth!
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The eyes of all Israel are upon thee; the…
The eyes of all Israel are upon thee; the generality of the people are in suspense, whether Adonijah’s practices be with thy consent or no, and wait for thy sentence, which they will readily embrace.
Who shall sit upon the throne of my lord the king; she speaks only in general, as owning my king’s prerogative to give the crown to which of his sons he pleased, if he had not restrained himself by his oath to Solomon.
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After him, i.e. after thy death; whereby she taxeth Adonijah’s ambition, who usurped the crown whilst his father lived.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And thou, my lord, O king,.... As for thee,…
And thou, my lord, O king,.... As for thee, or what concerns thee, or is incumbent on thee, will appear from the expectations of the people:
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; this she said, to dissipate any fears that might possess his mind on hearing what Adonijah had done, that the people in general had assented to it, and encouraged him to it; whereas the body of the people were waiting to hear what was the will and determination of David: for they not only considered him as having a power to name a successor, as was afterwards done by Rehoboam, but as one that had the mind of God revealed to him who should be his successor, to which they should pay a regard.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 20. That thou shouldest tell - who shall…
Verse 20. 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.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Tell them who shall sit on the throne -…
Tell them who shall sit on the throne - Side by side with what may be called the natural right of hereditary succession, there existed in the old world, and especially in the East, a right, if not of absolutely designating a successor, yet at any rate of choosing one among several sons. Thus, Cyrus designated Cambyses; and Darius designated Xerxes; and a still more absolute right of nomination was exercised by some of the Roman emperors.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Thee. Adonias boasts that all Israel was on his…
Thee. Adonias boasts that all Israel was on his side, chap. ii. 15. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that…
the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne--When the kings died without declaring their will, then their oldest son succeeded. But frequently they designated long before their death which of their sons should inherit the throne. The kings of Persia, as well as of other Eastern countries, have exercised the same right in modern and even recent times.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 20. And thou, my lord, &c.] Here the variation…
20. And thou, my lord, &c.] Here the variation is the other way, and now is read for thou. Both these changes seem to render the sentences more emphatic, especially as in this verse the queen is coming to the close of her argument and wishes to move David to take action in the matter at once.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And thou instead of hTaw, the Chald., Syr., and…
And thou instead of hTaw, the Chald., Syr., and Vulg., with many MSS, read hTw "and now;" but this looks like an emendation, and "proclivi lectioni praestat ardua. " Similarly, the second "now" in ver. 18 appears as "thou" in 200 MSS. These variations are of very little consequence, but the received text, in both cases, is somewhat the more spirited my lord, O king the repetition (see vers. 18, 21, 24, 27) illustrates the profound deference and court paid to the Hebrew monarch (see on ver. 16), especially when we remember that these are the words of a wife, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee (cf. 1Ki_2:15) that thou shouldest ten them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. This shows that there was no "right of primogeniture." The kings of the East have always designated their successor amongst their sons. "Alyattes designated Croesus; Cyrus designated Cambyses, and Darius designated Xerxes" (Rawlinson). "The Shah of Persia, at the eginning of this century, had sixty sons, all brought up by their mothers, with the hope of succeeding" (Holier, quoted by Stanley). And the kings of Israel claimed and exercised a similar right. (2Ch_11:22 2Ch_21:3) And she arose at midnight rather, in the middle, i.e. , dead of the night. The sleeper could not know it was midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my besom.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Bathsheba continues to speak to King David.
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the eyes of all Israel are on you, waiting
Here "eyes" refers to the people. Here "the eyes ... are on you" is an idiom that means the people are waiting expectantly. AT: "all the people of Israel are waiting expectantly" (See: Synecdoche and Idiom)
will sit on the throne
Sitting on the throne is a metonym for being king. See how you translated similar words in 1 Kings 1:13. AT: "will be king"
when my master the king sleeps with his fathers
Bathsheba speaks to King David as if she were speaking about him to show that she respects him. AT: "when you sleep with your fathers" (See: Pronouns)
sleeps with his fathers
This is a polite way of saying "dies." (See: Euphemism)
I and my son Solomon will be regarded as criminals
This can be translated in active form. AT: "the new king will regard my son Solomon and me as criminals" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
Israel
asleep
ancestor
crime
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.