Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. She said, “Do you come peaceably?” He said, “Peaceably.
He said moreover, I have something to tell you.” She said, “Say on.”
He said, “You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign. However the kingdom is turned around, and has become my brother’s; for it was his from Yahweh. Now I ask one petition of you. Don’t deny me.” She said to him, “Say on.”
He said, “Please speak to Solomon the king (for he will not tell you ‘no’), that he give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife.”
Bathsheba said, “All right. I will speak for you to the king.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv13, 15, 16 For she feared lest he would work treason against…
For she feared lest he would work treason against the king.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv13–18 1Ki 2:13 And Adonijah the son of Haggith came…
1Ki 2:13 And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably.
Ver. 13. And Adonijah … came to Bathsheba.] Being put on and advised thereunto, as it is thought, by Joab and Abiathar.
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Comest thou peaceably?] She had reason to suspect the contrary; as knowing him discontented and turbulent.
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 On vv13, 15, 16, 17 Comest thou peaceably, or with some evil design upon…
Comest thou peaceably, or with some evil design upon me or my son? which she might well surmise, knowing his ambition and envy at Solomon, and his hatred against her, as the chief occasion of his dejection.
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 On vv13–18 And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba,…
And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon,.... Into her apartment; Abarbinel thinks it was a few days after the death of David:
and she said, comest thou peaceably? in a friendly manner, with no ill design, only to pay a friendly visit; for she might fear he came to avenge himself on her, and destroy her, because she had been the instrument of disappointing him of the kingdom, and of getting her son Solomon set upon the throne, and established in it; and therefore could not tell what envy, rage, and disappointment, might prompt him to:
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and he said, peaceably; he meant no harm unto her.
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 On vv15, 17 Verse 15. Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine]…
Verse 15. Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine] It certainly was his by the right of primogeniture, and it was his by the voice of the people, and the consent of the high priest. But there was a right paramount to all these, the right of God; it was his kingdom; the kings were his lieutenants, and he had a right to give the crown to whomsoever he pleased, and he was pleased to give it to Solomon.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv13, 17 1Ki 2:13-15. She said, Comest thou peaceably? — Or…
1Ki 2:13-15. She said, Comest thou peaceably? — Or with some evil design against me or my son? which she might well suspect, knowing his ambition and envy at Solomon, and his hatred against her, as the chief cause of his being cast down from his aspiring views and high hopes. He said, Thou knowest that the kingdom is mine — Both by right of primogeniture and actual inauguration. And all Israel set their faces on me — They looked on me as their king and my father’s successor, and expected that he would confirm my election. He pretends that the generality of the people favoured his views, and wished him to be king. Howbeit the kingdom is turned about, and is become my brother’s — Is translated from me to him by the vicissitude of human affairs, and the changeable humour of the people. For it was his from the Lord — Either, 1st, By God’s providence so disposing David’s mind, and the people’s hearts: or rather, 2d, By God’s appointment, and particular designation: wherein he seems to acquiesce, affectionately terming Solomon his brother, that he might deceive both her and him into a belief that he was far from any design of usurping the government.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v16 Deny me not - literally, as in the margin,…
Deny me not - literally, as in the margin, i. e. “make me not to hide my face through shame at being refused.”
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 On vv15, 17 Mine, according to the ordinary course of things. But…
Mine, according to the ordinary course of things. But I was willing to forego my claims, when I perceived that the Lord had made choice of my brother. (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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v13 C.—Solomon’s course with the opposers of his accession to…
C.—Solomon’s course with the opposers of his accession to the throne
1Ki_2:13-46
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13And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon.10 14And she said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably. He said moreover, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And she said,11 Say on. 15And he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: howbeit the kingdom is turned about, and is become my brother’s: for it was his from the Lord [Jehovah]. 16And now I ask one petition of thee, deny me not. And she said unto him, Say on. 17And he said, Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king, (for he will not say thee nay,) that 18he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife. And Bath-sheba said, Well; I will speak for thee unto the king.
19Bath-sheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king’s mother; and she sat on his right hand. 20Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee; I pray thee, say me not nay. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother; for I will not say thee nay. 21And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife. 22And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for12 Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah. 23Then king Solomon sware by the Lord [Jehovah], saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah 24hath not spoken this word against his own life. Now therefore, as the Lord [Jehovah] liveth, which hath established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who hath made me a house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day. 25And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.
26And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time13 put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Lord [Jehovah] God before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted. 27So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the Lord [Jehovah]; that he might fulfil the word of the Lord [Jehovah], which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
28Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom.14 And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord [Jehovah], and caught hold on the horns of the altar. 29And it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord [Jehovah]; and, behold, he is by the altar.15 Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.16 30And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the Lord [Jehovah], and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, Nay;17 but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me. 31And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away18 the innocent 32[omit] blood, which Joab shed [without cause], from me, and from the house of my father. And the Lord [Jehovah] shall return his blood19 upon his own head, who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, [and] my father David not knowing thereof [knew it not20], to wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah. 33Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever: but upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house, and upon his throne, shall there be peace for ever from the Lord [Jehovah]. 34So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
35And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host:21 and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar.22
36And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Build thee an house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not forth thence any whither. 37For it shall be, that on the day thou goest out, and passest over the brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thine own head.23 38And Shimei said unto the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And. Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days. 39And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away unto Achish son of Maachah king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy servants be in Gath. 40And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants: and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath. 41And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and was come again. 42And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Did I not make thee to swear by the Lord [Jehovah], and protested unto thee, saying, Know for a certain, on the day thou goest out, and walkest abroad any whither, that thou shalt surely die?24 and thou saidst unto me, The word that I have heard is good. 43Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord [Jehovah], and the commandment that I have charged thee with? 44The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father; therefore the Lord [Jehovah] shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head: 45and king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord [Jehovah] for e1 Kings 1Ki_2:46 So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; which went out, and fell upon him, that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.25
Exegetical and Critical
1Ki_2:13. And Adonijah … to Bath-Sheba, &c. What Adonijah really aimed at in his petition to Bath-Sheba is made apparent in 1Ki_2:22. He did not care about the fair Abishag, but about the kingdom, which he hoped to acquire through possession of her. In the ancient East, after a king died, or his kingdom passed from him, the harem fell to the new ruler. On the other hand, also, he who took to himself the king’s wives, was regarded as having taken to himself the rights of the king. The claim to the possession of the women of the harem was understood to mean the claim to the throne. It was so also with the Persians (Herodot. 3:68; Justin 10:2 : occiso Cyro Aspasiam pellicem ejus rex Artaxerxes in matrimonium acceperat. Hanc patrem cedere sibi, sicuti regnum Darius postulaverat). When Absalom went, according to Ahithophel’s advice, into the king’s harem and to his concubines in the sight of all the people, it was a public, practical announcement that he had assumed the king’s rights (2Sa_16:20-23; comp. 1Ki_12:11). When, therefore, Adonijah demanded Abishag for his wife, ostensibly from love to her, it was a secret claim to the throne; for Abishag was looked on by the nation as David’s last wife, although he had not known her. He did not venture to make his request personally to Solomon, but, as Grotius says: aggreditur mulierem, ut regnandi ignaram, ita amoribus facilem. He plays, before Bath-Sheba, the part of an humble saint who has been set aside—who is resigned to God’s will, thus softening her woman’s heart. His assertion that all Israel wished him for their king, if not exactly a lie, showed great self-deception and boasting. He very wisely and prudently says, instead of: through thy intercession my brother became king (1Ki_1:17)—the kingdom is turned about, and it was his from the Lord, which he of course did not believe, because he wished himself to be king. Bath-Sheba may have thought that a discontented subject might be satisfied by granting his request, and the kingdom made thus more secure to her son.
1Ki_2:19-21. Bath-Sheba therefore went unto king Solomon, &c., 1Ki_2:19. Solomon received his mother as גְּבִירָה (1Ki_15:13). The queen-mother was in great honor; and therefore the name of the king’s mother is always expressly given in the account of the commencement of a new king’s reign (1Ki_14:21; 1Ki_15:2, &c.). The כִּסֵּא offered her was not literally a throne, but only a particular seat of honor. The seat at the right hand was the one of highest distinction (Psa_110:1; Joseph., Antiq. vi.–xi. 9). Bath-Sheba calls her petition a small one, because she thought it was only about a love-affair, and did not think of its political results.
1Ki_2:22-25. And King Solomon answered, &c. Solomon instantly detected the intrigue. He says, in asking Abishag for Adonijah, you indirectly request the kingdom for him too. He is my elder brother, and thinks that the kingdom belongs to him on that account; if he gets Abishag as wife, he will be further strengthened in his imaginary claims, and his entire party will have a firm footing. The וְלוֹ beginning the concluding statement in 1Ki_2:22, cannot be understood otherwise than the preceding לוֹ, and the ל in the following words must consequently mean the same. The meaning is this then: In asking the kingdom for him, thou askest it at the same time for Abiathar and Joab; they who have joined themselves to him, would reign with and through him; but they are well known to be my enemies. It follows, then, that both are included in Adonijah’s plan. We cannot, therefore, translate like the Sept.: καὶ αὐτῷ ’Αβιαθὰρ καὶ αὐτῷ ’Ιωὰβ ἑταῖρος, or with the Vulg.: et habet Abiathar et Joab; there is therefore no reason to strike out, with Thenius, the ל before Abiathar and Joab. Solomon’s anger, which appears in 1Ki_2:23, was the more natural, because Adonijah had dared to gain over and abuse the queen-mother. The oath, which means: may God punish me continually if Adonijah be not, &c., is a usual one (Rth_1:17; 1Sa_14:44; 1Sa_20:13; Jer_22:5).—The words of 1Ki_2:24 : and who hath made me an house, are not to be understood, with Keil and others, as if Solomon had then had issue (his marriage did not occur till afterwards, 1Ki_3:1); the meaning is this rather: Adonijah demands Abishag to wife, to found a dynasty through his union with her; but Jehovah has determined that David’s dynasty and line of kings shall come from me (2Sa_7:11 sq.).—The execution of Adonijah was performed by Benaiah, as captain of the Cherethites and Pelethites (1Ki_1:38). בְּיַד does not mean exactly with “his own hand” (Thenius), but only that Benaiah was charged with the execution. Comp. 1Ki_2:34-46. Capital punishment was executed in Egypt, and also in Babylon, by the king’s guard, the captain of which was therefore called שַׂר (רב) טַבָּחִים, Gen_37:36; 2Ki_25:8; Dan_2:14.
1Ki_2:26-27. And unto Abiathar the priest, &c. The proceedings now commenced against Abiathar and Joab, were no doubt caused by the share both had taken in the new plans of Adonijah to usurp the kingdom.—Anathoth, a priests’ town in the tribe of Benjamin (Jos_21:18; 1Ch_6:45), about one hour and a quarter’s distance northeast of Jerusalem (Robinson, Palestine, vol. i. p. 437–8). Abiathar had possessions there.—To strike out the ו before בּיוֹם with Thenius (according to the Sept.), and place it before לֹא, is unnecessary: the meaning remains the same.—Bearing the Ark, on the occasion of David’s flight from Absalom (2Sa_15:24). That Abiathar and Zadok went with David then, bearing the ark of the covenant, showed great veneration and fidelity, upon their part, to him. Of course they did not carry the ark themselves; but it was borne by the levites, whose office it was to do so (Num_4:15; 1Ch_16:15), and who did it at their command. It is therefore quite unnecessary to read, with Thenius, אֵפוֹד instead of אֲרוֹן.—It does not follow from the banishment of Abiathar, that every king has the right to set up and depose a high-priest at pleasure. This case was a peculiar one. A high-priest who had repeatedly conspired against the anointed of Jehovah, had thereby become incapable of filling his office, and, strictly speaking, deserved death.—לְמַלֵּא is an addition of the narrator, not the intention of Solomon; it is the ἲνα πληρωθῆ of the New Testament. The divine threatenings upon Eli’s house, from which Abiathar was (through Ithamar) descended, were now fulfilled; for when Saul slew the priests, Abiathar alone, of all his house, escaped (1Sa_22:20). With his deposition the hereditary high-priesthood passed over to Eleazar’s house, to which Zadok belonged (Num_25:13; 1Ch_24:5-6).
1Ki_2:28-35. Then tidings came to Joab, &c. The parenthesis means that Joab, who was formerly such a decided enemy of Absalom, who promised much more than his brother, had twice conspired with the pretender, Adonijah, and now feared for his own life, as he heard of his death, and of Abiathar’s punishment. All old translations, except the Chaldee, have Solomon instead of “Absalom,” and Ewald and Thenius declare the former to be the right reading; this, however, is not sustained by any Hebrew MS., and would, besides, make the sentence superfluous; for when Joab was on Adonijah’s side, it follows of course that he was not on that of Solomon.—If Joab, who had been unpunished for his share in the first conspiracy, had felt free from all share in the second, he would not have fled to a place of refuge (1Ki_1:50).—The Sept. adds, before Solomon’s words, 1Ki_2:29 : “What has happened to thee, that thou hast fled to the altar? And Joab said: I was afraid of thee, and have fled to Lord.” Surely this is only a gloss; but it explains the passage. When Joab saw that Benalah did not venture to kill him at the altar, he defied him, either because he hoped that Solomon would not dare to give the order, or that if he did, he (Solomon) would be guilty of desecrating the altar. But according to the law (Exo_21:14; Deu_19:11-13), the altar was only an asylum for those who had killed unwittingly, and Joab was no such person. He had sinned grievously against Israel and Judah by a double assassination (1Ki_2:32), and yet had gone hitherto unpunished. This guilt could not rest upon David and his house, if the kingdom was to continue in his line (1Ki_2:33). Not to add the utmost disgrace to the punishment (1Ki_14:11; 2Ki_9:35; Jer_7:33; Jer_22:19), and in consideration of his military achievements, Solomon commanded that Joab should be buried with his fathers in the wilderness of Judah, which was not far from Bethlehem, near Tekoa, and was a rocky district containing some towns (Jos_15:61; Jdg_1:16).
1Ki_2:36-46. And the king sent and called for Shimei, &c., 1Ki_2:36. As Adonijah and his faction had made such repeated efforts to seize the helm of state, Solomon deemed it needful to keep a watch on all suspected persons. Now the restless Shimei was the principal of these; he was a close adherent of the house of Saul, and a bitter foe of David’s house. Solomon, therefore, in order to keep him in sight, and test his obedience, ordered him to settle in Jerusalem, and to leave it only under penalty of death. The brook Kidron is scarcely named as the exact limit of his confinement (Ewald); but Shimei was not to cross it, because, in doing so, he went towards Bahurim, in his native district, where he had most influence (2Sa_19:16 sq.).—Thy blood, &c.—the usual mode of the death sentence, Lev_20:9-16.—Shimei declared he was satisfied to observe the king’s command, for he knew right well that according to the ideas of that time, no king, not even Solomon, need feel himself bound by the promise of his predecessor (2Sa_19:23), (Ewald, Gesch. Isr., iii. s. 271).—The Philistine king Achish, of Gath (Jos_13:3; 1Sa_5:8), may be the same who is mentioned in 1Sa_21:11; 1Sa_27:2; he must have certainly attained a great age; if so, Shimei, then, in spite of his solemn vow, not only left Jerusalem for his native place, not distant, but even went into the far-off land of the Philistines, thus giving proof of his disobedience and obstinacy. Solomon now reproaches him with his old crime, and says to him: thy measure is full; the Lord has turned thy curse into a blessing, as David hoped (2Sa_16:12).—The Vulgate, Thenius, Bunsen, and others place the concluding sentence of 1Ki_2:46 at the commencement of 1 Kings 3 : “and when the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon, he made affinity,” &c.; it seems, however, to refer back to 1Ki_2:12, and in the manner of Semitic histories, as Keil remarks, concludes the whole section of Solomon’s throne-ascension. Thus the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon, i.e., under him.
Historical and Ethical
1. The repeated attempt of Adonijah to gain the throne throws real light on his character. Though his enterprise came to a lamentable and disgraceful end, he immediately began to concoct new plans in spite of the favor and the warning he had received. As he once sought to obtain his purpose by collecting chariots, horsemen, and soldiers, through making fortified places, in short, by grand and showy preparations, he now pursued the opposite plan of fawning and artifice. He steals alone to Bath-sheba, placing his hopes on woman’s influence. When she is astonished at his visit, he utters the most peaceful sentiments, acts as one deeply disappointed, but now humbly and piously resigned to God’s will, and as an unhappy lover. If anything deserves the name of a “harem intrigue,” through which, according to Duncker, Solomon came to the throne (see above), it is Adonijah’s device. He could not have shown more clearly that he was not the chosen of Jehovah (Deu_17:15). What would have become of the kingdom which David had at last brought to tranquillity and its proper position, if a man like Adonijah had succeeded him?
2. Adonijah and his faction show the truth of what is often found, namely, that revolutionary men are not discouraged by the failure of their plans, and even disgraceful defeat, but they always brood over the means of attaining their ambitious views and gratifying their thirst for power. Pardon and forbearance do not change them, but generally harden and embolden them. If they do not succeed by open force, they choose deceitful ways, notwithstanding all the promises they may have given; and they feign submission until they think their opportunity has arrived. Every one, however, to whom God has confided the government, should hear the words of David to Solomon (1Ki_2:2): “be thou strong, therefore, and show thyself a man!” for weakness is, in this respect, sin against God and man. The old Würtemburg summaries say: “let authorities learn from Solomon to punish such crimes severely, if they wish to have a happy, peaceful, and lasting reign. If they wink at such things, God’s anger and punishments come down on them, on their land and people.”
3. Solomon’s treatment of his foes, has often been called great cruelty, or at least extreme severity. “Solomon,” says Duncker, “began his reign with bloody deeds.… He first promised Adonijah he should be spared, then had him slain by Benaiah. Joab fled to the sanctuary and caught hold of the horns of the altar. Benaiah trembled to stain the altar with blood, but Solomon tells him to go and stab him there!… Benaiah also killed Shimei at Solomon’s command.” In reading this imperfect and detestable view of the circumstances, we must remember that there is not to be found in the forty years of Solomon’s reign, one single trace of baroarous tyranny or cruelty, such as are here said to have characterized him, though these qualities rather strengthen than otherwise with age. We cannot judge Solomon any more than David in the light of the sermon on the mount, but should recollect what the time and circumstances were. The vital point was to establish the kingdom, and in order to avert the dangers that threatened it, “every firm and sagacious ruler had to act so, for the artificial means now used in similar cases, for instance, imprisonment for life, were wholly unknown” (Ewald). As to Adonijah, the whole East knew but one punishment for such plans as he cherished, viz., death. Had his enterprise succeeded he would doubtless (see above, on 1Ki_1:11) have destroyed Solomon and his principal adherents, in accordance with the usual practice hitherto. Solomon, on the contrary, did not follow this custom, but showed forgiveness and generosity; in fact, he avoided all persecution of Adonijah’s partisans. Only when Adonijah, contrary to his word, and notwithstanding his humble homage (1Ki_1:51), again appeared as pretender to the throne, and sought to reach his end by deceit and hypocrisy, did he order the affixed punishment. He had allowed Abiathar, too, to go unpunished at first, which scarcely any other eastern prince would have done. But when the repeated attempt of Adonijah to seize the kingdom was discovered, Abiathar could no longer be passed over. Yet instead of inflicting death on him, he deprived him of his influential office, and let him live at liberty on his estate, on account of his former good behavior. Here was no severity, but gratitude, kindness, and generosity. Joab was the most formidable opponent, because of his position at the head of the entire army, and his well-known military roughness and unscrupulousness; he was also unpunished after Adonijah’s first attempt, and the last was certainly not planned without his consent, but more likely, as some suppose, originated by him. The fact that he instantly fled to the horns of the altar, on hearing of Adonijah’s death, shows that he knew himself to have deserved death. Besides this, the guilt of a double murder rested on him, and should be washed out. “When this was superadded,” says Ewald (s. 271), “Solomon did not venture to show him any further grace,” and adds in the note with great truth: “A superficial observer alone can charge Solomon with needless cruelty here.” Finally, with regard to Shimei, nothing was more natural than that Solomon, in the circumstances attending the beginning of his reign, should have kept especial guard over such a restless, suspected person, who one day cursed the king, calling him a bloody man, and the next fawned upon and flattered him, and who besides was not without partisans (2Sa_16:7, comp. with 1Ki_19:16-20). Shimei was himself quite content with his confinement to Jerusalem, and Solomon let him live there “many days” (1Ki_2:38), placing his fate in his own hand. After three years (not before), (1Ki_2:39), when Shimei broke his solemn promise, what his king had threatened him with upon oath came upon him. “Surely, every one must at that time have seen in such fatal oblivion of the oath which the old arch-traitor had sworn against David, a divine sign, that that old sin still rested on him and that he must be punished; otherwise he would not have acted with such defiance of God and with such madness. Solomon had him also executed, evidently not out of revenge nor any other passion, but from the belief that the last of those who had sinned greatly against David, should fall under divine Providence” (Ewald, s. 272). How weak and forgetful of his word would the king have seemed to all the people if he had let Shimei now go free, particularly with the notions then entertained about a king! (Pro_16:12-15; Pro_20:2; Pro_20:26). It is worthy of remark that the settlement of Shimei at Jerusalem was coincident with Solomon’s elevation to the throne; that his punishment did not at once follow that of Adonijah and Joab, but was three years later. We cannot therefore possibly reckon this among the “bloody deeds” with which Solomon is said to have begun his reign. The union of mildness and firmness, generosity and official justice, in the conduct of the young sovereign, must have deeply impressed the people, have increased his authority, and established his rule.
4. The establishment of Solomon’s kingdom (1Ki_2:46) is the result of all that chapters 1 and 2 relate, and is therefore expressly stated again at their close. Our author evidently does this, not only from purely historical, but also from religious and theocratic grounds. In fact, throughout the whole of the genuine Old Testament history of Solomon’s succession to the throne, the guiding hand of the living God is made apparent, far above the ferment of human passions and inclinations. He knows how to fulfil his threatenings, and to lead the way which each chooses for himself, to a goal where he shall find retribution of his deeds (Job_34:11).
Homiletical and Practical
1Ki_2:13-25. Adonijah’s repeated attempt to gain the throne: (a) Wherein this attempt consisted (1Ki_2:13-18); (b) how it ended (1Ki_2:19-25).
1Ki_2:13-18. Adonijah before Bath-sheba: (a) The feigned sentiment, in which he comes (1Ki_2:13-15); (b) the request he brings (1Ki_2:16-17); (c) the answer he receives (1Ki_2:18).
1Ki_2:13. Ambitious and power-loving people do not scruple to reach the ends which they cannot obtain by open force, by means that are mortifying to their pride; when they can no longer demand, they beg.—Those are least to be trusted who have proved themselves enemies, and suddenly appear with tokens of peace. Joab met Amasa with the words: Peace be to thee! and while kissing him, ran him through the body (2Sa_20:9). Judas betrayed the Lord with a greeting and a kiss (Luk_22:48).
1Ki_2:15. Adonijah’s boast and hypocrisy: (a) He boasts, like most rebels, of having all the people on his side, but his few adherents were some faithless men, who were won over by good eating and drinking, and who would desert him with the first change of the wind (1Ki_1:41; 1Ki_1:49). (b) He speaks and acts as a pious man, who humbles himself under God’s hand (Job_1:21), while he resists His will in his heart, and seeks to overthrow His purpose (Mat_7:21; Pro_12:22).
1Ki_2:16 sq. The most presumptuous character is often hid under the mask of unassuming deportment.
1Ki_2:17. He who has an honest and just request to make seeks no roundabout ways, but goes openly and courageously with it to the person who can grant it. The serpent addresses the woman first, in order to gain the man, in paradise (Gen_3:1; Gen_3:6; 1Ti_2:14).
1Ki_2:18. Bath-sheba’s consent to Adonijah’s request shows want of sagacity, experience, and knowledge of human nature, but at the same time shows that her heart was free from revenge and bitterness, and was willing to serve even one who had caused her great anxiety and sorrow (1Ki_1:21).—Kind and unsuspicious persons are apt to yield to their first feelings and impressions rather than reflect calmly and deliberately; it is therefore the more needful for them to guard against being led away by flattering speeches into promises and actions that may greatly injure themselves and others.—We ought not to refuse to intercede for others, but to take great care not to do it for the unworthy, thus injuring those who are deserving.—Those who are high in favor with the powerful are often used, without their wish or knowledge, for unworthy ends.
1Ki_2:19-25. Bath-sheba before the king: (a) How she was received by him (1Ki_2:19-20), but (b) was refused her petition (1Ki_2:22-24).
1Ki_2:19. Solomon, when on the throne, did not forget what he owed his mother. How often do children forget their parents and nearest relations, and even become ashamed of them, when they attain to great riches and honor; but no position or rank dispenses with our observance of the fourth commandment, the first with promise (Ephes. 1Ki_6:2; Pro_19:26).
1Ki_2:21. Starke: Even pious Christians are often ignorant of what they ask (Rom_8:26), and are therefore often unheard (Mat_20:22).
1Ki_2:22. Kings and princes should not grant even an apparently small petition, that interferes with the welfare of the kingdom and people committed to their charge. Seeming severity is in such cases sacred duty.—Hall: Considerations arising from personal relationship must be laid aside in the official acts of rulers.
1Ki_2:25. Punishment of Adonijah, how far it was (a) according to law, (b) just and deserved.
1Ki_2:26-46. Solomon’s treatment of his enemies (see Historical).
1Ki_2:26-27. Ecclesiastical office can be no protection from just punishment of crime (see Luk_12:47; 1Co_9:27).—Former fidelity cannot efface later treachery. It is most lamentable that a man who was faithful in times of trouble should end his career as a sinner (1Co_10:12).—[Bp. Hall: No man held so close to David,… yet now is he called to reckon for his old sins, and must repay blood to Amasa and Abner.—E. H.] When circumstances permit, mildness and forgiveness should go hand in hand with justice.—Children should not forget kindness shown to their parents, but look on it as done to themselves; this is fulfilling the fourth commandment.—The promises of God are yea and amen; but so are also His threatenings, which are often executed when men have forgotten them.
1Ki_2:28-34. The terrible end of Joab: (a) He dies conscious of his guilt, without peace and pardon; (b) even in the very jaws of death he is defiant, rough, and proud; (c) he does not leave the world like a hero, but like a criminal. How differently David dies! (1Ki_2:2).
1Ki_2:28. An evil conscience can put to flight a hero who never yielded to the enemy in a single bloody field.—Starke: It is thus the wicked act when they get into danger; though they never before cared about God and His children, they will seek their protection then.
1Ki_2:30. What good is there in dying in a sacred place if one has not a sanctified heart and pure conscience? Pro_3:21-26.
1Ki_2:31 sq. Starke: God has no sanctuary or city of refuge for an intentional murderer (Exo_21:14).—Lange: If a ruler leaves shed blood unavenged, the guilt attaches to himself; through just revenge it is averted.
1Ki_2:33. Only that throne stands firm upon which justice, without respect of persons, is exercised (Pro_25:5).
1Ki_2:36-46. Shimei’s fate plainly proves the truth of the word Job_34:11; Psa_141:10; Pro_5:22.
1Ki_2:39. Avarice, i.e., covetousness, is the root of all evil. The loss of two servants led Shimei to disobedience, even to forget his oath and to risk his life. [1Ki_2:40 sq. Bp. Hall: “Covetousness, and presumption of impunity, are the destruction of many a soul: Shimei seeks his servants and loses himself.”—E. H.]
1Ki_2:41 sq. Divine justice at length overtakes those whose crimes have long been unpunished, and when they least expect it.—Those also who have cursed the anointed of the Lord, the eternal king of God’s realm, and who have shot their poisoned shafts at Him, shall hereafter say to the mountains: Fall on us! and to the hills: cover us! (Luk_23:30).
Footnotes:
[10]1Ki_2:13.—[The Sept. adds καὶ προσεκύνησεν αὐτῇ (Al. αὐτήν).
[11]1Ki_2:14.—[Two MSS. and some editions (followed by the Sept., Vulg., and Syriac) add לוֹ = to him.
[12]1Ki_2:22.—[All the VV. here give a sense which seems based on the supposition that ל before Abiathar and before Joab is pleonastic; but for this there is no authority. Thus the Vulg.: “et habet Abiathar,” etc. Sept.: καὶ αὐτῷ ’Αβιάθαρ κ.τ.λ. Similarly Syr. and Arab. The Chald.: “nonne in consilio fuerunt ille et Abiathar,” etc.
[13]1Ki_2:26.—[The Sept., without authority, alters the place of the conjunction so as to read ἀνἠρ θανάτου εῖ σὺ ἐν τῇ ἡμἑρᾳ ταὑτῃ, καὶ οὐ θανατώσω σε.
[14]1Ki_2:28.—[The Vulg., Sept.. (Vatican) and Syr. curiously substitute here the name of Solomon for that of Absalom. The Arab. attempts to reconcile both by translating “neither did he love Solomon.”
[15]1Ki_2:29.—[The Sept. and “And king (Alex. omit king) Solomon sent to Joab, saying, What has been done to thee that thou hast fled to the altar? And Joab said, Because I was afraid of thee, and I fled to the Lord.”
[16]1Ki_2:29.—[The Sept. add “and bury him.” See 1Ki_2:31.
[17]1Ki_2:30.—[One MS., followed by the Sept., Vulg., and Syr., adds אצא after לֹא.
[18]1Ki_2:31.—[The Sept. add σήμερον and translate הִנָם accurately “without cause.” The Chald. gives both senses. The Vatican Sept. omits the name of Joab.
[19]1Ki_2:32.—[Sept. = the blood of his iniquity.
[20]1Ki_2:32.—[There is no reason for omitting the conjunction and changing the preterite of the Hebr. which are preserved in the Sept. and the Chald.
[21]1Ki_2:35.—[The Sept. add καὶ ἡ βασιλεία κατωρθοῦτο ἐν ‘Ιερουσαλήμ. Cf. 1Ki_2:46.
[22]1Ki_2:35—[The Sept. add καὶ Σαλωμὼν υἱὸς Δαυὶδ ἐβασίλευσεν ἐπὶ ’Ισραὴλ καὶ ’Ιούδα ἐν ‘Ιερουσαλήμ.. (Thus far Alex. Omits) καὶ ἔδωκε κύριος φρόνησιν τῷ Σαλωμὼν καὶ σοφἱαν πολλὴν σφόδρα καὶ πλάτος καρδίας ὡς ἡ ἄμμος ἡ παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν. (See 1Ki_4:29.) Then follows the first verse of chap. 3 much altered, and a long interpolation which may he thus translated: “And the wisdom of Solomon was increased greatly above the wisdom of all the ancients and above all the wise men of Egypt (see 1Ki_4:30), and he (1Ki_3:1) took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until ho had made an end of building his own house and the house of the Lord in the first place, and the wall of Jerusalem round about: in seven years he made and finished them.” V. 15 follows then… “And Solomon made the sea and the bases and the great levers and the pillars and the fountain of the court and the brazen sea. And he built the citadel and battlements upon it, he divided the city of David. So Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the city of David into her own house which he built for her. Then he built the citadel. And three times in the year Solomon offered whole, burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon the altar which he built to the Lord, and he offered incense before the Lord, and finished the house. And these were the chiefs (1Ki_5:16) which were set over the works of Solomon: three thousand and six hundred rulers of the people that wrought in the work. And he built Asshur and Magdo and Gezer (1Ki_9:15; 1Ki_9:17-18) and Bethhoron the upper and Ballath. Besides his building the house of the Lord and the wall of Jerusalem round about, after these he built these cities.” Then follows, with some variations, 1Ki_2:8-9, which form the junction again with 1Ki_2:36.
[23]1Ki_2:37.—[The Sept. add καὶ ὥρκισεν αὐτὸν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἰν τῆ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκεινῃ. Cf. 1Ki_2:42-43.
[24]1Ki_2:42.—[The Vatican Sept. omits the rest of 1Ki_2:42. The last clause is sometimes pointed, “The word is good: I have heard.”
[25]1Ki_2:46.—[Here follows in the Sept. a passage made up of extracts from chap. 4 and containing about one-fourth of that chapter, most of which is omitted from its place.—F. G.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v13 Adonijah . . . came to Bath-sheba--Her question to…
Adonijah . . . came to Bath-sheba--Her question to him betrays an apprehension which his recent conduct might well warrant; but his pious acknowledgment of the divine will seemed apparently to indicate so entire an acquiescence in the settlement of the succession [Kg1 2:15], that, in her womanly simplicity, she perceived not the deep cunning and evil design that was concealed under his request and readily undertook to promote his wishes.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv13, 15, 18 13. Came to Bathsheba — As Nathan had succeeded…
13. Came to Bathsheba — As Nathan had succeeded through the powerful influence of this woman in securing the throne to Solomon, (see 1Ki_1:11-31,) so Adonijah now hopes through her to gain his ends.
Comest thou peaceably — With no hostile or sinister designs? (Compare 1Sa_16:4.) His recent usurpation was a sufficient reason for her to imagine some new evil design.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv13, 15, 16, 17, 18 13–25. Adonijah asks for Abishag to wife and is…
13–25. Adonijah asks for Abishag to wife and is put to death by Solomon (Not in Chronicles)
13. Comest thou peaceably] There was the same sort of alarm in Bath-sheba’s mind as was in those of the people of Bethlehem when Samuel came to visit Jesse before David was anointed (1Sa_16:4), when the elders of the town trembled. She expected no good from any scheme of Adonijah’s, and her question refers more to the national welfare than to her personal concerns.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv13, 15 (13) And Adonijah . . . came.—The application of…
(13) And Adonijah . . . came.—The application of Adonijah to Bath-sheba, and the signs of honour paid to her by the king—of which there is no trace in her approach to the presence of David (1Ki_1:15-16; 1Ki_1:28; 1Ki_1:31)—illustrate the universal custom of Eastern monarchies; by which, while the wives of the king, being many, are seldom held to be of any great political account, the mother of the reigning king is a person of great dignity and influence. We may notice how constantly the name of each king’s mother is recorded in the history.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv13–18 And Adonijah, the son of Haggith, came to Bathsheba,…
And Adonijah, the son of Haggith, came to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon. The LXX adds kainhsen aujth, but the words are probably inserted from ver. 19. The historian now relates the plot of Adonijah and its defeat. Foiled in his purpose to mount the throne by direct means, Adonijah and his advisers have recourse to intrigue and subtlety. By the aid of Abishag, he hopes to accomplish what his chariots and horsemen (1Ki_1:5) had failed to effect. And he first addresses himself to the queen mother ("Aggreditur mulierem, ut regnandi ignaram ira amoribus facilem. Grotius). The position of the queen dowager m the Hebrew kingdom was an influential one; not unlike that of the Valide sultana amongst the Ottomans. Hence the constant mention of each king"s mother (1Ki_14:31 1Ki_15:10, where notice ver. 13; 2Ki_11:1 2Ki_12:1 2Ki_14:2 2Ki_15:2, etc.; hence, too, the part which such a queen mother as Athaliah found it possible to take. This pre-eminence was a natural result of the polygamy of Eastern sovereigns (and the consequent intrigues of the harem) coupled with the high estimation in which the mother was held in the East. And she said, Comest thou peaceably. Heb. Is it peace thy coming! Bathsheba was evidently surprised by his visit. Owing to the part he had taken against her son, there would naturally have been but few dealings, if not positive alienation, between them. Her first thought, consequently, is, "What can this coming mean?" The prominence of the idea of peace in all Eastern salutations has often been noticed. Cf. 1Sa_16:4; 2Ki_9:22 2Ki_4:26 2Ki_5:21; Luk_10:5; Joh_20:19-21, etc. And he said, Peaceably Heb. peace.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v13 The wrath of a king is "as messengers of…
AVENGING JUSTICE
1Ki_2:13-46.
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The wrath of a king is "as messengers of death."- Pro_16:14
THE reign of Solomon began with a threefold deed of blood. An Eastern king, surrounded by the many princes of a polygamous family, and liable to endless jealousies and plots, is always in a condition of unstable equilibrium; the death of a rival is regarded as his only safe imprisonment. On the other hand, it must be remembered that Solomon allowed his other brethren and kinsmen to live; and, in point of fact, his younger brother Nathan became the ancestor of the Divine Messiah of his race.
It was the restless ambition of Adonijah which again brought down an avalanche of ruin. He and his adherents were necessarily under the cold shadow of royal disfavor, and they must have known that they had sinned too deeply to be forgiven. They felt the position intolerable. "In the light of the kings countenance is life, and his favor is as a cloud of the latter rain"; but Adonijah, in the prime of strength and the heyday of passion, beautiful and strong, and once the favorite of his father, could not forget the banquet at which all the princes and nobles and soldiers had shouted, "Long live King Adonijah!" That the royalty of one delirious day should be succeeded by the dull and suspected obscurity of dreary years was more than he could endure, if, by any possible subtlety or force, he could avert a doom so unlike his former golden dreams. Was not Solomon at least ten or fifteen years younger than himself? Was not his seat on the throne of his kingdom still insecure? Were not his own followers powerful and numerous?
Perhaps one of those followers-the experienced Joab, or Jonathan, son of Abiathar-whispered to him that he need not yet acquiesce in the ruin of his hopes, and suggested a subtle method of strengthening his cause, and keeping his claim before the eyes of the people.
Every one knew that Abishag, the fair damsel of Shunem, the ideal of Hebrew maidenhood, was the loveliest virgin who could be found throughout all the land of Israel. Had she been in the strict sense Davids wife or concubine, it would have been regarded as a deadly contravention of the Mosaic law that she should be wedded to one of her stepsons. But as she had only been Davids nurse, what could be more suitable than that so bright a maiden should be united to the handsome prince?
It was understood in all Eastern monarchies that the harem of a predecessor belonged to the succeeding sovereign. The first thing that a rival or a usurper aimed at was to win the prestige of possessing the wives of the royal house. Nathan reminds David that the Lord had given his masters wives into his bosom. Ishbosheth, weak as he was, had been stung into indignation against his general and great-uncle the mighty Abner, because Abner had taken Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, Sauls concubine, to wife, which looked like a dangerously ambitious encroachment upon the royal prerogative. Absalom, by the vile counsel of Ahithophel, had openly taken possession of the ten concubines whom his father, in his flight from Jerusalem, had left in charge of the palace. The pseudo-Smerdis, when he revolted against the absent Cambyses, at once seized his seraglio. It is noted even in our English history that the relations between the Earl of Mortimer and Queen Isabella involved danger to the kingdom; and when Admiral Seymour married Queen Catharine Parr, widow of Henry VIII, he at once entered into treasonable conspiracies. Adonijah knew well that he would powerfully further his ulterior purpose if he could secure the hand of the lovely Shunamite.
Yet he feared to make the request to Solomon, who had already inspired him with wholesome awe. With pretended simplicity he sought the intercession of the Gebira Bathsheba, who, being the queen-mother, exercised great influence as the first lady of the land. She it was who had placed the jeweled bridal crown with her own hand on the head of her young son (Son_3:11).
Alarmed at his visit she asked, "Comest thou peaceably?" He came, he humbly assured her, to ask a favor. Might she not think of his case with a little pity? He was the elder son; the kingdom by right of primogeniture was his; all Israel, so he flattered himself, had wished for his accession. But it had all been in vain, Jehovah had given the kingdom to his brother. Might he not be allowed some small consolation, some little accession to his dignity? at least some little source of happiness in his home?
Flattered by his humility and his appeal, Bathsheba encouraged him to proceed, and he begged that, as Solomon would refuse no request to his mother, would she ask that Abishag might be his wife?
With extraordinary lack of insight, Bathsheba, ambitious as she was, failed to see the subtle significance of the request, and promised to present his petition.
She went to Solomon, who immediately rose to meet her, and seated her with all honor on a throne at his right hand. She had only come, she said, to ask "a small petition."
"Ask on, my mother," said the king tenderly, "for I will not say thee nay."
But no sooner had she mentioned the "small petition" than Solomon burst into a flame of fury. "Why did she not ask for the kingdom for Adonijah at once? He was the elder. He had the chief priest and the chief captain with him. They must be privy to this new plot. But by the God who had given him his fathers kingdom, and established him a house, Adonijah had made the request to his own cost, and should die that day."
The command was instantly given to Benaiah, who, as captain of the bodyguard, was also chief executioner. He slew Adonijah that same hour, and so the third of Davids splendid sons died in his youth a death of violence.
We pause to ask whether the sudden and vehement outburst of King Solomons indignation was only due to political causes? If, as seems almost certain, Abishag is indeed the fair Shulamite of the Song of Songs, there can be little doubt that Solomon himself loved her, and that she was "the jewel of his seraglio." The true meaning of Canticles is not difficult to read, however much it may lend itself to mystical and allegorical applications. It represents a rustic maiden, faithful to her shepherd lover, resisting all the allurements of a kings court, and all the blandishments of a kings affection. It is the one book of Scripture which is exclusively devoted to sing the glory of a pure love. The king is magnanimous; he does not force the beautiful maiden to accept his addresses. Exercising her freedom, and true to the dictates of her heart, she rejoicingly leaves the perfumed atmosphere of the harem of Jerusalem for the sweet and vernal air of her country home under the shadow of its northern hills. Solomons impetuous wrath would not be so unaccountable if an unrequited affection added the sting of jealousy to the wrath of offended power. The scene is the more interesting because it is one of the very few personal touches in the story of Solomon, which is chiefly composed of external details, both in Scripture and in such fragments as have been preserved of the pagan historians Dios, Eupolemos, Nicolas Polyhistor, and those referred to by Josephus, Eusebius, and Clemens of Alexandria.
The fall of Adonijah involved his chief votaries in ruin. Abiathar had been a friend and follower of David from his youthful days. When Doeg, the treacherous Edomite, had informed Saul that the priests of Nob had shown kindness to David in his hunger and distress, the demoniac king had not shrunk from employing the Edomite herdsman to massacre all on whom he could lay his hands. From this slaughter of eighty-five priests who wore linen ephods, Abiathar had fled to David, who alone could protect him from the kings pursuit. {1Sa_22:23} In the days when the outlaw lived in dens and caves, the priest had been constantly with him, and had been afflicted in all wherein he was afflicted, and had inquired of God for him. David had recognized how vast was his debt of gratitude to one whose father and all his family had been sacrificed for an act of kindness done to himself. Abiathar had been chief priest for all the forty years of Davids reign. In Absaloms rebellion he had still been faithful to the king. His son Jonathan had been Davids scout in the city. Abiathar had helped Zadok to carry the Ark to the last house by the ascent to the Mount of Olives, and there he had stood under the olive tree by the wilderness (2Sa_15:18 (LXX)) till all the people had passed by. If his loyalty had been less ardent than that of his brother-priest Zadok, who had evidently taken the lead in the matter, he had given no ground for suspicion. But, perhaps secretly jealous of the growing influence of his younger rival, the old man, after some fifty years of unswerving allegiance, had joined his lifelong friend Joab in supporting the conspiracy of Adonijah, and had not even now heartily accepted the rule of Solomon. Assuming his complicity in Adonijahs request, Solomon sent for him, and sternly told him that he was "a man of death," i.e., that death was his desert. But it would have been outrageous to slay an aged priest, the sole survivor of a family slaughtered for Davids sake, and one who had so long stood at the head of the whole religious organization, wearing the Urim and carrying the Ark. He was therefore summarily deposed from his functions, and dismissed to his paternal fields at Anathoth, a priestly town about six miles from Jerusalem. We hear no more of him; but Solomons warning, "I will not at this time put thee to death," was sufficient to show him that, if he mixed himself with court intrigues again, he would ultimately pay the forfeit with his life. Solomon, like Saul, paid very little regard to benefit of the clergy.
The doom fell next on the arch-offender Joab, the white-haired hero of a hundred fights, "the Douglas of the House of David." He had, if the reading of the ancient versions be correct, "turned after Adonijah, and had not turned after Solomon." Solomon could hardly have felt at ease when a general so powerful and so popular was disaffected to his rule, and Joab read his own sentence in the execution of Adonijah. On hearing the news the old hero fled up Mount Zion, and clung to the horns of the altar. But Abiathar, who might have asserted the sacredness of the asylum, was in disgrace, and Joab was not to escape. "What has happened to thee that thou hast fled to the altar?" was the message sent to him by the king. "Because," he answered, "I was afraid of thee, and fled unto the Lord." It was Solomon s habit to give his autocratic orders with laconic brevity. "Go fall upon him" he said to Benaiah.
The scene which ensued was very tragic.
The two rivals were face to face. On the one side the aged general, who had placed on Davids head the crown of Rabbah, who had saved him from the rebellions of Absalom and of Sheba, and had been the pillar of his military glory and dominion for so many years; on the other the brave soldier-priest, who had won a chief place among the Gibborim by slaying a lion in a pit on a snowy day, and "two lion-like men of Moab," and a gigantic Egyptian whom he had attacked with only a staff, and out of whose hand he had plucked a spear like a weavers beam and killed him with his own spear. As David lost confidence in Joab he had reposed more and more confidence in this hero. He had placed him over the bodyguards, whom he trusted more than the native militia.
The Levite-soldier had no hesitation about acting as executioner, but he did not like to slay any man, and above all such a man, in a place so sacred, {2Ki_11:15}-in a place where his blood would be mingled with that of the sacrifices with which the horns of the altar were besmeared.
"The king bids thee come forth," he said. "Nay," said Joab, "but I will die here." Perhaps he thought that he might be protected by the asylum, as Adonijah had been; perhaps he hoped that in any case his blood might cry to God for vengeance, if he was slain in the sanctuary of Mount Zion, and on the very altar of burnt offering.
Benaiah naturally scrupled under such circumstances to carry out Solomons order, and went back to him for instruction. Solomon had no such scruples, and perhaps held that this act was meritorious. {Deu_19:13} "Slay him," he said, "where he stands; he is a twofold murderer; let his blood be on his head." Then Benaiah went back and killed him, and was promoted to his vacant office. Such was the dismal end of so much valor and so much glory. He had taken the sword, and he perished by the sword. And the Jews believed that the curse of David clung to his house forever, and that among his descendants there never lacked one that was a leper, or a lame man, or a suicide, or a pauper. {2Sa_3:28-29}
Shimeis turn came next. A watchful eye was fixed implacably on this last indignant representative of the ruined House of Saul. Solomon had sent and ordered him to leave his estate at Bahurim, and build a house at Jerusalem, forbidding him to go "any whither," and telling him that if on any pretence he passed the wady of Kidron he should be put to death. As he could not visit Bahurim, or any of his Benjamite connections, without passing the Kidron, all danger of further intrigues seemed to be obviated. To these terms the dangerous man had sworn, and for three years he kept them faithfully. At the end of that time two of his slaves fled from him to Achish, son of Maachah, King of Gath. When informed of their whereabouts, Shimei, apparently with no thought of evil, saddled his mule and went to demand their restoration. As he had not crossed the Kidron, and had merely gone to Gath on private business, he thought that Solomon would never hear of it, or would at any rate treat the matter as harmless. Solomon, however, regarded his conduct as a proof of retributive dementation. He sent for him, bitterly upbraided him, and ordered Benaiah to slay him. So perished the last of Solomons enemies; but Shimei had two illustrious descendants in the persons of Mordecai and Queen Esther. {Est_2:5}
Solomon perhaps conceived himself to be only acting up to the true kingly ideal. "A king that sitteth on the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes." "A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them." "An evil man seeketh only rebellion; therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him." "The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion, whoso provoketh him to anger endangereth his own soul." {Pro_19:11, Pro_20:2; Pro_19:8; Pro_19:26} On the other hand, he continued hereditary kindness to Chimham, son of the old chief Barzillai the Gileadite, who became the founder of the Khan at Bethlehem in which a thousand years later Christ was born. {1Ki_2:7; Jer_41:17}
The elevation of Zadok to the high priesthood vacated by the disgrace of Abiathar restored the priestly succession to the elder line of the House of Aaron. Aaron had been the father of four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. The two eldest had perished childless in the wilderness apparently for the profanation of serving the tabernacle while in a state of intoxication and offering "strange fire" upon the altar. The son of Eleazar was the fierce priestly avenger Phinehas. The order of succession was as follows:-
AARON
Eleazar Ithamar
Phinehas (gap.)
Abishua Eli
Bukki Phinehas
Uzzi Ahitub
Zerahiah Ahiah {1Sa_14:3}
Meraioth Ahimelech
Amariah Abiathar {1Sa_22:20}
Ahitub
Zadok
The question naturally arises how the line of succession came to be disturbed, since to Eleazar, and his seed after him, had been promised "the covenant of an everlasting priesthood." {Num_25:13} As the elder line continued unbroken, how was it that, for five generations at least, from Eli to Abiathar, we find the younger line of Ithamar in secure and lineal possession of the high priesthood? The answer belongs to the many strange reserves of Jewish history. It is clear from the silence of the Book of Chronicles that the intrusion, however caused, was an unpleasant recollection. Jewish tradition has perhaps revealed the secret, and a very curious one it is. We are told that Phinehas was high priest when Jephthah made his rash vow, and that his was the hand which carried out the human sacrifice of Jephthahs daughter. But the inborn feelings of humanity in the hearts of the people were stronger than the terrors of superstition, and arising in indignation against the high priest who could thus imbrue his hands in an innocent maidens blood, they drove him from his office and appointed a son of Ithamar in his place. The story then offers a curious analogy to that told of the Homeric hero Idomeneus, King of Crete. Caught in a terrible storm on his return from Troy, he too, owed that if his life were saved he could offer up in sacrifice the first living thing that met him. His eldest son came forth with gladness to meet him. Idomeneus fulfilled his vow, but the Cretans rose in revolt against the ruthless father, and a civil war ensued, in which a hundred cities were destroyed and the king was driven into exile. The Jewish tradition is one which could hardly have been invented. It is certain that Jephthahs daughter was offered up in sacrifice, in accordance with his rash vow. This could hardly have been done by any but a priest, and the ferocious zeal of Phinehas would not perhaps have shrunk from the horrible consummation. Revolting, even abhorrent, as is such a notion from our views of God, and decisively as human sacrifice is condemned by all the highest teaching of Scripture, the traces of this horrible tendency of human guilt and human fear are evident in the history of Israel as of all other early nations. Some thought akin to it must have lain under the temptation of Abraham to offer up his son Isaac. Twelve centuries later Manasseh "made his son pass through the fire," and kindled the furnaces of Moloch at Tophet in Gehenna, the valley of the sons of Hinnom. His grandfather Ahaz had done the same before him, offering sacrifice and burning his children in the fire. Surrounded by kindred tribes, to which this worship was familiar, the Israelites, in their ignorance and backsliding, were not exempt from its fatal fascination. Solomon himself "went after," and built a high place for Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites, on the right hand of "the hill that is before Jerusalem," which from this desecration got the name of "The Mount of Corruption." These high places continued, and it must be supposed, had their votaries on "that opprobrious hill," until good Josiah dismantled and defiled them about the year 639, some three centuries after they had been built.
But whether this legend about Phinehas be tenable or not, it is certain that the House of Ithamar fell into deadly disrepute and abject misery. In this the people saw the fulfillment of an old traditional curse, pronounced by some unknown "man of God" on the House of Eli, that there should be no old man in his house forever; that his descendants should die in the flower of their age; and that they should come cringing to the descendants of the priest whom God would raise up in his stead, to get some humble place about the priesthood for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread.
The prolongation of the curse in the House of Joab and of Eli furnishes an illustration of the menacing appendix to the second commandment. "For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me, and showing mercy unto thousands (of generations) of them that love Me and keep My commandments."
There is in families, as in communities, a solidarity alike of blessing and curse. No man perishes alone in his iniquity, whether he be an offender like Achan or an offender like Joab. Families have their inheritance of character, their prerogative examples of misdoing, their influence of the guilty past flowing like a tide of calamity over the present and the future! The physical consequences of transgression remain long after the sins which caused them have ended. Three things, however, are observable in this. as in every faithfully recorded history. One is that mercy boasteth over justice, and the area of beneficent consequence is more permanent and more continuous than that of the entailed curse, as right is always more permanent than wrong. A second is that though man at all times is liable to troubles and disabilities, no innocent person who suffers temporal afflictions from the sins of his forefathers shall suffer one element of unjust depression in the eternal interests of life. A third is that the ultimate prosperity of the children, alike of the righteous and of sinners, is in their own control; each soul shall perish, and shall only perish, for its own sin. In this sense, though the fathers have eaten sour grapes, the teeth of the children shall not be set on edge. In the long generations the line of David no less than the line of Joab, the line of Zadok no less than that of Abiathar, was destined to feel the Nemesis of evil-doing, and to experience that, of whatever parentage men are born, the law remains true-"Say ye of the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked; it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him." {Isa_3:10}
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v13 1Ki_2:13. Comest thou peaceably?—After recent events, there was reason…
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
1Ki_2:13. Comest thou peaceably?—After recent events, there was reason to suspect his design.
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1Ki_2:15. The kingdom is turned about—He prudently thus evades the charge on Bathsheba of having herself been accessory to this issue.
1Ki_2:16. Deny me not; lit., turn not away my face.
1Ki_2:18. Well, I will speak for thee—She saw not the cunning of Adonijah and might have thought this gratification would appease his disappointment.
1Ki_2:22. Ask for him the kingdom also—Solomon saw his crafty aim. The wives and concubines of a deceased king became the property of his successor to the throne (2Sa_12:8); hence the possession of Abishag would have given to Adonijah an additional apparent right to the kingdom; it was treason, therefore, for him, a subject, to claim a member of the royal harem as his wife; and Solomon recognised it as one step towards the seizure of the crown, or as a scheme by which Adonijah sought to found a rival dynasty. Hence the summary justice (1Ki_2:25), and hence, too, the religious oath (1Ki_2:23), for the royal line of David might not be imperilled by intrigue.
HOMILETICS OF 1Ki_2:13-25
THE DOOM OF A TREASONABLE SPIRIT
1Ki_2:1. That a treasonable spirit is slow to learn a lesson from past misfortunes. One would have thought that after the lamentable and disgraceful failure of his recent enterprise Adonijah would not have had the hardihood to risk another defeat. His conduct at this time reveals his character as a restless, intriguing, ambitious man. There are some men who will not be taught. The advice of the wise is contemptuously thrown away: the most calamitous events and their obvious lessons are speedily forgotten. The love of plotting and scheming amounts in some men to a passion; they are often blinded by their own cunning, and caught in the snares they had laid for the feet of others. Envy and ambition are turbulent elements, difficult to allay, and often hurrying their victims to certain ruin.
II. That a treasonable spirit has no scruple as to the method adopted in gaining its end.
1. It will flatter a mother’s vanity. Treason is a tortuous policy, and seeks to use others as tools to accomplish its designs. Instead of going direct to the king, Adonijah strove to influence the mother in his favour. He spoke of her son in a way to gratify the mother’s heart, and to disguise the insincerity that lay beneath his words. Flattery is one of the most polished and effective weapons of the schemer.
2. It is regardless of veracity. “Thou knowest that all Israel set their faces on me.” This was a great exaggeration. He had really no very large following (see 1Ki_1:39-40; 1Ki_1:45; 1Ki_1:49). It was well known the Lord had chosen Solomon. Accuracy as to matters of fact never troubles the conscience of some people. The liar is never at a loss for arguments, nor very particular as to their character. Says the proverb—“It is an easy thing to find a staff to beat a dog with.”
3. It can affect a mock saintliness. “For it was his from the Lord.” From such lips, this sounds very much like cant! The aim was evidently to deceive Bathsheba as to the real intention of securing her advocacy. Of all methods to attain sinister ends, the rôle of the religious hypocrite is the most detestable. There are some natures over whom it exerts a potent charm.
III. That a treasonable spirit is prompted by base motives (1Ki_2:17). The beauty of Abishag had made its impression on Adonijah. Blinded by sensual passion and the lust of power, he disregarded the incestuous proposal to marry his father’s widow. Such an union was directly contrary to positive law (Lev_18:8). The darkest designs are the offspring of the lowest motives, and an ambitious zeal for place and the public weal often covers the desire for a wider scope in the personal indulgence of sensual instincts (Psa_37:12).
IV. A treasonable spirit knows no bounds to its ambition. Nothing short of kingship could satisfy Adonijah. His possession of Abishag was intended as a means to that end. Her eminent beauty and near relation to David would give her a powerful interest at court. In the oriental mind a monarch was so sacred, such a divinity hedged him in, that whatever was brought near to him was thenceforth separate from common use. This sacred and separate character attached especially to the royal harem. The inmates either remained widows for the rest of their lives, or became the wives of the deceased king’s successor. When a monarch was murdered or dethroned, or succeeded by one whose title was doubtful, the latter alternative was almost always adopted. The Pseudo Smerdis married all the wives of Cambyses (Herod. iii. 68); and Darius married all the wives of the Pseudo-Smerdis (ib. ch. 88). So David, when he succeeded Saul, had all the wives of Saul (2Sa_12:8); and Absalom, when he seized the crown, by the advice of Ahitophel, went in unto his father’s concubines (ib. 1Ki_16:22). These are examples of what seems to have been a universal practice; and the result was such a close connection in public opinion between the title of the crown and the possession of the deceased monarch’s wives, that to have granted Adonijah’s request would have been the strongest encouragement to his pretensions.—Speaker’s Comm. Woman is often courted for the sake of the place and power to which she can introduce her suitor: the serpent addressed the woman first in order to gain the man. The ambition of a treasonable spirit is as avaricious and insatiable as it is reckless in the agencies it employs.
V. That a treasonable spirit is unexpectedly detected and exposed (1Ki_2:22-23). Solomon at once saw through the design of Adonijah. He appears, too, to have discovered some indications of another attempt at rebellion, in which Abiathar and Joab were implicated (1Ki_2:22). He showed Bathsheba how she had been deceived by the flattery of Adonijah; and we can conceive with what alarm she would start back from the dark pitfall into which she was about unwittingly to plunge herself and son! A course of villany may go on for a long time in uninterrupted prosperity; but detection is sure to come, and the exposure will be humiliating and complete. Be sure your sin will find you out. In these days of literary enterprise, the columns of a thousand journals will exhibit your disgrace to the world in unmistakeable characters. If the mask could be torn from the face of society, what a horrid index would be presented to the festering mass of deceit, envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness which is ever heaving and spreading there! A day is coming when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed, and all wrongs redressed. But who can fathom the depth of that Divine patience that bears with the enormities of the wicked, and calmly waits for the hour of retribution? Better to find out and deplore our own sins before they are exposed and punished by omniscient and omnipotent justice.
VI. That a treasonable spirit meets with summary and unfaltering vengeance (1Ki_2:24-25). Adonijah had before been pardoned, and his life spared, on condition that he acted worthily (1Ki_1:52). That condition was violated; and now, without admitting any intercession for his life, he is solemnly doomed to death, and the sentence forthwith executed. The perils of the state sometimes demand the prompt and rigorous punishment of offenders. Sin entails a life of disappointment and misery, and a death of shame and infamy. The cunning of the wicked often overreaches itself, and the plot which is intended to gain a fortune terminates in a dishonoured grave. Many a head has been lost in the attempt to seize a crown. The ruin of the enemies of Christ’s kingdom is as sure as the unshakeable stability of that kingdom.
LESSONS:—
1. A treasonable spirit demoralizes man’s whole nature.
2. The cleverest plotter is no match for the simple wisdom of uprightness.
3. Persistency in sin intensifies the severity of the punishment.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1Ki_2:13-25. Adonijah’s attempt to gain the throne.
1. Wherein this attempt consisted (1Ki_2:13-18).
2. How it ended (1Ki_2:19-25). Adonijah and his faction show the truth of what is often found—namely, that revolutionary men are not discouraged by the failure of their plans, and even disgraceful defeat, but always brood over the means of attaining their ambitious views and gratifying their thirst for power. Pardon and forbearance do not change them, but generally harden and embolden them. If they do not succeed by open force, they choose deceitful ways, notwithstanding all the promises they may have given; and they feign submission until they think their opportunity has arrived. Every one to whom God has confided the government should hear the words of David to Solomon: “Be strong, therefore, and show thyself a man;” for weakness is, in this respect, sin against God and man. As to Adonijah, the whole East knew but one punishment for such plans as he cherished—viz., death. Had his enterprise succeeded, he would doubtless have destroyed Solomon and his principal adherents, in accordance with the usual practice hitherto. Solomon, on the contrary, did not follow this custom, but showed forgiveness and generosity; in fact, he avoided all persecution of Adonijah’s partisans. Only when Adonijah, contrary to his word, and notwithstanding his humble homage, again appeared as pretender to the throne, and sought to reach his end by deceit and hypocrisy, did he order the affixed punishment.—Lange.
1Ki_2:18. “I will speak for thee unto the king.” The Christian minister an ambassador.
1. He is divinely called and qualified.
2. He has influence with the court of heaven.
3. He pleads the cause of the needy.
4. He seeks to reconcile the rebellious to God.
5. He is appealed to for counsel by the distressed and penitent.
1Ki_2:20. Bathsheba makes a petition against herself, and knows it not; her safety and life depend upon Solomon’s reign, yet she unwittingly moves for the advancement of Adonijah. In unfit supplications we are most heard when we are repelled. Thus doth our God many times answer our prayers with merciful denials, and most blesseth us in crossing our desires.—Bishop Hall.
1Ki_2:22. “Ask for him the kingdom also.” For that is it he gapes after, and seeks to strengthen his cracked title by marrying the late king’s concubine, who was likely grown very gracious with the great ones, and as potent at court as was once here Dame Alice Pierce, King Edward III.’s concubine, who did whatsoever she pleased.—Trapp.
1Ki_2:24. “Adonijah shall be put to death this day.” This day, before to-morrow, lest delay should breed danger. Who knoweth what a great-bellied day may bring forth? We are used to say—A day breaketh no square; but that is not always true. Oh, that we would be as quick in slaying our arch rebels—those predominant sins that threaten our precious souls!—Trapp.
1Ki_2:25. “And he fell upon him that he died.” This was another piece of the punishment of David’s two great sins, the small and short pleasure whereof behold what a train and tail of calamities it draweth after it!—Trapp.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv13, 16 General Information:
General Information:
Adonijah comes to speak to Bathsheba.
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peacefully
with no desire to cause harm
all Israel
This is a generalization. (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)
things changed
"what we expected to happen did not happen"
the kingdom was given to my brother
This can be translated in active form. AT: "Yahweh gave the kingdom to my brother" or "my brother became king" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
Adonijah
Bathsheba
peace
kingdom
king
brother
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv13, 16 2:13-15 Adonijah contradicted his supposed peaceful intentions when he…
2:13-15 Adonijah contradicted his supposed peaceful intentions when he declared, the kingdom was rightfully mine.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.