Then king Solomon swore by Yahweh, saying, “God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life. Now therefore as Yahweh lives, who has established me, and set me on my father David’s throne, and who has made me a house as he promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death today.”
King Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell on him, so that he died. To Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your own fields; for you are worthy of death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you bore the Lord Yahweh’s ark before David my father, and because you were afflicted in all in which my father was afflicted.” So Solomon thrust Abiathar out from being priest to Yahweh, that he might fulfill Yahweh’s word, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
This news came to Joab; for Joab had followed Adonijah, although he didn’t follow Absalom. Joab fled to Yahweh’s Tent, and held onto the horns of the altar. King Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to Yahweh’s Tent, and behold, he is by the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, fall on him.”
Benaiah came to Yahweh’s Tent, and said to him, “The king says, ‘Come out!’ ” He said, “No; but I will die here.” Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “This is what Joab said, and this is how he answered me.”
The king said to him, “Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him; that you may take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father’s house. Yahweh will return his blood on his own head, because he fell on two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, and my father David didn’t know it: Abner the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah. So their blood will return on the head of Joab, and on the head of his offspring forever. But for David, for his offspring, for his house, and for his throne, there will be peace forever from Yahweh.”
Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell on him, and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army; and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar. The king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and live there, and don’t go anywhere else. For on the day you go out and pass over the brook Kidron, know for certain that you will surely die. Your blood will be on your own head.”
Shimei said to the king, “What you say is good. As my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.
At the end of three years, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. They told Shimei, saying, “Behold, your slaves are in Gath.”
Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his slaves; and Shimei went, and brought his slaves from Gath. Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had come again.
The king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Didn’t I adjure you by Yahweh, and warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain, that on the day you go out, and walk anywhere else, you shall surely die?’ You said to me, ‘The saying that I have heard is good.’ Why then have you not kept the oath of Yahweh, and the commandment that I have instructed you with?” The king said moreover to Shimei, “You know in your heart all the wickedness that you did to David my father. Therefore Yahweh will return your wickedness on your own head. But king Solomon will be blessed, and David’s throne will be established before Yahweh forever.” So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out, and fell on him, so that he died. The kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv25, 26, 28, 29, 31, 33, 35, 39, 40, 44, 46 Or, fell upon him.
Or, fell upon him.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv23–46 1Ki 2:23 Then king Solomon sware by the LORD,…
1Ki 2:23 Then king Solomon sware by the LORD, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life.
Ver. 23. And Solomon sware.] That his mother, seeing him so resolute, might no more solicit.
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 vv23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46 Sware by the Lord; once here, and again, 1Ki…
Sware by the Lord; once here, and again, 1Ki 2:24; which he did to oblige himself irrevocably to it, and to prevent all intercessions for his life, it being of so great importance to him.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv26, 35 Abiathar and Joab were both aiding and abetting in…
Abiathar and Joab were both aiding and abetting in Adonijah's rebellious attempt, and it is probable were at the bottom of this new motion made of Adonijah for Abishag, and it should seem Solomon knew it, Kg1 2:22. This was, in both, an intolerable affront both to God and to the government, and the worse because of their high station and the great influence their examples might have upon many. They therefore come next to be reckoned with. They are both equally guilty of the treason, but, in the judgment passed upon them, a difference is made and with good reason.
I. Abiathar, in consideration of his old services, is only degraded, Kg1 2:26, Kg1 2:27. 1. Solomon convicts him, and by his great wisdom finds him guilty: "Thou art worthy of death, for joining with Adonijah, when thou knewest on whose head God intended to set the crown." 2. He calls to mind the respect he had formerly shown to David his father, and that he had both ministered to him in holy things (had borne before him the ark of the Lord), and also had tenderly sympathized with him in his afflictions and been afflicted in them all, particularly when he was in exile and distress both by Saul's persecution and Absalom's rebellion. Note, Those that show kindness to God's people shall have it remembered to their advantage one time or other. 3. For this reason he spares Abiathar's life, but deposes him from his offices, and confines him to his country seat at Anathoth, forbids him the court, the city, the tabernacle, the altar, and all inter-meddling in public business, with an intimation likewise that he was upon his good behaviour, and that though Solomon did not put him to death at this time he might another time, if he did not conduct himself well. But, for the present, he was only thrust out from being priest, as rendered unworthy that high station by the opposition he had given to that which he knew to be the will of God. Saul, for a supposed crime, had barbarously slain Abiathar's father, and eighty-five priests, their families, and city. Solomon spares Abiathar himself, though guilty of a real crime. Thus was Saul's government ruined and Solomon's established. As men are to God's ministers, they will find him to them. 4. The depriving of Abiathar was the fulfilling of the threatening against the house of Eli (Sa1 2:30), for he was the last high priest of that family. It was now above eighty years since the ruin was threatened; but God's judgments, though not executed speedily, will be executed surely.
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II. Joab, in consideration of his old sins, is put to death.
1. His guilty conscience sent him to the horns of the altar. He heard that Adonijah was executed and Abiathar deposed, and therefore, fearing his turn would be next, he fled for refuge to the altar. Many that, in the day of their security, care not for the service of the altar, will be glad of the protection of it in the day of their distress. Some think Joab designed thereby to devote himself for the future to a constant attendance upon the altar, hoping thereby to obtain his pardon, as some that have lived a dissolute life all their days have thought to atone for their crimes by retiring into a monastery when they are old, leaving the world when it has left them and no thanks to them.
2. Solomon ordered him to be put to death there for the murder of Abner and Amasa; for these were the crimes upon which he thought fit to ground the sentence, rather than upon his treasonable adherence to Adonijah. Joab was indeed worthy of death for turning after Adonijah, in contempt of Solomon and his designation to the throne, though he had not turned after Absalom, Kg1 2:28. Former fidelity will not serve to excuse any after treachery; yet, besides that, Joab had merited well of the house of David, to which and to his country he had done a great deal of good service in his day, in consideration of which, it is probable, Solomon would have pardoned him his offence against him (for clemency gives great reputation and establishment to an infant government), and would have only displaced him as he did Abiathar; but he must die for the murders he had formerly been guilty of, which his father had charged Solomon to call him to an account for. The debt he owed to the innocent blood that was shed, by answering its cries with the blood of him that shed, he could not pay himself, but left it to his son to pay it, who, having power wherewithal, failed not to do it. On this he grounds the sentence, aggravating the crime (Kg1 2:32), that he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, that had done him no wrong nor meant him any, and, had they lived, might probably have done David better service (if the blood shed be not only innocent, but excellent, the life more valuable that common lives, the crime is the more heinous), that David knew not of it, and yet the case was such that he would be suspected as privy to it; so that Joab endangered his prince's reputation in taking away the life of his rivals, which was a further aggravation. For these crimes, (1.) He must die, and die by the sword of public justice. By man must his blood be shed, and it lies upon his own head (Kg1 2:32), as theirs does whom he had murdered, Kg1 2:33. Woe to the head that lies under the guilt of blood! Vengeance for murder was long in coming upon Joab; but, when it did come, it remained the longer, being here entailed upon the head of his seed for ever (Kg1 2:33), who, instead of deriving honour, as otherwise they might have done, from his heroic actions, derived guilt, and shame, and a curse, from his villainous actions, on account of which they fared the worse in this world. The seed of such evil doers shall never be renowned. (2.) He must die at the altar, rather than escape. Joab resolved not to stir from the altar (Kg1 2:30), hoping thereby either to secure himself or else to render Solomon odious to the people, as a profaner of the holy place, if he should put him to death there. Benaiah made a scruple of either killing him there or dragging him thence; but Solomon knew the law, that the altar of God should give no protection to wilful murderers. Exo 21:14, Thou shalt take him from my altar that he may die, may die a sacrifice. In case of such sins as the blood of beasts would atone for the altar was a refuge, but not in Joab's case. He therefore orders him to be executed there, if he could not be got thence, to show that he feared not the censure of the people in doing his duty, but would rectify their mistake, and let them know that the administration of justice is better than sacrifice, and that the holiness of any place should never countenance the wickedness of any person. Those who, by a lively faith, take hold on Christ and his righteousness, with a resolution, if they perish, to perish there, shall find in him a more powerful protection than Joab found at the horns of the altar. Benaiah slew him (Kg1 2:34), with the solemnity, no doubt, of a public execution. The law being thus satisfied, he was buried in his own house in the wilderness, privately, like a criminal, not pompously, like a soldier; yet no indignity was done to his dead body. It is not for man to lay the iniquity upon the bones, whatever God does.
3. Solomon pleased himself with this act of justice, not as it gratified any personal revenge, but as it was the fulfilling of his father's orders and a real kindness to himself and his own government. (1.) Guilt was hereby removed, Kg1 2:31. By returning the innocent blood that had been shed upon the head of him that shed it, it was taken away from him and from the house of his father, which implies that the blood which is not required from the murderer will be required from the magistrate, at least there is danger lest it should. Those that would have their houses safe and built up must put away iniquity far from them. (2.) Peace was hereby secured (Kg1 2:33) upon David. He does not mean his person, but, as he explains himself in the next words, Upon his seed, his house, and his throne, shall there be peace for ever from the Lord; thus he expresses his desire that it may be so and his hope that it shall be so. "Now that justice is done, and the cry of blood is satisfied, the government will prosper." Thus righteousness and peace kiss each other. Now that such a turbulent man as Joab is removed there shall be peace. Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness, Pro 25:5. Solomon, in this blessing of peace upon his house and throne, piously looks upward to God as the author of it. "It shall be peace from the Lord, and peace for ever from the Lord." The Lord of peace himself give us that peace which is everlasting.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv23–45 Now therefore, as the Lord liveth,.... Which is another…
Now therefore, as the Lord liveth,.... Which is another oath; and one may easily perceive hereby in what a temper and disposition Solomon was, how warm, earnest, and vehement, how resolute against the petition, and how determined he was to punish Adonijah and his confederates:
which hath established me, and set me upon the throne of David my father, and who hath made me an house, as he promised; who had placed him on his father's throne, and established him there, in spite of all his enemies, and had given him a firm and stable kingdom, which was not to be shaken and subverted by the power and policy of conspirators, according to the promise of God by Nathan, Sa2 7:11;
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Adonijah shall be put to death this day; both for his former conspiracy, he only having had a reprieve, and which was to continue on his good behaviour, Kg1 1:51, and for his fresh attempt in forming treasonable schemes to ascend the throne if possible; wherefore, being a dangerous man, and no longer to be trusted, Solomon was determined to dispatch him at once, and being established in his kingdom, he had nothing to fear from those in the conspiracy with him.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv25, 26, 27, 30, 31, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 44 Benaiah - For the execution of justice was not…
Benaiah - For the execution of justice was not then committed to obscure persons, as now it is; but to persons of great honour and authority. It is far from clear, that Solomon did right herein, or that Adonijah had any ill design in asking Abishag.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv25, 27, 28, 30, 34, 36, 37, 40, 45, 46 Verse 25. Solomon sent - Benaiah - and he…
Verse 25. Solomon sent - Benaiah - and he fell upon him that he died.] Benaiah seems to have been the public state executioner, and yet he was generalissimo of all the forces. See him employed in a similar work, 1Kg 2:34; 1Kg 2:46. I suppose him to have been such another general as Suwarrow, butcher-general of the Turks and Poles to the late Empress Catharine of Russia: like mistress, like man. But they have long since been called to an impartial tribunal.
That this was an act of cruelty towards Adonijah, needs no proof. He is suspected, condemned, and slain, without a hearing. Calmet vindicates all this by various assumptions, and lays down a doctrine that is calculated for the meridian of Fez or Morocco; hear him: Un prince, dans ses jugemens, ne peut pas toujours suivre les regles de la plus parfaite morale; la politique, et le bien de l'etat, obligent souvent a des choses opposees aux conseils de l'evangile; "A prince in his judgments cannot always follow the rules of the most perfect morality; policy and the good of the state often require things to be done which are contrary to the counsels of the Gospel." What a diabolic maxim is this! And is this indeed the way that French kings ruled and ministers decreed judgment? Then we need not wonder at a revolution in that state, nor of the scourge that desolated the land. O England! magnify God for your constitution, your constitutional king, and the laws according to which he reigns.
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 vv23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 31, 32, 36, 37, 38, 39, 43, 45 1Ki 2:23. Then King Solomon sware by the Lord…
1Ki 2:23. Then King Solomon sware by the Lord — Once here, and again 1Ki 2:24, which he did to oblige himself irrevocably to perform his resolution, and to prevent all intercession for Adonijah’s life, the matter being, he believed, of the greatest importance to him.
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 vv23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 42 Against his own life - Adonijah had forfeited his…
Against his own life - Adonijah had forfeited his life by his former conduct, and his pardon had been merely conditional 1Ki 1:52.
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 vv24, 25, 26, 28, 30, 34, 35, 37, 39 House. This generally denotes children, and Roboam was born…
House. This generally denotes children, and Roboam was born this year. Some have considered his birth as miraculous, supposing that Solomon was not above 12 years old, ver. 9. (St. Jerome, Ep. ad Vital.)
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 On vv23, 26, 28, 33, 34, 36, 46 God do so to me, and more also--the common…
God do so to me, and more also--the common form of introducing a solemn oath.
if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life--Whether there was a treasonable design to conceal under this request or not, the act, according to Eastern notions, was criminal, and of dangerous consequence to the state. There is no ground of censure upon Solomon for cruelty or precipitation in this instance. He had pardoned Adonijah's former conspiracy; but this new attempt was rebellion against the viceroy appointed by the divine King and called for condign punishment. The office of executioner was among the Hebrews, as in other ancient countries of the East, performed unceremoniously and privately--often without any previous warning--by the captain of the guard, or one of his officers (Mat 14:10).
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 vv24, 26, 27, 28, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40, 44, 46 24. Adonijah shall be put to death this day…
24. Adonijah shall be put to death this day — To the charge of those interpreters who condemn this vigorous severity of Solomon as a needless act of cruelty, the following words of Keil are an excellent and all-sufficient reply: “All attack or censure depends on un-biblical views of law and right, and on a complete misunderstanding of the theocratic point of view, according to which alone the question can be decided. By the attempt to usurp the throne Adonijah had already rebelled against Jehovah, who had appointed Solomon as the successor of David. Now if, after Solomon had forgiven his transgression, he comes out with a new attempt at rebellion, duty to God and the theocracy demanded of Solomon not to have respect to consanguinity, but to act according to the rigour of the law.”
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 vv23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 23. God do so to me, and more also]…
23. God do so to me, and more also] This is a very idiomatic rendering for the Hebrew, which is literally ‘Thus shall God do to me, and thus shall He add.’ The expression occurs again in 1Ki_19:2, 1Ki_20:10, and in 2Ki_6:31 as well as several times in the books of Samuel, and in Rth_1:17.
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 vv23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 35, 36, 39 (23) God do so to me, and more also.—See…
(23) God do so to me, and more also.—See Rth_1:17; 1Sa_3:17; 1Sa_14:44; 1Sa_20:13; 1Sa_25:22, 2Sa_11:14, &c. This well-known formula of imprecation—which the LXX. renders, “May God do these things to me and add these things also “—was probably accompanied with some gesture signifying utter destruction.
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 vv23–46 Then king Solomon sware by the Lord, saying, God…
Then king Solomon sware by the Lord, saying, God do so to me, and more also a common form of adjuration (Rth_1:17; 1Sa_14:44 1Sa_20:13; = 2Sa_3:9 2Sa_19:13, etc.) Gott soil mich fort und fort strafen. Bahr, if or "that." yKi constantly follows formulae of swearing, as in all the passages just cited. Cf. the use of oti in New Testament. The order of the next words in the Hebrew is noticeable against his life spake Adonijah this word. wvpnB, "at the peril or cost of his life." (Cf. 2Sa_23:17; Jos_23:11)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv26, 28, 30 And unto Abiathar the priest said the king.
1Ki_2:26-27
And unto Abiathar the priest said the king.
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Friends that fail us
In middle life--much more in old age--we may have many acquaintances, but we have few friends. If, said an old man quaintly, my acquaintances would fill a church, my real friends could go in the pulpit. Socrates used to keep two chairs only in his house: One for myself, and another for a friend--when I find him! How well then it is that there is a Friend who sticketh closer than a brother--a Guide and Comforter whom we cannot fail to find if we look for Him with the eyes of faith! (Quiver.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv26, 28, 36 1Ki_2:26. Not at this time put thee to death—It…
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
1Ki_2:26. Not at this time put thee to death—It did not contain a threat that what was now deferred would be executed at a later date; the sentence would depend on Abiathar’s future conduct.
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HOMILETICS OF 1Ki_2:26-27
THE RETRIBUTION OF A FAITHLESS FRIENDSHIP
Formerly, Abiathar had been a firm and attached friend of David, had attended him in all his wanderings when he fled from Saul, and was esteemed by the king with a special tenderness. It may be Abiathar had grown jealous of Zadok, and feared being supplanted by him; or, it may be, he was drawn into rebellion by the masterly strategy and astute opposition of the wilful and discontented Joab. He thus became, equally with Joab, involved in the guilt of treason, though a difference is made in the final judgment passed upon the two. The subject suggested by the whole passage is the retribution of a faithless friendship.
I. That a faithless friendship may merit the severest punishment. “For thou art worthy of death” (1Ki_2:26). Treachery on the part of one we have trusted is an act of basest cruelty; and in proportion to the intimacy enjoyed will be the mischief wrought. It is an exquisitely painful experience when, for the first time, our confidence in human nature is broken. Such an experience has driven many into general infidelity and a reckless course of iniquity. We begin to discover the truth of the proverb—“Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth and a foot out of joint” (Pro_25:19). Few men can be trusted to do all we expect, still less to do all we require. Faithless conduct is ungrateful. All the kindnesses of a long, fond friendship are forgotten and despised. “He who calls a man ungrateful,” says Swift, “sums up all the evil a man can be guilty of.” Such conduct entails unspeakable suffering. To the pang of disappointment is added a series of disasters. No one sin is alone; it is the cause of many others: it is like the letting out of waters. Such conduct will meet with severe punishment. The unfaithful friend often suffers more than his victim. Conscience will speak, and its every tone is full of torture. The most callous will be goaded into agony by the stings of a retributive remorse.
II. That the severity of retribution is often moderated by the recollection of acts of fidelity in the past.
1. Respect is had to the religious office and conduct of God’s ministers. “Because thou barest the ark of the Lord God” (1Ki_2:26). Whatever we do for God in sincerity and truth will not be forgotten when trouble overtakes us. The virtuous part of a life that may afterwards sink in the moral scale is looked back upon with admiration and regret. Justice draws near with reluctance, and sorrows while it smites.
2. Respect is had to the exhibition of a genuine fellow-sympathy in times of suffering. “And because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted” (1Ki_2:26). Abiathar had been with David in his exile and distress, caused both by the persecution of Saul and the rebellion of Absalom, and shared all the hardships of those trying times. Friendship is cemented and strengthened by suffering. Our love to any one may be measured by the extent we are prepared to suffer for him. The father and brethren of Abiathar were slain for David’s sake. Those who show kindness to God’s people will have it recompensed to them sooner or later. It is a sad reflection that a friendship that has borne the test of suffering may, nevertheless, prove untrue.
III. That the retribution of a faithless friendship consigns its victim to a condition of shame and obscurity.
1. It involves a dismissal from the royal presence. “Get thee to Anathoth, &c.” (1Ki_2:26). This would be a heavy blow to Abiathar, whose life had hitherto been spent at court, and occupied with the highest affairs of state. He must now exchange the excitement and display of the city for the obscurity of Anathoth. And yet he must have dreaded a heavier punishment when he remembered the fate of Adonijah, and the fate that threatened Joab. His life was mercifully spared, though he was excluded from that which had before been the sunshine and joy of his life—the favour of the king. Cain felt his curse all the more bitterly because he was driven from the presence of the Lord; and the lot of the finally impenitent will be all the more unendurable because they are for ever shut out from the presence of the Great King.
2. It involves a degradation from the most honourable office. “So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the Lord” (1Ki_2:27). He had disqualified himself for the holy duties of his office by his opposition to that which he knew was the will of God. “The priesthood of Abiathar, as it aggravated his crime, so it shall preserve his life. Such honour have good princes given to the ministers of the sanctuary that their very coat has been defence enough against the sword of justice: how much more should it be of proof against the contempt of base persons!” Saul cruelly slew the father of Abiathar, and eighty-five priests with their families, for a supposed crime: Solomon spares Abiathar himself, though guilty of a real crime. Mark the judgment of history in those two cases: the government of Saul was disgraced and ruined; the throne of Solomon was established. As men are to God’s ministers, they will find Him to them. When circumstances permit, mildness and forgiveness should go hand-in-hand with justice. The highest ecclesiastical office does not lift a man above the power of the law to punish for wrong-doing.
IV. That the retribution of a faithless friendship may be the unconscious fulfilment of a long-threatened judgment against a sinful generation. “That he might fulfil the word of the Lord, which He spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh” (1Ki_2:27). Eighty years had rolled away since the words of doom were spoken against the house of Eli, and it seemed very unlikely that they would ever be fulfilled (1Sa_2:31-36). But time has no power to wipe out the Divine record, or to enfeeble the justice of the Divine hand. The deposition of Abiathar involved the rejection of the house of Ithamar (1Ch_24:3), to which Eli belonged, and the re-establishment of the high-priesthood in the line of Eleazar, to which Zadok belonged (Num_25:13; 1Ch_24:5-6). The wickedness of a generation cannot be purged away, though its punishment may be arrested by the virtues of individuals. “If God pays slowly, He pays sure. Delay of most certain punishment is neither any hindrance to His justice, nor any comfort to our miseries.” Solomon had no immediate intention of punishing the descendants of Eli, and, perhaps, never thought of the prophecy. Man is often the unconscious instrument of carrying out the Divine purposes. Faithlessness will not go unpunished for want of agencies to punish. All the forces of the universe are at the service of the Supreme Judge. Rebellion in a priest, who should teach loyalty, is doubly criminal.
LESSONS:—
1. A treacherous friend may work serious mischief.
2. Is punished with reluctance.
3. Yet cannot escape the inevitable retribution of his treachery.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1Ki_2:26-27. Solomon allowed Abiathar 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 upon him, he deprived him of his influential office, and let him live at liberty on his estate, on account of his former good behaviour. Here was no severity, but gratitude, kindness, and generosity. 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).—Lange.
1Ki_2:26. “Thou art worthy of death.” The voice of law to the sinner.
1. He has forfeited life by transgression.
2. It is the function of law to convince him of that fact.
3. Law offers no gleam of hope as to any escape from death.
4. Christ alone redeems from the curse of the law.
“Because thou hast been afflicted.” But for this he had now been a dead man. So God by the rod preventeth the sword; and therefore will not condemn his saints for their sins, because they have suffered (1Co_11:31), and in His account have suffered double (Isa_40:1).—Trapp.
1Ki_2:27. Solomon might lawfully take from Abiathar all the revenues of his place, as well as the liberty of officiating in it; but the sacerdotal office, which he received from God, and to which he was anointed, he could not alienate. He was still styled the priest (1Ki_4:4). There is a great difference between depriving a man of the dignity and of the exercise of his function in such a determinate place, and taking from him an authority which was given him by God, and the profits and emoluments which were the gifts of the crown or the nation.
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.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv26, 36 The End of Joab
The End of Joab
v. 26. And unto Abiathar, the priest, said the king, in deposing him and his family from office, Get thee to Anathoth, a priests’ town in the tribe of Benjamin, some five miles northeast of Jerusalem, unto thine own fields, for he had possessions there; for thou art worthy of death, as a conspirator against the king; but I will not at this time put thee to death because thou barest the ark of the Lord God before David, my father, 1Sa 23:6; 2Sa 15:24-29, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted, both during the persecution of Saul and during the rebellion of Absalom.
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v. 27. So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the Lord, that he might fulfill the word of the Lord which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh, from whom Abiathar was, through Ithamar, descended. The office of the high priest, from this time forth, passed over to the house of Eleazar, to which Zadok belonged. If a servant of the Word becomes guilty of flagrant transgressions of God’s holy Law, he becomes unworthy of the holy office.
v. 28. Then tidings came to Joab, he received news of the execution of Adonijah and of the deposition of Abiathar; for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord, probably the tent of David on Mount Zion, and caught hold on the horns of the altar, the altar being considered a place of refuge, 1Ki 1:50.
v. 29. And it was told King Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord; and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, the official executioner, saying, Go, fall upon him.
v. 30. And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the Lord and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. He did not like to perform the execution in the sanctuary. And he, Joab, said, Nay; but I will die here. He relied upon his defiance to save his life. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.
v. 31. And the king, assuming the responsibility, said unto him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and, after the execution, bury him, that thou mayest take away the innocent blood which Joab shed, from me and from the house of my father; for as long as the murderer was unpunished, the blood-guiltiness rested upon the chief magistrate of the land, Num 35:30-31; Deu 19:13.
v. 32. And the Lord shall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon the two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing thereof, to wit, Abner, the son of Ner, 2Sa 3:27, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether, 2Sa 20:10, captain of the host of Judah. Thus the blood of these men, which had been shed by Joab in deliberate murder, mould be avenged.
v. 33. Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab, to be required at his hand, and upon the head of his seed forever, Cf 2Sa 3:28-29; but upon David and upon his seed and upon his house, his family in all its descendants, and upon his throne, upon the royal office hereditary in his family, shall there be peace forever from the Lord, salvation and blessing in richest measure.
v. 34. So Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, went up and fell upon him, in the sanctuary, and slew him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness, that of Judah, not far from Bethlehem and Tekoa.
v. 35. And the king put Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, who till now had been captain of the king’s body-guard, in his room over the host, making him commander-in-chief over the army; and Zadok, the priest, did the king put in the room of Abiathar, the only high priest in office. No matter if one has, for a long time, walked in the paths of righteousness; if he becomes unfaithful to his Lord, he loses the credit of his former conduct and must suffer the penalty of his transgressions.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 39, 41, 43, 45 General Information:
General Information:
King Solomon executes Adonijah.
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set me on the throne
The word "throne" refers to Solomon's authority to rule that was given by Yahweh. (See: Metonymy)
who has made me a house
Here "house" refers to descendants that Yahweh gave to King Solomon, who would continue to reign after him. (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
throne
David
ancestor
house
promise
die
Solomon
Benaiah
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 vv26, 28, 36, 39 2:26-35 Solomon presumed that Adonijah’s chief supporters, Abiathar and…
2:26-35 Solomon presumed that Adonijah’s chief supporters, Abiathar and Joab, remained involved in Adonijah’s schemes, so Solomon dealt with them as well.
2:26-27 Abiathar had treasonously supported Adonijah (1:7, 25). But he was deposed rather than killed because he had carried the Ark (2 Sam 15:24, 29, 35), had supported David, and had shared all his hardships. Abiathar’s removal from the priesthood fulfilled the Lord’s word about the house of Eli in Ithamar’s line (1 Sam 2:30-35). Zadok’s appointment (1 Kgs 4:2) returned the high priesthood to Eleazar’s line as it had been before Eli (Num 20:22-28; 25:11-13; 2 Sam 8:17; 1 Chr 6:1-8, 50-53; Ezra 7:2-5) and as it continued throughout the divided monarchy (2 Chr 31:10; Ezek 43:19).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.