1 Kings 1

1. Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he got no heat. Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and cherish him; and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat. So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. And the damsel was very fair; and she cherished the king, and ministered to him; but the king knew her not. Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he was also a very goodly man; and he was born after Absalom. And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him. But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En-rogel; and he called all his brethren the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah the king’s servants: but Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not. Then Nathan spake unto Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not? Now therefore come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy son Solomon. Go and get thee in unto king David, and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? why then doth Adonijah reign? Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also will come in after thee, and confirm thy words. And Bath-sheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered unto the king. And Bath-sheba bowed, and did obeisance unto the king. And the king said, What wouldest thou? And she said unto him, My lord, thou swarest by the Lord thy God unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne. And now, behold, Adonijah reigneth; and thou, my lord the king, knowest it not: and he hath slain oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host: but Solomon thy servant hath he not called. And thou, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders. And, lo, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. And they told the king, saying, Behold, Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king’s sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah. But me, even me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, hath he not called. Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewed unto thy servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him? Then king David answered and said, Call me Bath-sheba. And she came into the king’s presence, and stood before the king. And the king swore, and said, As the LORD liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity, verily as I swore unto thee by the LORD, the God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; verily so will I do this day. Then Bath-sheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did obeisance to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live forever. And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king. And the king said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon: and let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon. Then ye shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be prince over Israel and over Judah. And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: the LORD, the God of my lord the king, say so too. As the LORD hath been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David. So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David’s mule, and brought him to Gihon. And Zadok the priest took the horn of oil out of the Tent, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon. And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them. And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar? While he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah said, Come in; for thou art a worthy man, and bringest good tidings. And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord king David hath made Solomon king: and the king hath sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the king’s mule: and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon: and they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that ye have heard. And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom. And moreover the king’s servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, Thy God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne: and the king bowed himself upon the bed. And also thus said the king, Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it. And all the guests of Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way. And Adonijah feared because of Solomon; and he arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath laid hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me this day that he will not slay his servant with the sword. And Solomon said, If he shall shew himself a worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness be found in him, he shall die. So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and did obeisance to king Solomon: and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house.

1-4. David was older at seventy than Moses at a hundred and twenty; older than many persons are now at eighty. As the vital heat departed from his blood, it became manifest that his eventful life was drawing to its close. Kit.—The expedient recommended by David’s physicians is the regimen prescribed in similar cases still in the East, particularly among the Arab population, not simply to give heat, but “to cherish,” as they are aware that the inhalation of young breath will give new life and vigor to the worn-out frame. The fact of the health of the young and healthier person being, as it were, stolen to support that of the more aged and sickly, is well established among the medical faculty. And hence the prescription for the aged king was made in a hygienic point of view for the prolongation of his valuable life, and not merely for the comfort to be derived from the natural warmth imparted to his withered frame. Jamieson.

5,6. Adonijah was at least thirty-three years old, for he was one of the six sons born in Hebron; more likely he was thirty-five or thirty-six years old, while Solomon could hardly have been more than twenty years of age. Adonijah was born shortly after Absalom, was beautiful, like his beautiful brother; like him had been indulged by a busy and lenient father, and by his wilfulness and self-ambition was as little fit to reign. Knox.—Like his elder brother Amnon, Adonijah had been born in Hebron; like Absalom, he was distinguished by personal attractions. But he, also, as Amnon and Absalom, had all his life been fatally indulged by David. In the expressive language of Holy Scripture: “his father had not displeased him all his days.” A. E.

As Adonijah was next to Absalom both in the beauty of his body and the time of his birth, so was he, too, like him in practice. He, also, taking advantage of his father’s infirmity, will be possessing himself of the kingdom of Israel. These two, Absalom and Adonijah, were the darlings of their father. Their father had not displeased them from their childhood; therefore they both displeased him in his age. Those children had need to be very gracious that are not marred with pampering. It is more than God owes us, if we receive comfort in those children whom we have over-loved. The indulgence of parents at last pays them home in crosses. Bp. H.—David had nobody to blame but himself for this misconduct of his son. It was his own excessive indulgence which led to this extravagance. Strange weakness in parents and cruelty to their children, to suffer them to become incorrigible in error or inveterate in vice, rather than restrain them while correction is kindness! Delaney.

7. The rebellion of Absalom had failed because David was in full vigor at the time and so ably supported by Abiathar the priest and

Joab the captain of the host. But Adonijah had attached these two to his interests. It is not difficult to understand the motives of Joab in trying to secure the succession for one who would owe to him his elevation, not to speak of the fact that the rival candidate for the throne was Solomon, the “man of peace,” the pupil of Nathan, and the representative of the “religious party” in the land. It is not so easy to account for the conduct of Abiathar, unless it was prompted by jealousy of Zadok, who officiated at Gibeon. A. E.

The facts that David was seemingly at the point of death, and that Solomon was scarcely out of his nonage, seem to have encouraged his hope that by prompt and decisive measures he might secure the crown for himself. He felt strong in his riper years, in his right of primogeniture, in the absence of any evil design against his father, in the supposed good feeling of the people toward his claim, and in the support it had from many old servants of the State, who had been faithful to David in all his troubles. Among these were persons of no less weight than Joab, the commander of the army, and Abiathar, one of the high-priests, who, indeed, are named as his chief abettors. His policy was to anticipate Solomon, by causing himself to be proclaimed king before his father’s death. It was probably calculated that David was too far gone to interfere to any purpose, and that, when the thing was done, and in favor of a son he loved so well, he would acquiesce in it as a fact accomplished. So Adonijah made a great sacrificial feast in the gardens outside Mount Zion, in which lay the fountain of En-regel, and invited to it all the king’s sons except Solomon, and all the king’s servants and officers except those known to be in the interests of his young rival. Among the latter are particularly named Zadok the high-priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the captain of the guard, and the “mighty men,” or select band of “worthies,” of whom we have had repeated mention. The necessity for such exceptions, of which he was himself aware, was ominous for the cause of Adonijah. Not to speak of the “worthies,” the influence of Zadok in the Church was at least equal to that of Abiathar: and although the name of Joab seems more than a counterbalance for that of Benaiah, yet its immediate value was probably less, as the body-guard which the latter commanded constituted the main part of the army constantly under arms and doubtless the only part then present at the capital. Kit.

Had not Adonijah known that Solomon was designed to the kingdom both by God and

David, he would not have invited all the rest of the king’s sons and left out Solomon, who was otherwise the most unlikely to have been his competitor for the throne, since all the rest were older and might have had more pretence for their competition. Bp. II.

11,12. Nathan was the man by whom God had sent that errand of grace to David concerning Solomon, assuring him both to reign and prosper; and now, when Adonijah’s plot was thus on foot, he doth not sit still and depend upon the issue of God’s decree, but consults with Bathsheba how at once to save their lives, and to advance Solomon and defeat Adonijah. God’s pre determination includes the means as well as the end. The same providence that had ordained a crown to Solomon, a repulse to Adonijah, preservation to Bathsheba and Nathan, had fore-appointed the wise and industrious endeavors of the prophet to bring about His just and holy purposes; if we would not have God wanting to us we must not be wanting to ourselves; even when we know what God hath meant to us we may not be negligent. No more than other men did the prophets of God look for revelation in all their affairs; in some things they were left to the counsel of their own hearts. The policy of Nathan was of use as well as his prophecy. Bp. II.

13-43. Nathan induced Bathsheba to go and break to David a matter that so nearly concerned the interests and even safety of her son. She accordingly went to the chamber of David, and “bowed, and did obeisance unto the king.” Knowing that she had not come unbidden without some important cause, he inquired her errand. The manner of the thing was much the same as when Esther appeared before the king of “a hundred and seven and twenty provinces.” Thus permitted to speak, Bathsheba performed a mother’s part well. She repeated what she had learned, and reminded the king of his promise that Solomon should be king after himself. When she had finished, and before David could answer, the prophet Nathan was announced, as had been arranged between him and Bathsheba, and the latter then withdrew, but remained within call. Nathan confirmed Bathsheba’s statement by a more particular recital of what was going on outside the city, and asked if this was done by his authority and with his concurrence. The greatness of the exigency roused the king to clear-minded and decisive action. His body was bowed down by age and feebleness; but his mind could go forth freely and vigorously into all the circumstances, and apprehend all that so great an occasion rerequired. He desired Bathsheba to be called in; and at once, without any question or circumlocution, pledged himself by oath to see his original intentions carried out. His words were solemn and impressive,—“As Jehovah liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress, even as I sware unto thee, by the Lord God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead, even so will I certainly do this day.”

Accordingly, she had no sooner departed, gladdened by the assurance, than he sent for Zadok, Nathan, and Benaiah, and directed them at once to mount Solomon upon his own mule of state, and to escort him, with all the royal servants and the guards, down to Gihon, which lay in the valley on the west side of the city, Adonijah’s party being in the valley on the northeast. There Zadok was to anoint him king, with the sacred oil from the tabernacle, and with a royal flourish of trumpets they were to proclaim, “Long live King Solomon.” This was a sagacious and most effective movement, exactly suited to the circumstances, and shows, that while the king’s natural strength was prostrated, his intellect remained quick and unclouded to the last.

All was done as the king had directed. The open march of so stately a procession, with the official sanction which the presence of the royal guards, and the king’s own mule, conferred, together with the engaging youth of the prince, drew a large and popular concourse with the train to Gihon, where the inauguration took place, as David had directed. The operation was so sudden, that the city had scarcely been aware of it till the procession returned, with Solomon as king. He was then hailed by the citizens with intense acclamation. “The people piped with pipes and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rung with the sound of them.” The joyful uproar in the city even reached the ears of the banqueters at En-regel. They were not left long in doubt as to the purport of this joyous clamor; for Abiathar’s son, Jonathan, came with a full account of the proceedings in the city and at Gihon. His first words must have filled them with dismay,—“Our lord king David hath made Solomon king.” Kit.

29. As the Lord liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress, even so will I certainly do this day, without dispute, without delay. His form of swearing carries in it a grateful acknowledgment of the goodness of God to him in bringing him safe through the many difficulties and hardships which had lain in his way, and which he now makes mention of to the glory of God; thus setting to his seal, from his own experience, that that was true which the Lord spake by him (Ps. 34: 22), The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants. H. —Well might David, on the retrospect of a history so full as his was of trials and reverses, speak of God as He who had redeemed his soul out of all distress. It is well to mark the evangelical term here employed by him, as if affixing thereby the proper designation to that which had been done for a soul so guilty as in his Psalms he confesses himself to be. 39. We learn directly and distinctly from his own mouth in what he said to Bathsheba, that the promise had been made to her under the sanction of an oath, in behalf of Solomon’s succession to the throne—an appointment this which lay at the disposal of the reigning monarch. T. C.

32-35. David gives wise and full directions for the inauguration of Solomon; Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the captain, receive his grave and princely charge, for the carriage of that so weighty a business. They are commanded to take with them the royal guard, to set Solomon upon his father’s mule, to carry him down in state to Gihon, to anoint him with the holy oil of the tabernacle, to sound the trumpets and proclaim him in the streets, to bring him back with triumph and magnificence to the court, and to set him in the royal throne with all the due ceremonies of coronation. Bp. H. —Gihon was probably on the west side of the city near the head of the valley of Hinnom. Adonijah was at the foot of this valley, from a mile to a mile and a half away. The two places were thoroughly concealed from each other by the bend of the valley and its high, rocky sides. Gihon was quite near the Bethlehem gate. Knox.

With whatever weakness David may have been chargeable, he always rose to the requirements of the situation in hours of decisive importance, when either the known will of God or else the interests of his kingdom were in question. In this instance his measures were immediate and decisive. He sent for Zadok, Nathan, and Benaiah, and gave them his royal command for the immediate anointing of Solomon as king over Judah and Israel. 38-53. The scene is vividly portrayed in Scripture. The king’s body-guard—the Cherethi and Pelethi—under the command of Benaiah, was drawn up in front of the royal palace. Soon a vast concourse of people gathered. And now the king’s state-mule, richly caparisoned, was brought out. It was an unwonted sight, which betokened some great state event. Presently, the great news became known, and rapidly spread through the streets and up the bazaars—Solomon was about to be anointed king! The people crowded together, in hundreds and thousands, from all parts of the city. And now Solomon appeared, attended by Zadok the high-priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the chief of the royal guard. The procession formed and moved forward. To avoid collision with the party of Adonijah, it took an opposite or western direction to the valley of Gihon. Here, by authority and express command of David, Solomon was anointed king with the sacred oil by the joint ministry of the high-priest and the prophet. The ceremony ended, the blast of the trumpets proclaimed the accession of the new monarch, and the people burst into a ringing shout: “God save King Solomon!” As the procession returned, the city rang with the jubilee, till it reached the royal palace, where King Solomon seated himself in solemn state on his father’s throne, and received the homage of the court, while David gave public thanks that he had lived to see that day.

Meanwhile, out in the king’s gardens, the strange shouts from the city had reached Adonijah and his guests. Joab had grown uneasy as he heard the well-known sound of the trumpet. The tidings travelled quickly, and already one was in waiting to explain its meaning. But it was not as Adonijah had hoped against hope. The son of Abiathar had come to inform the conspirators of what had just taken place in Gihon and in the royal palace. And now sudden terror seized those who had but lately been so confident in their feasting. Every one of the conspirators fled, foremost among them Adonijah; nor did he deem himself safe till he had reached the sacred precincts and laid hold on the horns of the altar. This asylum he refused to quit until Solomon had assured him by oath that his life would be spared—though on condition that his future conduct should give the king no cause for complaint. The events just recorded, which are only briefly indicated in 1 Chron. 23: 1, were followed by a great assembly of the chief dignitaries in Church and State (1 Chron., chs. 28, 29), when the accession of Solomon to the throne was formally confirmed, and he was anointed a second time. A. E.

The dethronement of the false by the enthronement of the true. When Bathsheba and Nathan brought David news of Adonijah’s revolt, and told him that Joab and Abiathar were at the coronation feast at En-rogel, it is noteworthy that the king made no direct attack on the conspirators. He merely commanded that Solomon should be seated on the royal mule, that he should ride in state to Gihon, and that there Zadok should anoint him king, and proclaim by the sound of trumpet that he was appointed ruler. It was this which paralyzed the traitorous assembly. The sound of the trumpet was to their scheme what the blast of the rams’ horns was to the walls of Jericho when they fell in irreparable ruin. David’s method was the wisest, the surest; for it not only removed a present evil, but provided a future good. The lesson is obvious, and is susceptible of wide application; that the false is most surely dethroned by the enthronement of the true. Rowland.

DAVID’S PREPARATIONS FOR THE FUTURE TEMPLE. HIS CHARGES TO SOLOMON: TO BUILD THE LORD’S HOUSE; TO KNOW AND SERVE JEHOVAH; TO DEAL WITH JOAB AND SHIMEI.