1 Kings 1

1 Kings 1:50

50.—caught hold on the horns of the altar.] Conscious of the crime he had committed, he fled to the altar for safety and protection, as that was a privileged place, not by the appointment of the law, but by the custom of all nations. It is a question to what altar he fled; whether to that at the tabernacle in Gibeon, or to that newly built in the threshingfloor of Araunah: the latter is most probable, as it was nearest. Bp. Patrick. It should be observed, that the Jewish law gave no asylum of the altar to those who had become guilty of a voluntary crime. Wilful murderers might be torn from the altar in order to be put to death, Exod. xxi. 14. According to the custom of almost all nations, altars and temples have been considered as asylums. Calmet.

Chap. II. ver. 1.—and he charged Solomon his son.] Many good counsels had David given to his heir; now he sums them up at the end. Dying words are wont to be the weightiest; the soul, when it is entering into glory, breathes nothing but divine. Bp. Hall.

The exhortations to the fear of God which David gave to his son Solomon before he died, are a mark of his piety, and of his affection for his son. In imitation of this example, parents ought above all things to recommend to their children the fear of the Lord, while they are with them, and before they leave this world; which is the true way to secure the blessing of God to their families. Ostervald.