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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - 1 Kings 1:11 - 1:11
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Adonijah's attempt was frustrated by the vigilance of the prophet Nathan.
1Ki 1:11-13
Nathan informed Solomon's mother, Bathsheba (see at 2Sa 11:3), that Adonijah was making himself king (מָלַךְ כִּי, that he had become as good as king: Thenius), and advised her, in order to save her life and that of her son Solomon (וּמַלְטִי, and save = so that thou mayest save; cf. Ewald, §347, a.), to go to the king and remind him of his promise on oath, that her son Solomon should be king after him, and to inquire why Adonijah had become king. If Adonijah had really got possession of the throne, he would probably have put Solomon and his mother out of the way, according to the barbarous custom of the East, as his political opponents.
1Ki 1:14
While she was still talking to the king, he (Nathan) would come in after her and confirm her words. דָּבָר מִלֵּא, to make a word full, i.e., not to supply what is wanting, but to make full, like πληροῦν, either to fill by accomplishing, or (as in this case) to confirm it by similar assertion.
1Ki 1:15-21
Bathsheba followed this advice, and went to the king into the inner chamber (הַחַדְרָה), since the very aged king, who was waited upon by Abishag, could not leave his room (מְשָׁרַת for מְשָׁרֶתֶת; cf. Ewald, §188, b., p. 490), and, bowing low before him, communicated to him what Adonijah had taken in hand in opposition to his will and without his knowledge. The second וְעַתָּה is not to be altered into וְאַתָּה, inasmuch as it is supported by the oldest codices and the Masora,
(Note: Kimchi says: “Plures scribae errant in hoc verbo, scribentes ואתה cum Aleph, quia sensui hoc conformius est; sed constat nobis ex correctis MSS et masora, scribendum esse ועתה cum Ain.” Hence both Norzi and Bruns have taken ועתה under their protection.Compare de Rossi, variae lectt. ad h. l.)
although about two hundred codd. contain the latter reading. The repetition of וְעַתָּה (“And now, behold, Adonijah has become king; and now, my lord king, thou knowest it not”) may be explained from the energy with which Bathsheba speaks. “And Solomon thy servant he hath not invited” (1Ki 1:19). Bathsheba added this, not because she felt herself injured, but as a sign of Adonijah's feelings towards Solomon, which showed that he had reason to fear the worst if Adonijah should succeed in his usurpation of the throne. In 1Ki 1:20, again, many codd. have וְעַתָּה in the place of וְאַתָּה; and Thenius, after his usual fashion, pronounces the former the “only correct” reading, because it is apparently a better one. But here also the appearance is deceptive. The antithesis to what Adonijah has already done is brought out quite suitably by וְאַתָּה: Adonijah has made himself king, etc.; but thou my lord king must decide in the matter. “The eyes of all Israel are turned towards thee, to tell them who (whether Adonijah or Solomon) is to sit upon the throne after thee.” “The decision of this question is in thy hand, for the people have not yet attached themselves to Adonijah, but are looking to thee, to see what thou wilt do; and they will follow thy judgment, if thou only hastenest to make Solomon king.” - Seb. Schmidt. To secure this decision, Bathsheba refers again, in 1Ki 1:21, to the fate which would await both herself and her son Solomon after the death of the king. They would be הַטָּאִים, i.e., guilty of a capital crime. “We should be punished as though guilty of high treason” (Clericus).
1Ki 1:22-27
While Bathsheba was still speaking, Nathan came. When he was announced to the king, Bathsheba retired, just as afterwards Nathan went away when the king had Bathsheba called in again (cf. 1Ki 1:28 with 1Ki 1:32). This was done, not to avoid the appearance of a mutual arrangement (Cler., Then., etc.), but for reasons of propriety, inasmuch as, in audiences granted by the king to his wife or one of his counsellors, no third person ought to be present unless the king required his attendance. Nathan confirmed Bathsheba's statement, commencing thus: “My lord king, thou hast really said, Adonijah shall be king after me...? for he has gone down to-day, and has prepared a feast, ... and they are eating and drinking before him, and saying, Long live king Adonijah!” And he then closed by asking, “Has this taken place on the part of my lord the king, and thou hast not shown thy servants (Nathan, Zadok, Benaiah, and Solomon) who is to sit upon the throne of my lord the king after him?” The indirect question introduced with אִם is not merely an expression of modesty, but also of doubt, whether what had occurred had emanated from the king and he had not shown it to his servants.
1Ki 1:28-30
The king then sent for Bathsheba again, and gave her this promise on oath: “As truly as Jehovah liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all distress (as in 2Sa 4:9), yea, as I swore to thee by Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying, Solomon thy son shall be king after me, ... yea, so shall I do this day.” The first and third כִּי serve to give emphasis to the assertion, like imo, yea (cf. Ewald, §330, b.). The second merely serves as an introduction to the words.
1Ki 1:31
Bathsheba then left the king with the deepest prostration and the utterance of a blessing, as an expression of her inmost gratitude. The benedictory formula, “May the king live for ever,” was only used by the Israelites on occasions of special importance; whereas the Babylonians and ancient Persians constantly addressed their kings in this way (cf. Dan 2:4; Dan 3:9; Dan 5:10; Dan 6:22; Neh 2:3. Aeliani var. hist. i. 32, and Curtius de gestis Alex. vi. 5).
1Ki 1:32-40
David then sent for Zadok, Nathan, and Benaiah, and directed them to fetch the servants of their lord (אֲדֹנֵיכֶם, a pluralis majestatis, referring to David alone), and to conduct Solomon to Gihon riding upon the royal mule, and there to anoint him and solemnly proclaim him king. The servants of your lord (אֲדֹנֵיכֶם עַבְדֵי) are the Crethi and Plethi, and not the Gibborim also (Thenius), as 1Ki 1:38 clearly shows, where we find that these alone went down with him to Gihon as the royal body-guard. לִי אֲשֶׁר עַל־הַפִּרְדָּה, upon the mule which belongs to me, i.e., upon my (the king's) mule. When the king let any one ride upon the animal on which he generally rode himself, this was a sign that he was his successor upon the throne. Among the ancient Persians riding upon the king's horse was a public honour, which the king conferred upon persons of great merit in the eyes of all the people (cf. Est 6:8-9). פִּרְדָּה, the female mule, which in Kahira is still preferred to the male for riding (see Rosenmüller, bibl. Althk. iv. 2, p. 56). Gihon (גִּחֹון) was the name given, according to 2Ch 32:30 and 2Ch 33:14, to a spring on the western side of Zion, which supplied two basins or pools, viz., the upper watercourse of Gihon (2Ch 32:30) or upper pool (2Ki 18:17; Isa 7:3; Isa 36:2), and the lower pool (Isa 22:9). The upper Gihon still exists as a large reservoir built up with hewn stones, though somewhat fallen to decay, which is called by the monks Gihon, by the natives Birket el Mamilla, about 700 yards W.N.W. from the Joppa gate, in the basin which opens into the valley of Hinnom. The lower pool is probably the present Birket es Sultan, on the south-western side of Zion (see Robinson, Palestine, i. p. 485ff., 512ff., and Biblical Researches, p. 142ff.). The valley between the two was certainly the place where Solomon was anointed, as it is not stated that this took place at the fountain of Gihon. And even the expression גִּחֹון עַל אֹתֹו הֹורַדְתֶּם (take him down to Gihon) agrees with this. For is you go from Zion to Gihon towards the west, you first of all have to descend a slope, and then ascend by a gradual rise; and this slope was probably a more considerable one in ancient times (Rob. Pal. i. p. 514, note).
(Note: The conjecture of Thenius, that גִּחֹון should be altered into גִּבְעֹון, is hardly worth mentioning; for, apart from the fact that all the ancient versions confirm the correctness of גִּחֹון, the objections which Thenius brings against it amount to mere conjectures or groundless assumptions, such as that Zadok took the oil-horn out of the tabernacle at Gibeon, which is not stated in v. 39. Moreover, Gibeon was a three hours' journey from Jerusalem, so that it would have been absolutely impossible for the anointing, which was not commanded by David till after Adonijah's feast had commenced, to be finished so quickly that the procession could return to Jerusalem before it was ended, as is distinctly recorded in v. 41.)