THE

FIRST BOOK OF THE KINGS.

FIRST PERIOD, (1015 TO 975 B. C.)

THE KINGDOM UNDER SOLOMON.*

(CHAPTERS I.-II.)

FIRST SECTION.

SOLOMON'S ACCESSION TO THE THRONE.

CHAP. I., II.

▲.—Adonijah's attempt to seize the kingdom for himself; Solomon's elevation to the throne.

CHAP. I. 1-53.

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1 Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him 2 with clothes, but he gat no heat. Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin [virgin damsel]; and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, 3 that my lord the king may get heat. So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a [the] Shunammite, and brought 4 her to the king. And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.

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Then Adenijah 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. 6 And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after 7 Absalom. And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar 8 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 9 the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En-rogel [the well of Rogel], and called all his brethren the king's sons, and all 10 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.

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Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David 12 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.

[I am indebted to my friend, Frederic Gardiner, D. D., Professor in the Berkeley Divinity School, Middletown, Conn. for the accompanying textual revision and original grammatical notes.-E. H.]

13 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 [That'] Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? why then doth 14 Adonijah reign? Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also will come in after thee, and confirm thy words.

15 And Bath-sheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and the king was 16 very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered unto the king. And Bathsheba bowed, and did obeisance unto the king. And the king said, What 17 wouldest thou? And she said unto him, My lord, thou swarest by the Lord [Jehovah] thy God unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall 18 reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne. And now, behold, Adonijah 19 reigneth; and now [thou"], my lord the king, thou knowest it not: And he hath slain oxen and fat cattle 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 20 thy servant hath he not called. And thou," my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my 21 lord the king after him. Otherwise [But] it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted 1a 22 offenders. And, lo, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet also 23 came in. And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan the prophet [has

come]. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the 24 king with his face to the ground. And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou 25 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 fat cattle 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 26 save king Adonijah [let king Adonijah live]. But me, even me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, 27 hath he not called. Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewed it unto thy servant 15 who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?

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Then king David answered and said, Call me Bath-sheba. And she came 29 into the king's presence, and stood before the king. And the king sware, and 30 said, As the Lord [Jehovah] liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress, even as I sware unto thee by the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel, saying, Assuredly [That ] Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon 31 my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly" do this day. Then Bath-sheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.

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32 And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, 33 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king. The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solo34 mon 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 [let king Solo35 mon live]. Then ye shall come up after him, that he may [and he shall] come and sit upon my throne; for [and] he shall be king in my stead: and I have 36 appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: the Lord [Jehovah] God of my 37 lord the king say so too [so spake 20]. As the Lord [Jehovah] 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.

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So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solo39 mon to ride upon king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon." And Zadok the priest took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon 40 [Let king Solomon live]. And all the people came up after him, and the people

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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 42 said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar? And while he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah said unto him," Come in; for thou art a valiant man, and bringest good tid43 ings. And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord king 44 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 45 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 46 rang again. This is the noise that ye have heard. And also Solomon sitteth on 47 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 48 upon the bed. And also thus said the king, Blessed be the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it. 49 And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up,' 25 and 50 went every man his way. And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, 51 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 caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king" Solomon swear unto me to [this "] day 52 that he will not slay his servant with the sword. And Solomon said, If he will shew himself a worthy man, there shall not a hair of him fall to the earth: but 53 if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die. So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to king Solomon and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house.

1 Ver. 1.

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL.

always connected with ¡P(Gen. xviii. 11; xxiv. 1; Josh. xiii. 1 bis, xxiii. 1, 2) exactly corre

sponds to the phrase in A. V.

Ver. 1.-bed-clothes (cf. 1 Sam. xix. 18), not garments.

3 Ver. 2.—[The translation of

Ver. 2.-In place of the suffix

the text.-Bähr.

in vers. 8 and 4 may well stand here also.

the Sept. has avroû and the Vulg. suo, which Thenius prefers to the reading of

Ver. 2.-[The Alex. Sept., Syr., and Vulg., read our,

Ver. 3.—The definite article should be expressed as in ver. 15.

7 Ver. 18.—[The particle, as is recognized in all the VV., can hardly give the emphasis of the Eng. assuredly. 8 Ver. 14.-[Many MSS. and VV. prefix and.

• Ver. 14.—[7777′′N 8 not complete, fill out, but, as in A. V., confirm; Chald. D'PN, Sept. #Anpwow. The phrase is used of the fulfilment of divine utterances. Cf. ii. 27; viii. 15, 24.

T-:

10 Ver. 18.—All the VV. and 200 MSS. [and the early editions] read instead of !, requires.-Bähr.

as the connection

11 Ver. 20.—Instead of the Chaldee [Syr. and Vulg.], and some [many] MSS. have, which Thenius considers right. On the other hand, Maurer remarks that the pronoun stands here first, just as in Gen. xlix. 8, with emphasis, instead of the suflix.-Bähr.

12 Ver. 21.-[Counted is implied by the connection, but not expressed in the Hbr.

13 Ver. 24.-1
- AN, the question is indicated only by the tone.

T:

14 Ver. 27.-[The pronoun it is better omitted, as in the Hbr. and all VV.

15 Ver. 27.-The k'ri has 77, also nearly all the translations have the singular; but the reading of the text is preferred.-Bähr. [It is that of many MSS.]

16 Ver. 30.-[See note ver. 13.

17 Ver. 80.-Hbr. and VV. omit certainly.

18 Ver. 83.— in the pl. is rightly rendered by the sing, as referring to David-not to David and Solomon.

19 Ver. 83.-[The Chaldee and Syr. read Siloa; Arabic, fountain of Siloa.

20 Ver. 36.-[The words say so too at the end of this ver. in the A. V. should be omitted; in 21 is to be

taken historically, not optatively. Three MSS. followed by the Syr. and Arab. ready for N.

Ver. 38.-[The Chald., Syr., and Arab., make the same change here as in ver. 33.

22 Ver. 42.-[The words unto him are unnecessary; not contained in the Hbr. nor the VV. 23 Ver. 45.-[As, in vers. 33 and 38.

24 Ver. 47.-The k'tib [77] is plainly preferable to the kri pumba –1

25 Ver. 49.-[The Vatican (not Alex.) Sept. omits and rose up.

26 Ver. 51. [The Vatican (not Alex.) Sept. omits king.

-Bähr (and is followed by the Syriac].

27 Ver. 51. [Instead of some MSS. read D17, which has been followed apparently by the A. V.-F. G.]

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.

bosom [not thy, see textual note] that he may become warm. If by these last words they may Ver. 1. Now king David was old, &c. Vers. have presupposed that he would "know her, 1-4 introduce the entire narration following, the they do not state it as the design, as, moreover, central point and chief object of which is Solomon's P' must not be understood necessarily ascension to the throne. Adonijah's endeavor to only of cohabitation (comp. chap. iii. 20; Ruth: iv. usurp the throne was the reason why this event 16). They sought a beautiful maiden "because took place before the death of David. Adonijah she was destined for the king" (Thenius), and proceeded to carry out his purpose when David they found such at Shunem, a city of the tribe Iswas old and infirm, and apparently near his end. sachar, in the plain of Jezreel, at the foot of the soThe author begins, consequently, with the descrip-called little Hermon (Jos. xix. 18; 1 Sam. xxviii. 4). tion of David's condition, and is reminded particu- The text states expressly that the king did not know larly of Abishag, his waiting-maid, because Adoni-her: she was, therefore, not his concubine, but jah, after the misadventure of his enterprise, sought her for a wife in order to gain the throne by means of her, and so wrought his destruction (chap. ii. 13 sq.). The ? at the beginning has no connection with anything preceding; least of all does it connect our books with the books of Samuel (see Introduction, § 3). Nor is it mechanically retained from a passage of the life of David inserted here (Keil); but it stands, as elsewhere so often at the beginning of a book (Jos. i. 1; Judges i. 1; 2 Sam. i. 1; Ruth i. 1; Esth. i. 1; Ezra i. 1; Ezek. i. 1; Jon. i. 1), where the first verse forms the antecedent to the second.-When David was old and infirm, his servants said unto him. David was then seventy years of age (comp. chap. ii. 11, with 2 Sam. v. 4, 5): that his natural warmth then failed him, was not ex nimio mulierum usu (Le Clerc), but was the result of the "extraordinary cares and conflicts of his earlier life" (Ewald).

his waiting-maid and attendant. In a wholly perverse way Josephus, and after him J. D. Michaelis, adduces impotency, in consequence of old age and weakness, as the reason why he did not know her. In that case the remark would be superfluous (Thenius). It serves, however, "to make it clear how it was that Adonijah could seek Abishag for his wife," chap. ii. 17 (Keil), and go to Bath-sheba for her intercession with Solomon. Older interpreters have maintained that she was the actual wife of David, or at least his concubine, and that the relation also, according to the morality of the time, was unobjectionable. But neither here nor in the second chapter is she so named. Amongst the people she may have well passed for such, since Adonijah, through alliance with her, wished to facilitate his way to the throne (see on chap. ii. 13).*

Vers. 5-6. Then Adonijah the son of Haggith, &c. Of the sons of David born at Hebron, Vers. 2-4. Wherefore his servants said Adonijah was the fourth (2 Sam. iii. 2-4). The unto him, &c. Josephus expressly names them first, Amnon, and the third, Absalom, were already physicians (Ant. vii. 14, 3), comp. Gen. 1. 2. The dead, and the second also, Chileab, of whom remedy which one of them, in the name of the nothing more is said, had doubtless died much rest, advised when the “clothes" (as in earlier. As the eldest living son, Adonijah believed that he had claims to the throne. Besides this, 1 Sam. xix. 13; Numb. iv. 6) were of no use, was his beautiful person came into the account, as known in ancient times. Without skill in internal with Absalom, by which, because it was valued remedies, men sought to warm, by means of living in a ruler (1 Sam. ix. 2; 2 Sam. xiv. 25; xvi. 7; vigorous bodies, those whose vital powers were Ezek. xxviii. 12), he hoped for the favorable rechilled and enfeebled. Galen (Method. Medic. 8, 7) says: "Ex iis vero, quæ extrinsecus applican- gard of the people. ver. 6 cannot, with tur, boni habitus puellus una sit accumbans, ut sem- some, be translated: "and he was born unto him per abdomen ejus contingat. Bacon (Hist. Vit. et Nec.): after Absalom," but only, as in Gen. xvi. 1: "and Neque negligenda sunt fomenta ex corporibus vivis. she had borne him after Absalom," i. e., after the According to Bartholinus (De Morb. Bibl. 9), a latter had been borne of Maacah. The alteration of Jewish physician advised the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa to allow young and strong boys to lie the text into "he had begotten him after Abupon his breast (comp. Trusen, Sitten, Gebr. and salom" (Thenius), is wholly unnecessary. The sucKrankh. der Hebrææer, s. 257 sq.). This was not cession to the throne in Israel was certainly hereddesigned here for the gratification of bodily pas-itary; but no law required that the eldest son, at sion, by means of a "concubine," as Winer calls the time, should be the heir-apparent. From vers. Abishag, but before all, for service and assistance, such as was deemed most effective after the unavailing application of the usual remedies to the aged man confined to his bed. The physicians expressly state this, and it agrees with the words: and let her stand before the king, i. e., let her serve nim (Gen. xli. 46; Deut. i. 38), and be his attendant, e., let her wait upon, help him: let her lie in his

* [The allegorical interpretation of Jerome makes the Shunammite damsel the ever-virgin wisdom of God so extolled by Solomon (sapientia quæ numquam senescit, Epist. 2: ad Nepotianum, chap. iv.; Opera, i. p. 285). But in another passage Jerome understands the story literally, and enumerates this relation among the sins and imperfections of David, which would not be allowed under the pel dispensation (contra Jovin. i. i., chap. xxiv., tom. 274).-P. S.]