SOLOMON BECOMES KING
1 Kings 1:1 - 2:46
The book of 2nd Samuel ends
with David as the King of a united
DAVID’S FEEBLE CONDITION
(1 KINGS 1:1‑4)
1 Now King David was old,
advanced in age; and they covered him with clothes, but he could not keep warm.
2 So his servants said to
him, “Let them seek a young virgin for my lord the king, and let her attend the
king and become his nurse; and let her lie in your bosom, that my lord the king
may keep warm.”
3 So they searched for a
beautiful girl throughout all the
4 The girl was very
beautiful; and she became the king's nurse and served him, but the king did not
cohabit with her. (1 Kings 1:1-4).
As the book opens, we are
struck by David’s feebleness and apparent inability to
act decisively. This is the man who...
·
Killed Goliath with a simple sling.
·
Eluded the wrath of Saul for so many years.
·
United all of the
·
Conquered all of the surrounding enemies of
At this point, David is barely 70 years of
age (2 Samuel 5:4-5 says that he became king at the age of 30 and ruled for 40
years). But these years have not been
kind to him. His years in exile and his
years on the battlefield have taken their toll.
And perhaps the worst of all have been the series of disasters which
have involved his own family.
It had begun with his sin with Bathsheba and
his vain attempt at a coverup. The years
which followed saw family tragedy.
·
The rape of Tamar by her half-brother.
·
The murder of Amnon at the hands of Absalom.
·
The rebellion of Absalom.
There is a lesson here. It is
that sin, while it can be forgiven, still carries its negative consequences.
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“Shunammite” is the same
as “Shulammite” in Song of Solomon 6:13.
Hebrew allows for the two liquids to be interchanged. Shunem was a town to the southwest of the |
As a result, David was now a
broken man. He seems to have been well
past his prime, both physically as well as mentally. He has deteriorated to the point of no longer
being able to keep warm in the chilly
ADONIJAH'S ATTEMPT AT THE
THRONE (I KINGS 1:5‑10)
5 Now Adonijah the son of
Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” So he prepared for himself chariots and
horsemen with fifty men to run before him.
6 His father had never
crossed him at any time by asking, “Why have you done so?” And he was also a very handsome man, and he
was born after Absalom.
7 He had conferred with
Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest; and following Adonijah
they helped him. (1 Kings 1:5-7).
Adonijah was one of the sons
of David. Verse 6 specifies that he had
been born after Absalom and, by saying this, compares his actions to those of
Absalom who attempted to overthrow David.
Adonijah was aided in his
quest for the throne by several of David’s longtime associates.
1. Joab
was the nephew of David (Zeruiah was David’s sister) and had served for many
years as the commander of David’s army.
2. Abiathar
was the son of Ahimelech, the high priest of Nod who had been put to death by
Saul when David was a fugitive.
These two leaders in the
nation now throw their support behind Adonijah who is seeking to make certain that
he will be the successor to the throne.
DAVID IS WARNED (1 KINGS
1:11‑31)
There were certain men who
had been specifically excluded from the plans of Adonijah.
a. Zadok
the priest: In 1 Chronicles 12:26-28 he
is listed as a warrior of the house of Levi.
He had served jointly with Abiathar as chief priest under David’s rule.
b. Benaiah
the son of Jehoiada was the head of the 30 most valiant of David’s men.
c. Nathan
the prophet.
d. The
mighty men who belonged to David.
Nathan is the man of the
hour. He comes to Bathsheba with the
situation and they plan how they are going to make David aware of the problem.
Nathan was a good
friend. He had called David to
repentance when he sinned with Bathsheba.
And now he comes to David’s aid with Bathsheba to warn of impending
danger. But he does so in a way designed
to catch his attention. He was good at
that - remember the time when he had captured David’s attention with a story.
Nathan sends Bathsheba to the
King to warn him. Then he comes in
himself to back up her story.
THE ACCLAMATION OF SOLOMON
(1 KINGS 1:32‑40)
David orders immediate action
to be taken in confirming Solomon as king.
Solomon is to be given the mule of the King to ride and brought down to
the Gihon, the main spring supplying water to the city of
33 The king said to them,
“Take with you the servants of your lord, and have my son Solomon ride on my
own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.
34 “Let Zadok the priest and
Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over
35 “Then you shall come up
after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne and be king in my place; for
I have appointed him to be ruler over
The Gihon Spring had been
instrumental in the original conquest of
|
Many years later, Hezekiah would have a 1700 yard
tunnel dug through the mountain in order to bring the spring waters within
the city walls (2 Chronicles 32:30). |
beginning of David’s
reign. 2 Samuel 5:8 indicates that the
city was taken “through the water tunnel.” Archaeologists have discovered that there is
a steep tunnel cut through
38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan
the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites
went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and brought him to Gihon.
39 Zadok the priest then took
the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet,
and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!”
40 All the people went up
after him, and the people were playing on flutes and rejoicing with great joy,
so that the earth shook at their noise. (1 Kings 1:38-40).
The instructions of David are
carried out. Solomon is brought on
David’s mule to the Gihon spring, much the same way that a later Son of David
will be brought to
47 “Moreover, the king's
servants came to bless our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name
of Solomon better than your name and his throne greater than your throne!' And
the king bowed himself on the bed.
48 “The king has also said
thus, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has granted one to sit on my
throne today while my own eyes see it.’” (1 Kings 1:47-48).
David viewed Solomon’s
ascension to the throne of
In 2 Samuel 7, God had
promised that the throne of David would be established forever. This promise has been ultimately fulfilled in
the person of Jesus.
ADONIJAH'S REACTION (1
KINGS 1:41‑53)
|
Horns were a sign of
strength and potency. To hold onto the
horns of the altar was to appeal to the Lord. |
Adonijah’s supporters are
quick to distance themselves from him and scatter to the four winds. Adonijah himself seeks refuge at the horns
of the sacrificial altar which stood before the Tent of Meeting. His safety is guaranteed by Solomon as long
as he acts in an appropriate manner.
Evidently, Adonijah expected
to be put to death as a rival claimant to the throne - an action that he
himself would have taken against Solomon had he been successful. Such actions were not unknown in the ancient
world.
DAVID’S CHARGE TO SOLOMON
(1 KINGS 2:1-12)
1 As David’s time to die
drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying,
2 “I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong,
therefore, and show yourself a man.
3 “Keep the charge of the
LORD your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His
ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of
Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, 4 so that
the LORD may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying,
"If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with
all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne
of Israel.’ (1 Kings 2:1-4).
In his exposition of 1st
Kings, Ralph Davis points out that the first two chapters of 1 Kings form a
couplet.[1] They are given
to us in something of a parallel.
|
Chapter 1 |
Chapter 2 |
|
Nathan
approaches the king through Bathsheba |
Adonijah
approaches the king through Bathsheba |
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David swears an
oath in response to Bathsheba (1:29-30) |
Solomon swears
an oath in response to Bathsheba (2:23) |
|
Focus is upon
the succession of the kingdom |
Focus is upon
the security of the kingdom |
David’s charge to Solomon is
given in two parts. The first part has
to do with Solomon's spiritual life (2:2-4)
The second part gives specific instructions concerning unfinished
business that David had with certain members of his court (2:5-9).
1. A
Charge to Spiritual Living (2:2-4).
David’s
charge to Solomon echoes with the same themes as the charge which the Lord gave
to Joshua following the death of Moses.
|
Joshua 1:2-9 |
1 Kings 2:2-4 |
|
Be strong and courageous
(repeated three times) |
Be strong, therefore, and
show yourself a man. |
|
Be careful to do according
to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to
the right or to the left... This book of the Law shall not depart from your
mouth |
Keep the charge of the Lord
your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His
ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of
Moses |
|
Then you will make your way
prosperous, and then you will have success. |
So that the Lord may carry
out His promise which He spoke concerning me |
Verse
4 presents us with the conditional nature of the Davidic Covenant. The continuation of that covenant was
dependent upon the continuing obedience of David’s descendants.
2. A
Charge to Unfinished Business (2:5-9).
There
were certain unresolved issues which David was going to pass on to
Solomon. Notice that in one case he
gives his son specific direction concerning these issues and in other cases he leaves
it up to his son’s “wisdom.”
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JOAB: Shed blood in a time of peace - Act wisely - Do not let his gray hair
go down to Sheol in peace (2:6) |
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SHIMEI: Cursed David as he fled from Absalom - You are wise - You will bring his gray
hair down to Sheol with blood (2:9) |
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↓ |
↑ |
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SONS OF BARZILLAI: Show kindness - Barzallai had assisted
David when he fled from Absalom |
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The
rest of this chapter will relate Solomon’s wisdom in dealing with these issues.
a. Joab.
He
is not condemned for having sided with Adonijah. He IS condemned for having murdered Abner and
Amasa.
(1) Abner
had been the cousin to Saul.
He
had also served as the general of Saul’s army.
Abner had been to Saul what Joab was to David. But when it looked as though Abner was going
to make peace with David, Joab murdered him, stabbing him in the belly as he
was supposedly delivering a message to him (2 Samuel 3:27).
(2) Amasa
was a nephew to David.
When
Absalom rebelled, he appointed Amasa to be the general of his army. When Joab killed Absalom against David’s
explicit instructions, David pardoned Amasa and placed him in Joab’s place as
the new head of the army. Later Joab
murdered Amasa as he was pretending to greet him with a kiss (2 Samuel
20:9-10).
Neither
case involved killing someone in battle.
In both cases, the assault was a surprise attack, delivered under the
guise of peace.
b. The
Sons of Barzillai.
Barzillai
was one of the nobles from Gilead on the east bank of the
Following
the Absalom rebellion, David had invited Barzallai to come and live in
c. Shimei.
He
was one of Saul’s relatives. When David
and his company were fleeing from Absalom, they had happened to pass by Shimei
and he had taken the opportunity to hurl both insults and stones at the king. David’s men had offered to silence Shimei
permanently, but David had refused.
When
David was victorious, Shimei had come to David with a band of 1000 Benjamites
and had sued for peace. Although David’s
men wanted vengeance, again David refused.
There
is a principle in David’s instructions to Solomon. Forgiveness does not demand foolishness. The two problem people that David had
mentioned would be potential problems to Solomon’s reign and he was to be aware
of the problems they could cause and be on guard.
ADONIJAH’S TREACHEROUS
REQUEST (1 KINGS 2:13-25)
Although he was now king,
Solomon did not move against Adonijah.
Perhaps Adonijah saw this inaction as a form of weakness and was
emboldened to make a move against his regal half-brother. This was done in a deceptive manner.
Adonijah went to Bathsheba,
the mother of Solomon, and sought her intercession to obtain as his wife the
former nurse of David.
Then he said, “Please speak to
Solomon the king, for he will not refuse you, that he may give me Abishag the
Shunammite as a wife.” (1 Kings 2:17).
On the surface of things,
this seems to be a harmless request.
Perhaps Bathsheba thought this to be the case, for she agreed to make
the request on Adonijah’s behalf.
Evidently she did not know what it signified.
In ancient times, the king’s
harem would pass to the king’s successor.
Take a man’s kingdom and you would also take his wives. When David had taken Saul’s kingdom, he also
took the wives of Saul into his keeping (2 Samuel 12:8). When Absalom drove David out of
Now Adonijah is requesting
one of the members of the harem of David.
Perhaps he is using the excuse, “She did not actually enter into sexual
relations with him, she merely was there to keep him warm.” But the implications would be present
nonetheless. And Solomon sees through
the request and even recognizes the conspirators involved.
22 King Solomon answered and
said to his mother, “And why are you asking Abishag the Shunammite for
Adonijah? Ask for him also the kingdom ‑‑ for he is my older
brother ‑‑ even for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the
son of Zeruiah!”
23 Then King Solomon swore by
the Lord, saying, “May God do so to me and more also, if Adonijah has not
spoken this word against his own life.” (2 Kings 2:22-23).
Accordingly, both Adonijah
and Joab are put to death. Abiathar is
banished from the priesthood and permitted to return to his own home in
fulfillment of the prophecy originally made to Eli (Abiathar was the great,
great grandson of Eli through Phinehas).
SHIMEI’S END (1 KINGS
2:36-46)
Shimei is placed on probation
for his treasonous actions against King David and is mandated to live the rest
of his life in
For three years Shimei obeys
the terms of his probation. But when two
of his slaves run away, he journeys to
As long as Shimei had
accepted the gracious pardon of Solomon and remained in the city, he had been
allowed to live. But once he broke the
terms of the covenant by departing from the city, then the entire weight of the
law came crashing down upon him.
Perhaps there is a lesson
here for us. You see, we are a lot like
Shimei. We have sinned and are under a
curse. But there is a place of safety. It is in Christ. As long as we will remain in Him, we will
find blessing. But there is a
warning. Don’t leave the city! Don’t depart from the place of safety. Remain in Christ.
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[1]Davis, Dale Ralph: The Widsom and the Folly: An
Exposition of the Book of First Kings; Christian Focus Publications,