1Ki 2:16-46 - Commentary

Commentary

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Text -- 1 Kings 2:16-46 (NET)

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Context

2:16 Now I’d like to ask you for just one thing. Please don’t refuse me.” She said, “Go ahead and ask.” 2:17 He said, “Please ask King Solomon if he would give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife, for he won’t refuse you.” 2:18 Bathsheba replied, “That’s fine, I’ll speak to the king on your behalf.” 2:19 So Bathsheba visited King Solomon to speak to him on Adonijah’s behalf. The king got up to greet her, bowed to her, and then sat on his throne. He ordered a throne to be brought for the king’s mother, and she sat at his right hand. 2:20 She said, “I would like to ask you for just one small favor. Please don’t refuse me.” He said, “Go ahead and ask, my mother, for I would not refuse you.” 2:21 She said, “Allow Abishag the Shunammite to be given to your brother Adonijah as a wife.” 2:22 King Solomon answered his mother, “Why just request Abishag the Shunammite for him? Since he is my older brother, you should also request the kingdom for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah!” 2:23 King Solomon then swore an oath by the Lord, “May God judge me severely, if Adonijah does not pay for this request with his life! 2:24 Now, as certainly as the Lord lives (he who made me secure, allowed me to sit on my father David’s throne, and established a dynasty for me as he promised), Adonijah will be executed today!” 2:25 King Solomon then sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he killed Adonijah. 2:26 The king then told Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your property in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the sovereign Lord before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times.” 2:27 Solomon dismissed Abiathar from his position as priest of the Lord, fulfilling the decree of judgment the Lord made in Shiloh against the family of Eli. 2:28 When the news reached Joab (for Joab had supported Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom), he ran to the tent of the Lord and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. 2:29 When King Solomon heard that Joab had run to the tent of the Lord and was right there beside the altar, he ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, “Go, strike him down.” 2:30 When Benaiah arrived at the tent of the Lord, he said to him, “The king says, ‘Come out!’” But he replied, “No, I will die here!” So Benaiah sent word to the king and reported Joab’s reply. 2:31 The king told him, “Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father’s family the guilt of Joab’s murderous, bloody deeds. 2:32 May the Lord punish him for the blood he shed; behind my father David’s back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he– Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army. 2:33 May Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their shed blood, but may the Lord give perpetual peace to David, his descendants, his family, and his dynasty.” 2:34 So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and executed Joab; he was buried at his home in the wilderness. 2:35 The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada to take his place at the head of the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest to take Abiathar’s place. 2:36 Next the king summoned Shimei and told him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there– but you may not leave there to go anywhere! 2:37 If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die! You will be responsible for your own death.” 2:38 Shimei said to the king, “My master the king’s proposal is acceptable. Your servant will do as you say.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. 2:39 Three years later two of Shimei’s servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, “Look, your servants are in Gath.” 2:40 So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath. 2:41 When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned, 2:42 the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “You will recall that I made you take an oath by the Lord, and I solemnly warned you, ‘If you ever leave and go anywhere, know for sure that you will certainly die.’ You said to me, ‘The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.’ 2:43 Why then have you broken the oath you made before the Lord and disobeyed the order I gave you?” 2:44 Then the king said to Shimei, “You are well aware of the way you mistreated my father David. The Lord will punish you for what you did. 2:45 But King Solomon will be empowered and David’s dynasty will endure permanently before the Lord.” 2:46 The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei. So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom.

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Cross Reference (TSK)

ITL

Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics

Names, People and Places:

· Abiathar a son of Ahimelech; a high priest and counselor of David,son of Ahimelech (Ahitub I Ithamar Aaron); counselor of David

· Abishag a woman; the Shunammite nurse who attended King David

· Abner a man of Benjamin in Saul and David's time

· Absalom the son of David and Maacah

· Achish the king of Gath in David's time,the king of Gath in Solomon's time

· Adonijah son of David and Haggith,a Levite whom King Jehoshaphat commissioned to teach the law,an Israelite chief who signed the covenant to obey God's law

· Amasa son of David's sister Abigail and Jether the Ishmaelite,prince of Ephraim under Ahaz

· Anathoth a town of Benjamin 10 km NE of Jerusalem, given to the priests,son of Becher, a Benjamite,an Israelite chief who signed the covenant to obey God's law

· Bathsheba daughter of Shua the Canaanite; wife of Judah,daughter of Ammiel/Eliam; the wife David took from Uriah

· Benaiah son of Jehoiada; commander of King Solomon's army,son of Jehoiada of Pirathon in Ephraim; one of David's elite,head of a large influential family of Simeon in Hezekiah's time,a Levite worship leader in David's time,a priest in David's time,father of Jehoiada, one of king David's counselors,son of Jeiel; a priest under Jehoshaphat,a man who was a temple helper in the time of Hezekiah,a layman of the Parosh clan who put away his heathen wife,a layman of the Pahath-Moab clan who put away his heathen wife,a layman of the Bani clan who put away his heathen wife,a layman of the Nebo clan who put away his heathen wife,the father of Pelatiah, a wicked counselor exposed by Ezekiel

· David a son of Jesse of Judah; king of Israel,son of Jesse of Judah; king of Israel

· Eli

· Gath a town of the Anakim and Philistines in Judah 12 km south. of Ekron

· Israel a citizen of Israel.,a member of the nation of Israel

· Jehoiada a chief priest; father of Benaiah, head of David's body guard,chief priest under Athaliah and Joash,a prince of the house of Aaron who defected to David with his men,a man who was a counselor of King David,a chief priest in the time of Jeremiah,son of Eliashib the high priest in Nehemiah's time

· Jerusalem the capital city of Israel,a town; the capital of Israel near the southern border of Benjamin

· Jether son of Gideon, the judge,an Ishmaelite man married to Abigail, David's sister; father of Amasa,son of Jadah of Judah,son of Ezrah a descendant of Judah,father of some of David's military elite of the tribe of Asher

· Joab son of Zeruiah, David's sister; commander of King David's army,son of Seraiah son of Kenaz of Judah; grand nephew of Caleb of Moses' time,a man whose descendants returned from exile in Babylon,ancestor of a family group who returned from exile headed by Obadiah the son of Jehiel

· Judah the son of Jacob and Leah; founder of the tribe of Judah,a tribe, the land/country,a son of Joseph; the father of Simeon; an ancestor of Jesus,son of Jacob/Israel and Leah; founder of the tribe of Judah,the tribe of Judah,citizens of the southern kingdom of Judah,citizens of the Persian Province of Judah; the Jews who had returned from Babylonian exile,"house of Judah", a phrase which highlights the political leadership of the tribe of Judah,"king of Judah", a phrase which relates to the southern kingdom of Judah,"kings of Judah", a phrase relating to the southern kingdom of Judah,"princes of Judah", a phrase relating to the kingdom of Judah,the territory allocated to the tribe of Judah, and also the extended territory of the southern kingdom of Judah,the Province of Judah under Persian rule,"hill country of Judah", the relatively cool and green central highlands of the territory of Judah,"the cities of Judah",the language of the Jews; Hebrew,head of a family of Levites who returned from Exile,a Levite who put away his heathen wife,a man who was second in command of Jerusalem; son of Hassenuah of Benjamin,a Levite in charge of the songs of thanksgiving in Nehemiah's time,a leader who helped dedicate Nehemiah's wall,a Levite musician who helped Zechariah of Asaph dedicate Nehemiah's wall

· Kidron a brook and its valley,a brook and valley between Jerusalem and the Mt. of Olives

· Maacah members of the clan of Maacah

· Ner a man of Benjamin; father of Kish, the father of King Saul

· Shiloh a town having the Tent of Meeting in the time of Judges (IBD)

· Shime-i son of Gershon/Gershom son of Levi,the son of Gera of Benjamin,son of Jesse (Judah); father of Jonathan who killed a giant,a man who was a friend of kings David and Solomon,son of Ela, Moses' land distribution deputy for Benjamin,son of Pedaiah son of King Jehoiachin,son of Zaccur of Simeon,son of Gog of Reuben,son of Libni of Merari of Levi,the head of a clan of Benjamin; son of Elpaal?,a man who was a descendant of Ladan/Libni son of Levi (WZ),son of Jeduthun (Levi); worship leader under Jeduthun and David,a man of Ramoth; David's supervisor of vineyards,son of Heman (David's seer) of Samuel of Kohath of Levi,an officer of the temple store house under King Hezekiah,a Levite who put away his heathen wife,a layman of the Hashum Clan who put away his heathen wife,a layman of the Binnui Clan who put away his heathen wife,son of Kish; founding father of the clan of Shime-i of Benjamin

· Shunammite a resident of the town of Shunem

· Solomon the tenth son of David; the father of Rehoboam; an ancestor of Jesus; the third king of Israel.,son of David and Bath-Sheba; successor of King David

· Zadok a son of Azor; the father of Akim; an ancestor of Jesus,son of Ahitub II; high priest Zadok I in David's time,father of Jerusha, who was the mother of King Jotham,the chief priest Zadok II; son of Meraioth II,a man who was one of David's military elite from Aaron's clan,son of Baana; one of those who helped rebuild the wall,son of Immer; one of those who helped rebuild the wall,an Israelite chief who signed the covenant to keep God's law,a Levite who served as Nehemiah's scribe

· Zeruiah daughter of Jesse; sister of David; mother of Abishai, Asahel and Joab

Table of Contents

Verse Notes / Footnotes NET Notes

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Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:16 Heb “She said, ‘Speak!’”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:17 Heb “Say to Solomon the king, for he will not turn back your face, that he might give to me Abishag the Shunammite for a wife.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:18 Heb “[It is] good!”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:19 Heb “he set up a throne for the mother of the king.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:20 Heb “and the king said to her.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:22 Heb “for Adonijah.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:23 Heb “if with his life Adonijah has not spoken this word.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:24 Heb “house.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:25 Heb “and he struck him and he died.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:26 Heb “and because you suffered through all which my father suffered.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:27 Heb “fulfilling the word of the Lord which he spoke against the house of Eli in Shiloh.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:28 Grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. The “horns” of the altar were the horn-shaped projections on the four corners of the altar (see Ex...

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:29 Heb “so Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:30 Heb “saying, “In this way Joab spoke and in this way he answered me.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:31 Heb “take away the undeserved bloodshed which Joab spilled from upon me and from upon the house of my father.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:32 Heb “because he struck down two men more innocent and better than he and he killed them with the sword, and my father David did not know.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:33 Heb “his throne.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:34 Heb “struck him and killed him.” The referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:35 The Old Greek translation includes after v. 35 some fourteen verses that are absent from the MT.

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:36 Heb “and you may not go out from there here or there.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:37 Heb “your blood will be upon your head.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:38 Heb “many days.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:42 Heb “good is the word; I have heard.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:43 Heb “Why have you not kept the oath [to] the Lord and the commandment I commanded you?”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:44 Heb “The Lord will cause your evil to return upon your head.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:45 Heb “throne.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 2:46 “And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.”

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