Commentary
Old Testament : Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
The Song of Songs
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
![](images/minus.gif)
Text -- 1 Kings 2:7-46 (NET)
![](images/arrow_open.gif)
Strongs On/Off
Context
2:7 “Treat fairly the sons of Barzillai of Gilead and provide for their needs , because they helped me when I had to flee from your brother Absalom .
2:8 “Note well, you still have to contend with Shimei son of Gera , the Benjaminite from Bahurim , who tried to call down upon me a horrible judgment when I went to Mahanaim . He came down and met me at the Jordan , and I solemnly promised him by the Lord , ‘I will not strike you down with the sword .’
2:9 But now don’t treat him as if he were innocent. You are a wise man and you know how to handle him; make sure he has a bloody death .”
2:10 Then David passed away and was buried in the city of David .
2:11 David reigned over Israel forty years ; he reigned in Hebron seven years , and in Jerusalem thirty-three years .
Solomon Secures the Throne
2:12 Solomon sat on his father David’s throne , and his royal authority was firmly solidified .
2:13 Haggith’s son Adonijah visited Bathsheba , Solomon’s mother . She asked , “Do you come in peace ?” He answered , “Yes .”
2:14 He added , “I have something to say to you.” She replied , “Speak .”
2:15 He said , “You know that the kingdom was mine and all Israel considered me king . But then the kingdom was given to my brother , for the Lord decided it should be his.
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 .
![](images/advanced.gif)
![](images/advanced.gif)
![](images/advanced.gif)
Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
![](images/arrow_open.gif)
Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Solomon |
Micah, Book of |
ISRAEL, HISTORY OF, 2 |
Shimei |
Homicide |
Joab |
Abishag |
Government |
Adonijah |
Shunammite |
HEIR |
Intercession |
David |
Achish |
Bath-sheba |
BENAIAH |
Zadok |
Punishment |
Gibeon |
Abiathar |
more
![](images/cmt_minus_head.gif)
expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> 1Ki 2:7; 1Ki 2:7; 1Ki 2:7; 1Ki 2:8; 1Ki 2:8; 1Ki 2:8; 1Ki 2:8; 1Ki 2:9; 1Ki 2:9; 1Ki 2:9; 1Ki 2:10; 1Ki 2:10; 1Ki 2:11; 1Ki 2:12; 1Ki 2:13; 1Ki 2:14; 1Ki 2:15; 1Ki 2:15; 1Ki 2:15; 1Ki 2:16; 1Ki 2:16; 1Ki 2:17; 1Ki 2:18; 1Ki 2:19; 1Ki 2:19; 1Ki 2:20; 1Ki 2:20; 1Ki 2:20; 1Ki 2:22; 1Ki 2:23; 1Ki 2:23; 1Ki 2:24; 1Ki 2:25; 1Ki 2:25; 1Ki 2:26; 1Ki 2:26; 1Ki 2:26; 1Ki 2:27; 1Ki 2:27; 1Ki 2:28; 1Ki 2:28; 1Ki 2:28; 1Ki 2:29; 1Ki 2:29; 1Ki 2:30; 1Ki 2:31; 1Ki 2:31; 1Ki 2:32; 1Ki 2:32; 1Ki 2:33; 1Ki 2:33; 1Ki 2:34; 1Ki 2:35; 1Ki 2:35; 1Ki 2:36; 1Ki 2:36; 1Ki 2:36; 1Ki 2:37; 1Ki 2:38; 1Ki 2:38; 1Ki 2:38; 1Ki 2:42; 1Ki 2:42; 1Ki 2:42; 1Ki 2:42; 1Ki 2:43; 1Ki 2:44; 1Ki 2:44; 1Ki 2:45; 1Ki 2:45; 1Ki 2:46; 1Ki 2:46
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: 1Ki 2:10 The phrase the city of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: 1Ki 2:11 For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: 1Ki 2:15 Heb “and the kingdom turned about and became my brother’s, for from the Lord it became his.”
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
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.”
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: 1Ki 2:27 Heb “fulfilling the word of the Lord which he spoke against the house of Eli in Shiloh.”
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
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...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
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.”
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
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.”
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: 1Ki 2:34 Heb “struck him and killed him.” The referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: 1Ki 2:35 The Old Greek translation includes after v. 35 some fourteen verses that are absent from the MT.
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: 1Ki 2:43 Heb “Why have you not kept the oath [to] the Lord and the commandment I commanded you?”
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)