1:5 Now Adonijah, son of David and Haggith, 1 was promoting himself, 2 boasting, 3 “I will be king!” He managed to acquire 4 chariots and horsemen, as well as fifty men to serve as his royal guard. 5
1 tn Heb “son of Haggith,” but since this formula usually designates the father (who in this case was David), the translation specifies that David was Adonijah’s father.
2 tn Heb “lifting himself up.”
3 tn Heb “saying.”
4 tn Or “he acquired for himself.”
5 tn Heb “to run ahead of him.”
6 tn Heb “look.”
7 tn Heb “eating and drinking.”
8 tn Heb “let the king, Adonijah, live!”
9 tn Heb “said to.”
10 tn Heb “let them seek for my master, the king, a young girl, a virgin.” The third person plural subject of the verb is indefinite (see GKC 460 §144.f). The appositional expression, “a young girl, a virgin,” is idiomatic; the second term specifically defines the more general first term (see IBHS 230 §12.3b).
11 tn Heb “and she will stand before the king.” The Hebrew phrase “stand before” can mean “to attend; to serve” (BDB 764 s.v. עָמַד).
12 tn Heb “and she will lie down in your bosom.” The expression might imply sexual intimacy (see 2 Sam 12:3 [where the lamb symbolizes Bathsheba] and Mic 7:5), though v. 4b indicates that David did not actually have sex with the young woman.
13 tn Heb “and my master, the king, will be warm.”
14 tc Most Hebrew
15 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Abijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Heb “mother,” but Hebrew often uses the terms “father” and “mother” for grandparents and more remote ancestors.
17 tn Heb “and he burned the house of the king over him with fire and he died.”