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 1:6 (Now his father had never corrected 6 him 7 by saying, “Why do you do such things?” He was also very handsome and had been born right after Absalom. 8 ) 1:7 He collaborated 9 with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they supported 10 him. 11
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 Or “disciplined.”
7 tn Heb “did not correct him from his days.” The phrase “from his days” means “from his earliest days,” or “ever in his life.” See GKC 382 §119.w, n. 2.
8 tn Heb “and she gave birth to him after Absalom.” This does not imply they had the same mother; Absalom’s mother was Maacah, not Haggith (2 Sam 3:4).
9 tn Heb “his words were.”
10 tn Heb “helped after” (i.e., stood by).
11 tn Heb “Adonijah.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
12 tn Heb “and all the people went up after him, and the people were playing flutes and rejoicing with great joy and the ground split open at the sound of them.” The verb בָּקַע (baqa’, “to split open”), which elsewhere describes the effects of an earthquake, is obviously here an exaggeration for the sake of emphasis.