Discovery Box1 Kings 1:10-53
Context1:10 But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the elite warriors, 1 or his brother Solomon.
1:11 Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Has it been reported to you 2 that Haggith’s son Adonijah has become king behind our master David’s back? 3 1:12 Now 4 let me give you some advice as to how 5 you can save your life and your son Solomon’s life. 1:13 Visit 6 King David and say to him, ‘My master, O king, did you not solemnly promise 7 your servant, “Surely your son Solomon will be king after me; he will sit on my throne”? So why has Adonijah become king?’ 1:14 While 8 you are still there speaking to the king, I will arrive 9 and verify your report.” 10
1:15 So Bathsheba visited the king in his private quarters. 11 (The king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king.) 1:16 Bathsheba bowed down on the floor before 12 the king. The king said, “What do you want?” 1:17 She replied to him, “My master, you swore an oath to your servant by the Lord your God, ‘Solomon your son will be king after me and he will sit on my throne.’ 1:18 But now, look, Adonijah has become king! But you, 13 my master the king, are not even aware of it! 14 1:19 He has sacrificed many cattle, steers, and sheep and has invited all the king’s sons, Abiathar the priest, and Joab, the commander of the army, but he has not invited your servant Solomon. 1:20 Now, 15 my master, O king, all Israel is watching anxiously to see who is named to succeed my master the king on the throne. 16 1:21 If a decision is not made, 17 when my master the king is buried with his ancestors, 18 my son Solomon and I 19 will be considered state criminals.” 20
1:22 Just then, 21 while she was still speaking to the king, Nathan the prophet arrived. 1:23 The king was told, “Nathan the prophet is here.” Nathan entered and bowed before the king with his face to the floor. 22 1:24 Nathan said, “My master, O king, did you announce, ‘Adonijah will be king after me; he will sit on my throne’? 1:25 For today he has gone down and sacrificed many cattle, steers, and sheep and has invited all the king’s sons, the army commanders, and Abiathar the priest. At this moment 23 they are having a feast 24 in his presence, and they have declared, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ 25 1:26 But he did not invite me – your servant – or Zadok the priest, or Benaiah son of Jehoiada, or your servant Solomon. 1:27 Has my master the king authorized this without informing your servants 26 who should succeed my master the king on his throne?” 27
1:28 King David responded, 28 “Summon Bathsheba!” 29 She came and stood before the king. 30 1:29 The king swore an oath: “As certainly as the Lord lives (he who has rescued me 31 from every danger), 1:30 I will keep 32 today the oath I swore to you by the Lord God of Israel: ‘Surely Solomon your son will be king after me; he will sit in my place on my throne.’” 1:31 Bathsheba bowed down to the king with her face to the floor 33 and said, “May my master, King David, live forever!”
1:32 King David said, “Summon Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, 34 and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” They came before the king, 1:33 and he 35 told them, “Take your master’s 36 servants with you, put my son Solomon on my mule, and lead him down to Gihon. 37 1:34 There Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet will anoint 38 him king over Israel; then blow the trumpet and declare, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ 1:35 Then follow him up as he comes and sits on my throne. He will be king in my place; I have decreed 39 that he will be ruler over Israel and Judah.” 1:36 Benaiah son of Jehoiada responded 40 to the king: “So be it! 41 May the Lord God of my master the king confirm it! 42 1:37 As the Lord is with my master the king, so may he be with Solomon, and may he make him an even greater king than my master King David!” 43
1:38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites 44 went down, put Solomon on King David’s mule, and led him to Gihon. 1:39 Zadok the priest took a horn filled with olive oil 45 from the tent and poured it on 46 Solomon; the trumpet was blown and all the people declared, “Long live King Solomon!” 1:40 All the people followed him up, playing flutes and celebrating so loudly they made the ground shake. 47
1:41 Now Adonijah and all his guests heard the commotion just as they had finished eating. 48 When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he asked, “Why is there such a noisy commotion in the city?” 49 1:42 As he was still speaking, Jonathan 50 son of Abiathar the priest arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in, for 51 an important man like you must be bringing good news.” 52 1:43 Jonathan replied 53 to Adonijah: “No! 54 Our master 55 King David has made Solomon king. 1:44 The king sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites and they put him on the king’s mule. 1:45 Then Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed 56 him king in Gihon. They went up from there rejoicing, and the city is in an uproar. That is the sound you hear. 1:46 Furthermore, Solomon has assumed the royal throne. 57 1:47 The king’s servants have even come to congratulate 58 our master 59 King David, saying, ‘May your God 60 make Solomon more famous than you and make him an even greater king than you!’ 61 Then the king leaned 62 on the bed 1:48 and said 63 this: ‘The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because 64 today he has placed a successor on my throne and allowed me to see it.’” 65
1:49 All of Adonijah’s guests panicked; 66 they jumped up and rushed off their separate ways. 1:50 Adonijah feared Solomon, so he got up and went and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. 67 1:51 Solomon was told, “Look, Adonijah fears you; 68 see, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘May King Solomon solemnly promise 69 me today that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’” 1:52 Solomon said, “If he is a loyal subject, 70 not a hair of his head will be harmed, but if he is found to be a traitor, 71 he will die.” 1:53 King Solomon sent men to bring him down 72 from the altar. He came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon told him, “Go home.” 73
1 Kings 1:2
Context1:2 His servants advised 74 him, “A young virgin must be found for our master, the king, 75 to take care of the king’s needs 76 and serve as his nurse. She can also sleep with you 77 and keep our master, the king, warm.” 78
1 Kings 7:2
Context7:2 He named 79 it “The Palace of the Lebanon Forest”; 80 it was 150 feet 81 long, 75 feet 82 wide, and 45 feet 83 high. It had four rows of cedar pillars and cedar beams above the pillars.
1 Kings 12:1-15
Context12:1 Rehoboam traveled to Shechem, for all Israel had gathered in 84 Shechem to make Rehoboam 85 king. 12:2 86 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard the news, he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon and had been living ever since. 87 12:3 They sent for him, 88 and Jeroboam and the whole Israelite assembly came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 12:4 “Your father made us work too hard. 89 Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.” 90 12:5 He said to them, “Go away for three days, then return to me.” So the people went away.
12:6 King Rehoboam consulted with the older advisers who had served 91 his father Solomon when he had been alive. He asked them, 92 “How do you advise me to answer these people?” 12:7 They said to him, “Today if you show a willingness to help these people and grant their request, they will be your servants from this time forward.” 93 12:8 But Rehoboam rejected their advice and consulted the young advisers who served him, with whom he had grown up. 94 12:9 He asked them, “How do you advise me 95 to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?” 96 12:10 The young advisers with whom Rehoboam 97 had grown up said to him, “Say this to these people who have said to you, ‘Your father made us work hard, but now lighten our burden.’ 98 Say this to them: ‘I am a lot harsher than my father! 99 12:11 My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. 100 My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.’” 101
12:12 Jeroboam and all the people reported 102 to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had ordered when he said, “Return to me on the third day.” 12:13 The king responded to the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the older men 12:14 and followed 103 the advice of the younger ones. He said, “My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. 104 My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.” 105 12:15 The king refused to listen to the people, because the Lord was instigating this turn of events 106 so that he might bring to pass the prophetic announcement he had made 107 through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.
1 Kings 12:25
Context12:25 108 Jeroboam built up Shechem in the Ephraimite hill country and lived there. From there he went out and built up Penuel.
[1:10] 1 tn Or “bodyguard” (Heb “mighty men”).
[1:11] 2 tn Heb “Have you not heard?”
[1:11] 3 tn Heb “and our master David does not know.”
[1:12] 4 tn Heb “now, come.” The imperative of הָלַךְ (halakh) is here used as an introductory interjection. See BDB 234 s.v. חָלַךְ.
[1:13] 6 tn Heb “come, go to.” The imperative of הָלַךְ (halakh) is here used as an introductory interjection. See BDB 234 s.v. חָלַךְ.
[1:13] 7 tn Or “swear an oath to.”
[1:14] 8 tn In the Hebrew text the sentence is introduced by the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), which here draws attention to Nathan’s concluding word of assurance and support. For this use of the word, see HALOT 252 s.v. הִנֵּה.
[1:14] 9 tc The Hebrew text reads, “I will come after you.”
[1:14] 10 tn Heb “fill up [i.e., confirm] your words.”
[1:16] 12 tn Heb “bowed low and bowed down to.”
[1:18] 13 tc Instead of עַתָּה (’attah, “now”) many Hebrew
[1:18] 14 tn Heb “you do not know [about it].”
[1:20] 15 tc Many Hebrew
[1:20] 16 tn Heb “the eyes of all Israel are upon you to declare to them who will sit on the throne of my master the king after him.”
[1:21] 17 tn The words “if a decision is not made” are added for clarification.
[1:21] 18 tn Heb “lies down with his fathers.”
[1:21] 19 tn Heb “I and my son Solomon.” The order has been reversed in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[1:21] 20 tn Heb “will be guilty”; NASB “considered offenders”; TEV “treated as traitors.”
[1:22] 21 tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) here draws attention to Nathan’s arrival and invites the audience to view the scene through the eyes of the participants.
[1:23] 22 tn Heb “ground.” Since this was indoors, “floor” is more appropriate than “ground.”
[1:25] 24 tn Heb “eating and drinking.”
[1:25] 25 tn Heb “let the king, Adonijah, live!”
[1:27] 26 tc Many Hebrew
[1:27] 27 tn Heb “From my master the king is this thing done, and you did not make known to your servants who will sit on the throne of my master the king after him?”
[1:28] 28 tn Heb “answered and said.”
[1:28] 29 sn Summon Bathsheba. Bathsheba must have left the room when Nathan arrived (see 1:22).
[1:28] 30 tn Heb “she came before the king and stood before the king.”
[1:29] 31 tn Or “ransomed my life.”
[1:30] 32 tn Or “carry out, perform.”
[1:31] 33 tn Heb “bowed low, face [to] the ground, and bowed down to the king.”
[1:32] 34 sn Summon…Nathan. Nathan must have left the room when Bathsheba reentered.
[1:33] 36 tn The plural form is used in the Hebrew text to indicate honor and authority.
[1:33] 37 tn Heb “mount Solomon my son on the mule that belongs to me and take him down to Gihon.”
[1:34] 38 tn Or “designate” (i.e., by anointing with oil).
[1:36] 40 tn Heb “answered and said.”
[1:36] 42 tn Heb “So may the
[1:37] 43 tn Heb “and may he make his throne greater than the throne of my master King David.”
[1:38] 44 sn The Kerethites and Pelethites were members of David’s royal guard (see 2 Sam 8:18). The Kerethites may have been descendants of an ethnic group originating in Crete.
[1:39] 45 tn Heb “the horn of oil.” This has been specified as olive oil in the translation for clarity.
[1:40] 47 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.
[1:41] 48 tn Heb “And Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard, now they had finished eating.”
[1:41] 49 tn Heb “Why is the city’s sound noisy?”
[1:42] 50 tn The Hebrew text has “look” at this point. The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh), “look draws attention to Jonathan’s arrival and invites the audience to view the scene through the eyes of the participants.
[1:42] 52 tn Heb “you are a man of strength [or “ability”] and you bring a message [that is] good.” Another option is to understand the phrase אִישׁ חַיִל (’ish khayil) in the sense of “a worthy man,” that is “loyal.” See also 1 Kgs 1:52 and HALOT 311 s.v. חַיִל.
[1:43] 53 tn Heb “answered and said.”
[1:43] 54 tn For a similar use of אֲבָל (’aval), see Gen 17:19, where God rejects Abraham’s proposal and offers an alternative.
[1:43] 55 tn The plural form is used in the Hebrew text to indicate honor and authority.
[1:45] 56 tn I.e., designated by anointing with oil.
[1:46] 57 tn Heb “And also Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom.”
[1:47] 59 tn The plural form is used in the Hebrew text to indicate honor and authority.
[1:47] 60 tc Many Hebrew
[1:47] 61 tn Heb “make the name of Solomon better than your name, and make his throne greater than your throne.” The term שֵׁם (shem, “name”) is used here of one’s fame and reputation.
[1:47] 62 tn Or “bowed down; worshiped.”
[1:48] 63 tn The Hebrew text reads, “and the king said.”
[1:48] 64 tn Or “Blessed be the
[1:48] 65 tn Heb “and my eyes are seeing.”
[1:49] 66 tn Or “were afraid, trembled.”
[1:50] 67 sn 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 Exod 27:2). By going to the holy place and grabbing hold of the horns of the altar, Adonijah was seeking asylum from Solomon.
[1:51] 68 tn Heb “King Solomon.” The name and title have been replaced by the pronoun (“you”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[1:51] 69 tn Or “swear an oath to.”
[1:52] 70 tn Heb “if he is a man of strength [or ability].” In this context, where Adonijah calls himself a “servant,” implying allegiance to the new king, the phrase אִישׁ חַיִל (’ish khayil) probably carries the sense of “a worthy man,” that is, “loyal” (see HALOT 311 s.v. חַיִל).
[1:52] 71 tn Heb “but if evil is found in him.”
[1:53] 72 tn Heb “sent and they brought him down.”
[1:53] 73 tn Heb “Go to your house.”
[1:2] 75 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).
[1:2] 76 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).
[1:2] 77 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.
[1:2] 78 tn Heb “and my master, the king, will be warm.”
[7:2] 80 sn The Palace of the Lebanon Forest. This name was appropriate because of the large amount of cedar, undoubtedly brought from Lebanon, used in its construction. The cedar pillars in the palace must have given it the appearance of a forest.
[7:2] 81 tn Heb “one hundred cubits.”
[7:2] 82 tn Heb “fifty cubits.”
[7:2] 83 tn Heb “thirty cubits.”
[12:1] 85 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Rehoboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[12:2] 86 tc Verse 2 is not included in the Old Greek translation. See the note on 11:43.
[12:2] 87 tn Heb “and Jeroboam lived in Egypt.” The parallel text in 2 Chr 10:2 reads, “and Jeroboam returned from Egypt.” In a purely consonantal text the forms “and he lived” and “and he returned” are identical (וישׁב).
[12:3] 88 tn Heb “They sent and called for him.”
[12:4] 89 tn Heb “made our yoke burdensome.”
[12:4] 90 tn Heb “but you, now, lighten the burdensome work of your father and the heavy yoke which he placed on us, and we will serve you.” In the Hebrew text the prefixed verbal form with vav (וְנַעַבְדֶךָ, [vÿna’avdekha] “and we will serve you”) following the imperative (הָקֵל [haqel], “lighten”) indicates purpose (or result). The conditional sentence used in the translation above is an attempt to bring out the logical relationship between these forms.
[12:6] 91 tn Heb “stood before.”
[12:7] 93 tn Heb “If today you are a servant to these people and you serve them and answer them and speak to them good words, they will be your servants all the days.”
[12:8] 94 tn Heb “He rejected the advice of the elders which they advised and he consulted the young men with whom he had grown up, who stood before him.” The referent (Rehoboam) of the initial pronoun (“he”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[12:9] 95 tn In the Hebrew text the verb “we will respond” is plural, although it can be understood as an editorial “we.” The ancient versions have the singular here.
[12:9] 96 tn Heb “Lighten the yoke which your father placed on us.”
[12:10] 97 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Rehoboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[12:10] 98 tn Heb “Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter upon us.”
[12:10] 99 tn Heb “My little one is thicker than my father’s hips.” The referent of “my little one” is not clear. The traditional view is that it refers to the little finger. As the following statement makes clear, Rehoboam’s point is that he is more harsh and demanding than his father.
[12:11] 100 tn Heb “and now my father placed upon you a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke.”
[12:11] 101 tn Heb “My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.” “Scorpions” might allude to some type of torture using poisonous insects, but more likely it refers to a type of whip that inflicts an especially biting, painful wound. Cf. CEV “whips with pieces of sharp metal.”
[12:14] 103 tn Heb “and spoke to them according to.”
[12:14] 104 tn Heb “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke.”
[12:14] 105 tn Heb “My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.” See the note on the same phrase in v. 11.
[12:15] 106 tn Heb “because this turn of events was from the
[12:15] 107 tn Heb “so that he might bring to pass his word which the
[12:25] 108 tc The Old Greek translation has here a lengthy section consisting of twenty-three verses that are not found in the MT.
