1 Kings 1:22-53

1:22 Just then, ¹  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. ²  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 ³  they are having a feast ⁴  in his presence, and they have declared, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ ⁵  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 ⁶  who should succeed my master the king on his throne?” ⁷ 

David Picks Solomon as His Successor

1:28 King David responded, ⁸  “Summon Bathsheba!” ⁹  She came and stood before the king. ¹⁰  1:29 The king swore an oath: “As certainly as the Lord lives (he who has rescued me ¹¹  from every danger), 1:30 I will keep ¹²  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 ¹³  and said, “May my master, King David, live forever!”

1:32 King David said, “Summon Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, ¹⁴  and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” They came before the king, 1:33 and he ¹⁵  told them, “Take your master’s ¹⁶  servants with you, put my son Solomon on my mule, and lead him down to Gihon. ¹⁷  1:34 There Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet will anoint ¹⁸  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 ¹⁹  that he will be ruler over Israel and Judah.” 1:36 Benaiah son of Jehoiada responded ²⁰  to the king: “So be it! ²¹  May the Lord God of my master the king confirm it! ²²  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!” ²³ 

1:38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites ²⁴  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 ²⁵  from the tent and poured it on ²⁶  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. ²⁷ 

1:41 Now Adonijah and all his guests heard the commotion just as they had finished eating. ²⁸  When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he asked, “Why is there such a noisy commotion in the city?” ²⁹  1:42 As he was still speaking, Jonathan ³⁰  son of Abiathar the priest arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in, for ³¹  an important man like you must be bringing good news.” ³²  1:43 Jonathan replied ³³  to Adonijah: “No! ³⁴  Our master ³⁵  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 ³⁶  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. ³⁷  1:47 The king’s servants have even come to congratulate ³⁸  our master ³⁹  King David, saying, ‘May your God ⁴⁰  make Solomon more famous than you and make him an even greater king than you!’ ⁴¹  Then the king leaned ⁴²  on the bed 1:48 and said ⁴³  this: ‘The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because ⁴⁴  today he has placed a successor on my throne and allowed me to see it.’” ⁴⁵ 

1:49 All of Adonijah’s guests panicked; ⁴⁶  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. ⁴⁷  1:51 Solomon was told, “Look, Adonijah fears you; ⁴⁸  see, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘May King Solomon solemnly promise ⁴⁹  me today that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’” 1:52 Solomon said, “If he is a loyal subject, ⁵⁰  not a hair of his head will be harmed, but if he is found to be a traitor, ⁵¹  he will die.” 1:53 King Solomon sent men to bring him down ⁵²  from the altar. He came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon told him, “Go home.” ⁵³ 

[1:22]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “ground.” Since this was indoors, “floor” is more appropriate than “ground.”

[1:25]  ³ tn Heb “look.”

[1:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “eating and drinking.”

[1:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “let the king, Adonijah, live!”

[1:27]  ⁶ tc Many Hebrew mss and ancient textual witnesses agree with the Qere in reading this as singular, “your servant.”

[1:27]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[1:28]  ⁹ sn Summon Bathsheba. Bathsheba must have left the room when Nathan arrived (see 1:22).

[1:28]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “she came before the king and stood before the king.”

[1:29]  ¹¹ tn Or “ransomed my life.”

[1:30]  ¹² tn Or “carry out, perform.”

[1:31]  ¹³ tn Heb “bowed low, face [to] the ground, and bowed down to the king.”

[1:32]  ¹⁴ sn Summon…Nathan. Nathan must have left the room when Bathsheba reentered.

[1:33]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the king.”

[1:33]  ¹⁶ tn The plural form is used in the Hebrew text to indicate honor and authority.

[1:33]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “mount Solomon my son on the mule that belongs to me and take him down to Gihon.”

[1:34]  ¹⁸ tn Or “designate” (i.e., by anointing with oil).

[1:35]  ¹⁹ tn Or “commanded.”

[1:36]  ²⁰ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[1:36]  ²¹ tn Or “Amen.”

[1:36]  ²² tn Heb “So may the Lord God of my master the king say.”

[1:37]  ²³ tn Heb “and may he make his throne greater than the throne of my master King David.”

[1:38]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the horn of oil.” This has been specified as olive oil in the translation for clarity.

[1:39]  ²⁶ tn Or “anointed.”

[1:40]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn Heb “And Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard, now they had finished eating.”

[1:41]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Why is the city’s sound noisy?”

[1:42]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn Or “surely.”

[1:42]  ³² 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]  ³³ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[1:43]  ³⁴ tn For a similar use of אֲבָל (’aval), see Gen 17:19, where God rejects Abraham’s proposal and offers an alternative.

[1:43]  ³⁵ tn The plural form is used in the Hebrew text to indicate honor and authority.

[1:45]  ³⁶ tn I.e., designated by anointing with oil.

[1:46]  ³⁷ tn Heb “And also Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom.”

[1:47]  ³⁸ tn Heb “to bless.”

[1:47]  ³⁹ tn The plural form is used in the Hebrew text to indicate honor and authority.

[1:47]  ⁴⁰ tc Many Hebrew mss agree with the Qere in reading simply “God.”

[1:47]  ⁴¹ 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]  ⁴² tn Or “bowed down; worshiped.”

[1:48]  ⁴³ tn The Hebrew text reads, “and the king said.”

[1:48]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who….” In this blessing formula אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “who; because”) introduces the reason why the one being blessed deserves the honor.

[1:48]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and my eyes are seeing.”

[1:49]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “were afraid, trembled.”

[1:50]  ⁴⁷ 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]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “King Solomon.” The name and title have been replaced by the pronoun (“you”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:51]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “swear an oath to.”

[1:52]  ⁵⁰ 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]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “but if evil is found in him.”

[1:53]  ⁵² tn Heb “sent and they brought him down.”

[1:53]  ⁵³ tn Heb “Go to your house.”