1 Kings 1:39-53

1:39 Zadok the priest took a horn filled with olive oil ¹  from the tent and poured it on ²  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. ³ 

1:41 Now Adonijah and all his guests heard the commotion just as they had finished eating. ⁴  When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he asked, “Why is there such a noisy commotion in the city?” ⁵  1:42 As he was still speaking, Jonathan ⁶  son of Abiathar the priest arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in, for ⁷  an important man like you must be bringing good news.” ⁸  1:43 Jonathan replied ⁹  to Adonijah: “No! ¹⁰  Our master ¹¹  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 ¹²  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. ¹³  1:47 The king’s servants have even come to congratulate ¹⁴  our master ¹⁵  King David, saying, ‘May your God ¹⁶  make Solomon more famous than you and make him an even greater king than you!’ ¹⁷  Then the king leaned ¹⁸  on the bed 1:48 and said ¹⁹  this: ‘The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because ²⁰  today he has placed a successor on my throne and allowed me to see it.’” ²¹ 

1:49 All of Adonijah’s guests panicked; ²²  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. ²³  1:51 Solomon was told, “Look, Adonijah fears you; ²⁴  see, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘May King Solomon solemnly promise ²⁵  me today that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’” 1:52 Solomon said, “If he is a loyal subject, ²⁶  not a hair of his head will be harmed, but if he is found to be a traitor, ²⁷  he will die.” 1:53 King Solomon sent men to bring him down ²⁸  from the altar. He came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon told him, “Go home.” ²⁹ 

1 Kings 1:1

Adonijah Tries to Seize the Throne

1:1 King David was very old; ³⁰  even when they covered him with blankets, ³¹  he could not get warm.

1 Kings 22:12-13

22:12 All the prophets were prophesying the same, saying, “Attack Ramoth Gilead! You will succeed; the Lord will hand it over to the king.” 22:13 Now the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the prophets are in complete agreement that the king will succeed. ³²  Your words must agree with theirs; you must predict success.” ³³ 

1 Kings 1:19

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 Kings 1:2

1:2 His servants advised ³⁴  him, “A young virgin must be found for our master, the king, ³⁵  to take care of the king’s needs ³⁶  and serve as his nurse. She can also sleep with you ³⁷  and keep our master, the king, warm.” ³⁸ 

1 Kings 1:10

1:10 But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the elite warriors, ³⁹  or his brother Solomon.

Isaiah 11:2

11:2 The Lord’s spirit will rest on him ⁴⁰  –

a spirit that gives extraordinary wisdom, ⁴¹ 

a spirit that provides the ability to execute plans, ⁴² 

a spirit that produces absolute loyalty to the Lord. ⁴³ 

John 3:34

3:34 For the one whom God has sent ⁴⁴  speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit sparingly. ⁴⁵ 

Hebrews 1:8-9

1:8 but of ⁴⁶  the Son he says, ⁴⁷ 

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, ⁴⁸ 

and a righteous scepter ⁴⁹  is the scepter of your kingdom.

1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

So God, your God, has anointed you over your companions ⁵⁰  with the oil of rejoicing.” ⁵¹ 

[1:39]  ¹ tn Heb “the horn of oil.” This has been specified as olive oil in the translation for clarity.

[1:39]  ² tn Or “anointed.”

[1:40]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “And Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard, now they had finished eating.”

[1:41]  ⁵ tn Heb “Why is the city’s sound noisy?”

[1:42]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Or “surely.”

[1:42]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[1:43]  ¹⁰ tn For a similar use of אֲבָל (’aval), see Gen 17:19, where God rejects Abraham’s proposal and offers an alternative.

[1:43]  ¹¹ tn The plural form is used in the Hebrew text to indicate honor and authority.

[1:45]  ¹² tn I.e., designated by anointing with oil.

[1:46]  ¹³ tn Heb “And also Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom.”

[1:47]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to bless.”

[1:47]  ¹⁵ tn The plural form is used in the Hebrew text to indicate honor and authority.

[1:47]  ¹⁶ tc Many Hebrew mss agree with the Qere in reading simply “God.”

[1:47]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Or “bowed down; worshiped.”

[1:48]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew text reads, “and the king said.”

[1:48]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ tn Heb “and my eyes are seeing.”

[1:49]  ²² tn Or “were afraid, trembled.”

[1:50]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Heb “King Solomon.” The name and title have been replaced by the pronoun (“you”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:51]  ²⁵ tn Or “swear an oath to.”

[1:52]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tn Heb “but if evil is found in him.”

[1:53]  ²⁸ tn Heb “sent and they brought him down.”

[1:53]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Go to your house.”

[1:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “was old, coming into the days” (i.e., advancing in years).

[1:1]  ³¹ tn Or “garments.”

[22:13]  ³² tn Heb “the words of the prophets are [with] one mouth good for the king.”

[22:13]  ³³ tn Heb “let your words be like the word of each of them and speak good.”

[1:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “said to.”

[1:2]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and my master, the king, will be warm.”

[1:10]  ³⁹ tn Or “bodyguard” (Heb “mighty men”).

[11:2]  ⁴⁰ sn Like David (1 Sam 16:13), this king will be energized by the Lord’s spirit.

[11:2]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “a spirit of wisdom and understanding.” The synonyms are joined here to emphasize the degree of wisdom he will possess. His wisdom will enable him to make just legal decisions (v. 3). A very similar phrase occurs in Eph 1:17.

[11:2]  ⁴² tn Heb “a spirit of counsel [or “strategy”] and strength.” The construction is a hendiadys; the point is that he will have the strength/ability to execute the plans/strategies he devises. This ability will enable him to suppress oppressors and implement just policies (v. 4).

[11:2]  ⁴³ tn Heb “a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.” “Knowledge” is used here in its covenantal sense and refers to a recognition of God’s authority and a willingness to submit to it. See Jer 22:16. “Fear” here refers to a healthy respect for God’s authority which produces obedience. Taken together the two terms emphasize the single quality of loyalty to the Lord. This loyalty guarantees that he will make just legal decisions and implement just policies (vv. 4-5).

[3:34]  ⁴⁴ tn That is, Christ.

[3:34]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “for not by measure does he give the Spirit” (an idiom). Leviticus Rabbah 15:2 states: “The Holy Spirit rested on the prophets by measure.” Jesus is contrasted to this. The Spirit rests upon him without measure.

[1:8]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “to.”

[1:8]  ⁴⁷ tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.

[1:8]  ⁴⁸ tn Or possibly, “Your throne is God forever and ever.” This translation is quite doubtful, however, since (1) in the context the Son is being contrasted to the angels and is presented as far better than they. The imagery of God being the Son’s throne would seem to be of God being his authority. If so, in what sense could this not be said of the angels? In what sense is the Son thus contrasted with the angels? (2) The μέν…δέ (men…de) construction that connects v. 7 with v. 8 clearly lays out this contrast: “On the one hand, he says of the angels…on the other hand, he says of the Son.” Thus, although it is grammatically possible that θεός (qeos) in v. 8 should be taken as a predicate nominative, the context and the correlative conjunctions are decidedly against it. Hebrews 1:8 is thus a strong affirmation of the deity of Christ.

[1:8]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.

[1:9]  ⁵⁰ sn God…has anointed you over your companions. God’s anointing gives the son a superior position and authority over his fellows.

[1:9]  ⁵¹ sn A quotation from Ps 45:6-7.