1 Kings 1:50

1:50 Adonijah feared Solomon, so he got up and went and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. ¹ 

1 Kings 18:3

18:3 So Ahab summoned Obadiah, who supervised the palace. (Now Obadiah was a very loyal follower of the Lord. ² 

1 Kings 1:51

1:51 Solomon was told, “Look, Adonijah fears you; ³  see, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘May King Solomon solemnly promise ⁴  me today that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’”

1 Kings 18:12

18:12 But when I leave you, the Lord’s spirit will carry you away so I can’t find you. ⁵  If I go tell Ahab I’ve seen you, he won’t be able to find you and he will kill me. ⁶  That would not be fair, ⁷  because your servant has been a loyal follower of ⁸  the Lord from my youth.

[1:50]  ¹ 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.

[18:3]  ² tn Heb “now Obadiah greatly feared the Lord.” “Fear” refers here to obedience and allegiance, the products of healthy respect for the Lord’s authority.

[1:51]  ³ tn Heb “King Solomon.” The name and title have been replaced by the pronoun (“you”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:51]  ⁴ tn Or “swear an oath to.”

[18:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “to [a place] which I do not know.”

[18:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “and I will go to inform Ahab and he will not find you and he will kill me.”

[18:12]  ⁶ tn The words “that would not be fair” are added to clarify the logic of Obadiah’s argument.

[18:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “has feared the Lord” (also see the note at 1 Kgs 18:3).