While he yet spoke, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came; and Adonijah said [to him], Come in; for thou art a valiant man, and bringest good news.
Adonijah has just declared himself king, and his feast is still going when a runner arrives. Adonijah greets him as a man bringing good news — but who is this messenger, and who is the news good for?
Jonathan arrives just after a sound the guests cannot explain. Writers see in that interruption a picture of Christ's reign breaking in on the world.
But what an awakening! What trouble overwhelms those at his feast! Suddenly, in the middle of the feast, the false king, Joab, and all the guests hear the sound of the trumpet. They hear such shouts of joy that the very earth is split by the noise of Solomon's procession. "Why," says Joab, "is the city in such an uproar?" So the public establishment of the reign of Christ will surprise the world and deeply trouble it.
Jonathan's father Abiathar was already sitting at that table. The son's own record pointed the other way.
At that moment Jonathan the son of Abiathar came in. Though his father was already present, it seems Jonathan did not follow his father's example. Jonathan had shown himself devoted to David at the time of Absalom's revolt (2 Sam. 17:17-21). Adonijah thought Jonathan was bringing good news, but it was not good for Adonijah.
Jonathan served David in his rejected days, and he serves David's son now. One writer draws a warning out of that for anyone still holding back.
He comes full of what is good news to him, for we can see by his language that his heart has stayed loyal to David... His service may be to David during the time of his rejection, or to the world in the day of the triumph of the son of David. Either way, Jonathan remains the same faithful messenger. The time is short: it is vital to submit at once by "kissing the Son."
Adonijah calls it good news before he hears any of it. He is right about the news and wrong about what it will mean for him.
Adonijah said, "Come in, for you are a worthy man and bring good news." And the news he brought was good news for God's people: "Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom." Fear and panic took hold of Adonijah and his guests, and while the people gathered around Solomon, Adonijah and his company scattered. One day another will be enthroned — the greater Son of David. When the glad news flashes out that He has taken His throne, all His enemies will be scattered and made the footstool of His feet.
Rossier notes the exchange in the same terms. Adonijah says Jonathan brings good news; Jonathan agrees, "Indeed" — and then the report lands:
but this news was not good for his hearers. It was a disaster to Adonijah.
Jonathan does not soften the account or hint at a way to fight back. He tells everything, and telling it in full closes every door.
Jonathan made no suggestion that Adonijah should resist the crowning of Solomon as king. Instead he gave him a full account of what had taken place, so that it left no loophole of opportunity for Adonijah to change it.
He even repeats how David received the news. One writer reads that as a further sign of where Jonathan's own sympathies lay.
Jonathan added that the king bowed in thanksgiving before God, blessing Him for having given David a successor to sit on his throne while he was still alive. It seems that Jonathan would not have added these things if he had favoured Adonijah at all. He spoke as though David had completely settled the matter.
Adonijah's grab at the throne did not delay Solomon's crowning. It hurried it.
Well, the thing is now established. The very effort to destroy it brings out, as I have already said, the speedy establishment of the will of God. Solomon is set on the king's mule. The trumpet sounds. The real men who had fought the battles of the kingdom and guided the counsels of the king put their seal on this great transaction. Above all, the king himself did. And Solomon is properly seated as king on the throne of Jehovah in Israel.
- Same messenger. Jonathan carried news to David in his rejected days, and news of David's son on the day of his triumph. One man, one loyalty, two very different days.
- Same news. Adonijah called it good news, and it was: Solomon sits on the throne. The message did not change to suit the hearer.
- Different hearing. The same news that gladdens a loyal heart is a disaster to a rebel. News of the king's crowning scatters those who wanted the throne for themselves.
- No loophole. Jonathan told the whole story, down to David's own thanksgiving. It left Adonijah nothing to overturn — a settled matter, not a debate.
- Same outcome. The plot to block God's chosen king only sped up his crowning. The trumpet that shattered the feast points to the day Christ's reign takes the world by surprise.
And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Indeed, our lord king David has made Solomon king.
Adonijah's coronation feast is nearly over when Jonathan walks in, and the guests greet him as a man with good news. His first word is "No," and what follows undoes everything they were celebrating.
Adonijah expected Jonathan to confirm his hopes. He had a record of loyalty to David, and he did not follow his father Abiathar into the plot:
At that moment Jonathan the son of Abiathar came in. Though his father was already present, it seems Jonathan did not follow his father's example. Jonathan had shown himself devoted to David at the time of Absalom's revolt (2 Samuel 17:17-21). Adonijah thought Jonathan was bringing good news, but it was not good for Adonijah. Jonathan was just as aware of the crowning of Solomon as he was of what Adonijah was doing, and it seems he was not taking sides with Adonijah. He told him plainly that "our lord King David has made Solomon king."
Jonathan does not tell Adonijah to fight back. He lays out what has already happened, and that is enough:
Jonathan made no suggestion that Adonijah should resist the crowning of Solomon as king. Instead he gave him a full account of what had taken place, so that it left no loophole of opportunity for Adonijah to change it. David had sent Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah the military leader, together with the Cherethites and the Pelethites, David's bodyguard. Solomon rode on the king's mule, and at Gihon they anointed him king, so that the whole city was rejoicing.
The news lands hard because the throne was never open. One writer asks whether Adonijah could have been ignorant of God's choice, and names the mark found in all who oppose Christ:
Adonijah said, "I will be king." Did he not know that Solomon was the chosen of Jehovah? (1 Chronicles 28:4-6). Here is wilful rebellion, and, looking at him as a picture, he is an opponent of Christ... Self-will is the common mark of all who oppose Christ.
Adonijah's claim was "I will be king." One writer traces those two words, "I will," back to their root:
In full knowledge of God's purpose, "Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king." In his vanity he "prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him" (1 Kings 1:5). As surely as Solomon prefigures Christ, Adonijah prefigures the Antichrist. Notice the fatal words, "I will." In Isaiah 14:13-14 we hear Lucifer saying five times, "I will." Here we have the very essence of sin. 1 John 3:4, correctly translated, teaches us that "sin is lawlessness." Lawlessness is self-will.
Commentators differ on how far Adonijah pictures any one future figure, but one writer sees three kinds of power lined up in his conspiracy:
In these three men we see, in Adonijah the authority of the world, in Joab the executive power, in Abiathar the religious power, all combined against Christ. They are the representatives of the three great moral forces of the world. While they were celebrating, they hear the shouting of the people; sudden fear seizes them, and destruction soon overtakes them. So it will be at the end.
Jonathan had served David in his hard days; now he brings news of David's son. One writer notes where Jonathan's own joy lies, and what his news demands:
"You bring good news," Adonijah says to him. "Indeed," he replies, but this news was not good for his hearers. It was a disaster for Adonijah. None of this clashes with Jonathan's feelings as a son for his father, who by his own fault had gone down this dead-end road. Those feelings are why he reports truthfully to the whole company everything that had taken place, holding nothing back. Let them take heed! As for himself, his joy, you can sense, is with David's successor. His service has not changed its character since the days of his king's afflictions. He is always ready to bring news, just as his companion Ahimaaz is ready to run. His character is remarkable in how consistent it is. Whether he serves David during the time of his rejection, or the world on the day the son of David triumphs, Jonathan remains the same faithful messenger. The time is short: it is vital to submit at once by "kissing the Son."
Older translations read Jonathan's first word as "Indeed," where the ESV reads "No."
- Claim. Adonijah's whole movement rests on "I will be king." Writers call self-will the very essence of sin, and here it is aimed at a throne God had already given to Solomon.
- Fact. Jonathan answers with one word and one fact: David has acted. There is nothing to discuss.
- Fullness. He reports every detail: priest, prophet, bodyguard, mule, anointing, a rejoicing city. He leaves Adonijah no loophole.
- Fear. The news turns a feast into a panic. The three powers gathered against God's king scatter the moment they hear the shout.
- Response. Jonathan's own joy is with the new king. His news leaves one wise move: submit at once, while there is still time.