And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose and went and caught hold of the horns of the altar.
Adonijah's bid for his father's throne collapsed in one afternoon: Solomon was made king, and the guests at Adonijah's feast ran. Now the man who wanted to be king grabs the horns of the altar — is that faith, or only terror?
Nobody at Adonijah's table tries to fight. They run. One writer sees here a preview of how the world will meet Christ's reign.
In verses 49 to 53, all Adonijah's guests are struck with fear and flee in every direction. They try to resist no more than men will when the reign of Christ is proclaimed. They will be broken at once.
His fear made sense. He had left Solomon off the guest list — the one man with a right to the throne.
Adonijah is too shrewd to invite those whose faith or testimony keeps them close to David. He invites all his brothers with one exception. He leaves out Solomon, the only one who has the right to the throne by the will of God and of his father, the one who is to become the king of glory. Clearly he had to shut out of his feast the one whose presence would judge it and condemn it. That presence would bring all his plans and ambitions to nothing.
The horns were not decoration. They were where the blood of the sin offering went. So they were the natural place for a guilty man to cling.
These horns pointed toward the four quarters of the world. Their message was worldwide. They declared the whole world guilty before God, and they also proclaimed the good news of sins borne by the Substitute, for "whoever" in the whole world. Horns in Scripture symbolise strength... The horns of the altar suggest that here the thoughts set out in the altar were focused and intensified; here they were brought to a point. This would explain why the blood of the sin offering for one of the common people was put on these horns (Lev. 4:30). It also gives meaning to the guilty one coming here for refuge and laying hold of them. Adonijah sought safety there and found it.
Ridout hears an echo of Isaiah's call to "take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me" — in the ESV, "Let him take hold of my protection, let him make peace with me."
Touching the altar was never a magic act. The altar sheltered a man because of the sacrifice offered on it. That is why it sheltered some and not others.
The horn is a symbol of strength. So when the blood was sprinkled on the horns, the whole strength of the altar turned. It had been against the sinner. Now it works on his behalf, and it is displayed in all its completeness. So the horns of the altar became a place of refuge, a sanctuary no one could violate. It sheltered everyone who had a right to its protection on the ground of the sprinkled blood.
Dennett draws the line straight to the person who wants the benefit of Christ's death without wanting Christ. That is the man who "in his extremity, would gladly claim the benefits of the death of Christ to escape the judgment, though he is still alienated in heart from Him."
Some read Adonijah's grip on the altar as fear, not faith. Joab later did the same thing, with a very different outcome.
We also read of Adonijah, who for fear of judgment went and caught hold of the horns of the altar and was spared at the time. Later Joab tried the same thing. But he had proved himself treacherous, so he was killed. For it was not faith that moved him, but fear.
Others read it as a man offering himself at the altar in place of a sacrifice.
Adonijah found refuge at the horns of the altar. The act appears to mean, "instead of a substitute, I present myself." In his case this unconditional surrender was accepted, and he was pardoned. But in the case of Joab, who did the same, it was not accepted, for he had deliberately killed two men by deceit.
Solomon spares him, but does not pretend to be fooled. The sparing is real. So is the warning that comes with it.
Solomon, a figure of the King of the coming thousand-year reign, knows Adonijah. He does not change his judgment when he sees him bowing before him. He knows what is hidden in that proud heart. It is only pretending submission and repentance. "Go to your house," he says. Brief, severe words. Adonijah should have taken warning from them. From now on his role was to keep quiet, as a man found guilty and kept under watch.
- Exclusion. Adonijah shut the rightful king out of his feast, because that presence would have condemned it. The king you exclude is the king you end up fearing.
- Refuge. The horns concentrated the meaning of the altar. Blood went on them, so a guilty man could lay hold of them for shelter.
- Ground. The altar protected men "on the ground of the sprinkled blood." What saved was never the grip of the hand. It was the value of the sacrifice.
- Motive. Commentators differ on Adonijah's heart. Some see fear of judgment, not faith. Others see a real surrender that was accepted.
- Probation. Solomon spared him but was not fooled. He sent him home under warning, to live as a man found guilty and kept under watch.
And it was told Solomon saying, Behold, Adonijah fears king Solomon; for behold, he has caught hold of the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear to me this day that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.
Adonijah's bid for the throne ends with no battle. It ends with a man clinging to an altar, begging the new king to swear that he will not kill him. Two questions run through the rest of his story. What did grabbing the horns of the altar mean? And is fear of judgment the same as turning back to God?
His fear is not the panic of an innocent man. He had claimed the crown knowing whose it was.
Adonijah said, "I will be king." Did he not know that Solomon was the chosen of Jehovah? (1 Chron. 28:4-6). Here is wilful rebellion, and, considering him as a type, he is an opponent of Christ.
His supporters scatter in fear the moment the true king takes the throne. Writers see that scattering as a preview of a larger day.
In verses 49 to 53, all Adonijah's guests, struck with fear, run in every direction. They put up no more resistance than men will when the reign of Christ is proclaimed, for they will be broken at once.
The altar was not a random hiding place. Its horns carried a settled meaning in Israel. The law set a limit on the shelter they gave.
Horns in Scripture symbolise strength... The horns of the altar suggest that they gather up and intensify what the altar sets out; here those thoughts come to a point. This would explain why the blood of the sin offering for one of the common people was put on these horns (Lev. 4:30). It also gives meaning to the guilty one coming here for refuge and laying hold of them. Adonijah sought safety there and found it (1 Kings 1:50). Joab came to the same place of refuge and met the just repayment of his sins (1 Kings 2:28-34). For Scripture says, "If a man comes on his neighbour on purpose to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar that he may die" (Ex. 21:14). It would almost seem that the following words suggested this taking hold of the horns of the altar: "Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me, and he shall make peace with Me" (Isa. 27:5).
Two men grab the same horns and get opposite results.
The four horns, pointing outward, tell us that the value of the sacrifice of Christ is for all the world... We read too of Adonijah, who for fear of judgment went and caught hold of the horns of the altar, and he was spared at the time. Later Joab tried the same thing, but he had proved himself treacherous, and he was killed. For it was not faith that moved him, but fear.
Commentators apply the scene directly to people today who reach for religious forms when they are frightened.
Adonijah, in deadly fear, went and took hold of the horns of the altar, just as ungodly men today try to find refuge in Christian ritual, outwardly acknowledging the sacrifice of Christ as the place of safety, yet with no love for Christ at all.
The altar was never a loophole. It sheltered people on the ground of the blood placed on it — and that ground still holds for anyone who really rests on it.
This is like the sinner who is desperate. He would be glad to claim the benefits of the death of Christ to escape the judgment, though in heart he is still far from Him. But where there is trust in the value of the sacrifice offered to God on the altar, no power in earth or hell can touch the soul that rests under its shelter and protection.
Adonijah asks for an unconditional oath. He does not get one. Solomon spares him, but ties his life to his future conduct.
Adonijah begs the mercy of the king and tries to get from him a solemn promise to spare his life. Solomon agrees to overlook the past and to be gracious one more time. But he places Adonijah under responsibility before the glory of his reign: "If he shows himself a worthy man, not one hair of his will fall to the earth; but if wickedness is found in him, he will die" (v. 52).
Sparing him did not mean Solomon believed him. The bow before the throne changed nothing inside.
Solomon, a figure of the millennial King, knows Adonijah. He does not change his judgment when he sees him bowed before him. He knows what his proud heart holds, and that heart is only pretending to submit and repent. "Go to your house," he says to him. Brief, severe words. Adonijah should have taken warning from them.
- Rebellion. Adonijah grabbed at a throne he knew God had given to another. His fear at the altar is a guilty man's fear, not a wronged man's.
- Fear. Terror drove him to grab the horns. But fear of judgment is not faith, and Joab later died with the same grip on the same altar.
- Refuge. The horns stood for the altar's strength and carried sacrificial blood. That is why a guilty person could hold them — yet the law named cases where the altar could not save.
- Terms. Solomon grants life, but no blank oath. Worthy conduct means safety, wickedness means death. Mercy leaves responsibility in place.
- Reality. A bow and a plea did not change Adonijah's heart, and the king saw through him. A grip on the altar without real trust only delays judgment.