But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men whom David had, were not with Adonijah.
Adonijah, one of David's sons, has just declared himself king while his father lies dying. He has drawn a general, a priest and most of the royal family to his side. Then comes a short list of men who were not there. That absence turns out to be the hinge of the whole chapter.
Up to now the two priests of David's reign always appeared together. This verse splits them, and one writer sees a test in that split:
At this point we see a striking difference between the two priests, Zadok and Abiathar. Until now the record kept naming them together, and both stood on David's side: during Absalom's rebellion and during Sheba's rebellion. But now the time has come to separate the wheat from the chaff... How refreshing to read in the next verse: "But Zadok the priest ... and David's mighty men were not with Adonijah." Again Zadok is on the right side — this time in contrast to Abiathar, his fellow priest. Adonijah was a "very handsome man," but that did not sway Zadok. His loyalty to David was marked by faith.
The names are not a random list. Each man was tied to someone, and that tie kept him away from Adonijah:
Zadok, Benaiah, Nathan and David's mighty men are not with Adonijah. The true priest; the prophet, God's messenger; Benaiah, the true servant who walks in the footsteps of his master — what do they have to do with him? The priest looks to God, the prophet to the Spirit of God, the servant to David, to Christ. Do they need anything else? Those mighty men have found their strength in David. Will they follow Adonijah, who cannot give it to them?
Shimei and Rei appear almost nowhere else in the Bible. About Rei, one reference work says only this:
A friend of David, mentioned when Adonijah set himself up to be king.
One writer weighs a man's title against the work he actually does:
"But Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada" — Benaiah was the true servant of the king's purposes, not Joab. Joab had the name and the title, but Benaiah was the man who did the real work. And there was "Nathan the prophet," the man who interpreted the mind of God.
What kept Benaiah steady was not ambition for promotion but the habit of copying the man he served:
In David's time he already held a leading place in service. Was he not worthy of it? He had followed his master's footsteps step by step in everything, and he later became chief captain over the whole army. Still, this man has no ambition except to stay faithful to his king and to be like him. He is not like Joab, who captured the stronghold of Zion to gain the first place. No, he is humble. His whole aim is to reproduce David in the way he lives.
On the day, these few names looked like the weaker side. Numbers, talent, religious standing and royal blood all sat with Adonijah:
Turning away from the mind of God is usually a success at first. Where there is ability, every step of unfaithfulness brings big results in the world. Everything that could work on people's minds was drawn up here, and no doubt it was all well planned. Joab would influence one set of people. Abiathar the priest would bring his religious name and reputation. And above all there were the king's sons — all of them except Solomon... The rebellion was widespread, and it looked carefully planned... And that is exactly where faith can rest — on God's word... There is no real blessing except where the call of God is... The flesh may rule for a while in the world, but God must rule among God's people.
When David acts, he does not have to search for men he can trust:
King David, though weak and at death's door, rises to the occasion. He knows who he can trust: "Call me Zadok the priest …" He orders that Solomon is to be king and that Zadok is to have the honour of anointing him. Zadok receives his reward already during his lifetime.
- Absence. The verse records nothing these men did. It records where they refused to go, and that refusal is their loyalty.
- Attachment. Priest, prophet, servant and soldier each held a different tie: to God, to His Spirit, to David, to David's strength. Every tie pulled the same way.
- Ambition. Joab had the title; Benaiah did the work. The man chasing first place changed sides. The man copying his master stayed.
- Appearance. The rebellion had the crowd, the talent and the religious reputation, and still lost. Faith rests on God's word, not on a head count.
- Answer. When the dying king needed men, he called the ones who had stayed away from Adonijah. Zadok received his reward within his own lifetime.
And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fatted cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En-rogel, and invited all his brethren, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the king's servants;
Adonijah's push for the throne goes public here, with animals killed at a stone outside Jerusalem and a feast that looks like worship. Commentators ask why he sacrificed at all, why he invited these guests, and why he left one brother off the list.
The animals were part of the plan, not a side detail. A priest on his side made the sacrifices look right.
His plans were well thought out. He wanted God included among his supporters, so he sacrificed sheep, oxen and fattened cattle near Jerusalem, in the Kidron valley. Since Abiathar was his priest, he could treat these sacrifices as fitting for his purpose. He gathered all the support he could find.
Adonijah was not the first son of David to dress rebellion in religious clothing.
Adonijah gives the meeting at En-rogel the false appearance of a peace offering. He follows in the footsteps of his brother Absalom, who had said that he wished to pay a vow to the Lord. He even invites the servants of the king, and they come to his feast. The rebel does not fear that they will fail him.
The ESV calls these guests "the royal officials of Judah"; older translations read "the king's servants." These men ate at a table set against the king's own choice. Their title had outlived their loyalty.
We know what the title "servant of the king" is worth if the heart is not really attached to David. We know what "servant of God" is worth if Christ is not the object of the affections. How many of these "king's servants" do we see today running to people who hide their hatred of Christ behind a show of godliness?
Adonijah had the numbers on the day: the general, the priest and the royal family. Early success proves nothing.
A departure from the mind of God is always apt to be successful at first. Every step of unfaithfulness has a great result in the world where there is ability, and where everything that works on people's minds is drawn up in order. No doubt this was well calculated. Joab would influence a certain set. Abiathar the priest would have his religious name and reputation. Above all there were the king's sons — all of them except Solomon — and "all the men of Judah," that is, "the king's servants." The rebellion was widespread, and it looked carefully planned. But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he did not call. And there is just where faith can rest — on God's word. That was what gave the weight to Solomon… there is no vital blessing except where the call of God is.
The guest list reads "all his brothers," but one son of David is missing — the one God and David chose.
He invites all his brothers, with one exception. Solomon alone has the right to the throne, by the will of God and of his father, and he is the one who is to become the king of glory. Clearly Adonijah must keep out of his feast the one whose presence would judge it and condemn it, and would bring to nothing all his plans and all his ambitions. The world invites Christ last of all. More than that, the world is unwilling to invite Him.
Some writers see a pattern in the whole scene: a self-made king, the men who profit from him, and the crowd that falls under his power.
Adonijah is a picture of the man who tries to lift himself up to the very throne of God. Joab and Abiathar are the men who take advantage of this. The people who follow Adonijah are those brought under his power as he rises.
Commentators differ on how far to press this. Another writer measures Adonijah against "the king," the Antichrist, and finds the likeness real but limited.
Adonijah said, "I will be king." Did he not know that Solomon was the chosen of Jehovah? Here is deliberate rebellion, and, taken as a picture, he is an opponent of Christ. It is said of "the king" that he will do as he pleases. Does Adonijah show us "the king" in any measure? They are alike in that both do their own will, and neither is an enemy from outside: both are in Jerusalem. But there is this difficulty: "the king" as Antichrist is destroyed as soon as Christ appears. We see one or two of the same features in each, yet hardly enough, taken with the other circumstances, to say that Adonijah is a picture of "the king."
- Sacrifice — Adonijah killed the animals so his takeover would look like worship, and a priest on his side gave it the appearance of God's backing.
- Script — the trick was second-hand. Absalom had already hidden rebellion behind a religious vow.
- Servants — men still carrying the king's title sat at a rival's table. A title is worth nothing when the heart is not attached to the king.
- Success — the rebellion looked wide and well planned. Turning from God often looks successful at first. Faith rests on God's word, not on the crowd.
- Solomon — Adonijah invited every brother except the rightful heir. Solomon's presence alone would have condemned the feast, and the world still leaves that name off its list.
but Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he did not invite.
Adonijah's feast had a priest, an army commander and a crowd of royal guests. This verse lists the four men he left out, and those four names decide everything.
after
The four omissions were not oversights. One commentator explains why Adonijah left each name off:
However, he did not invite Nathan the prophet, a faithful man of God. He did not invite Benaiah, a fully devoted servant of David, or the other mighty men like Benaiah, or Solomon his brother (v.10). Why did he leave these men out? Because he knew he could not count on their support. Everyone knew that David had decided Solomon was to be king. But Adonijah seemed to think David was now too old to enforce that choice, and that popular opinion would favor him. Sad blunder!
The gathering was not irreligious on its surface. Sacrifices were offered, and a priest was on hand to make them look proper:
His plans were well thought out, for wanting to include God as one supporting him, he sacrificed sheep, oxen and fatted cattle near to Jerusalem, in the Kidron valley (v.7). Having Abiathar as priest, he could consider these sacrifices appropriate for his purpose. Also, he invited all his brothers, the kings' sons and many servants of David. He marshaled all the support he could possibly find.
Each missing man already had a master. One writer asks what these four could want from Adonijah:
Zadok, Benaiah, Nathan, and the mighty men of David are not present with Adonijah. The true priest; the prophet, the messenger of God; Benaiah, the true servant who follows in his master's footsteps — what do they have to do with him? The priest looks to God, the prophet looks to the Spirit of God, the servant looks to David, to Christ. Do they need anything else? These mighty men found their strength in David. Will they now follow Adonijah, who has no strength to give them?
Adonijah invited every brother except one. One writer sees in that exception a picture of how the world treats Christ:
He invites all his brothers, with one exception. He leaves out the only one who has a right to the throne by the will of God and of his father: Solomon, 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, would condemn it, would bring all his plans and all his ambitions to nothing. Christ is the last one the world invites; more than that, the world is unwilling to invite Him.
Some men did follow Adonijah. One writer points out what those followers had in common:
Notice that the men who were willing to live at a distance from David were the ones drawn to follow Adonijah. They were not close to David, as Bathsheba and Nathan were. What a lesson for every believer! Only by staying near to the Lord will we be kept from the danger of dishonoring Him by following what looks appealing but is really disobedience.
At first the rebellion looked unstoppable. One writer weighs that early success against the one thing it could not reach:
Turning away from the mind of God is always likely to succeed at first. Every step of unfaithfulness has a great effect in the world where there is ability, and where everything that sways people's minds is gathered up. This plot was no doubt well calculated. Joab would influence a certain set. Abiathar the priest would have his religious name and reputation. And above all there were the king's sons — all of them except Solomon... It was a widespread rebellion, and it seemed a carefully planned one. "But he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty men or Solomon his brother." And that is exactly where faith can rest — on God's word.
One writer looks at how schemes like this end:
But in the end, human shrewdness fails before the judgment of God. God arranges events so that sooner or later the shrewdest people are shown as they really are.
- Uninvited. Adonijah left out Nathan, Benaiah, the mighty men and Solomon. He knew he could not count on their support.
- Unimpressed. The four missing men looked to God, to His Spirit, to David. Adonijah had nothing to offer men whose strength came from the true king.
- Unwelcome. Adonijah had to shut Solomon out. His presence alone would have condemned the feast — and the world still keeps Christ off its guest list.
- Undone by distance. The men who joined Adonijah were already living far from David. Staying near the true king kept the faithful safe.
- Unshaken. Unfaithfulness often succeeds at first. But clever plans fail before God's judgment, and faith rests where the rebellion could not reach — on God's word.
And Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith is king, and David our lord does not know [it]?
David is dying and knows nothing, while his son Adonijah has already seized the throne. Nathan's question to Bathsheba begins the rescue — and shows how God guards His own purpose when the king is too weak to act.
The crown was changing hands and David had no idea. One writer sees both the danger and the answer:
On the day this great danger threatened Israel, nothing had been done to guard against it (vv. 11-31). The king, weakened by age and confined to his palace, "knew not" what was happening. Thankfully, God was keeping watch for him. God, who has the glory of His Son and His kingdom in view, does not allow the plans of the usurper to succeed. To this end He sends the prophet to Bathsheba with a word of wisdom. You may be sure of this: in the Word of God we will always find the means to glorify Christ and to be kept safe from the enemy's traps.
Adonijah was not just one prince pushing past another. His claim ran against something already settled and widely known:
Everyone in the house of David and in the land of Israel knew this. God chose David from among his brothers, and He was also pleased to appoint Solomon to the throne of Israel... Adonijah's sin was not just ambition. It was not even simply rebellion against the king, against David. It was rebellion against Jehovah. It was a direct act of setting himself against the declared and revealed purpose of God.
The same writer presses the lesson home: "If the word of God is an unmatched blessing to us, then our responsibility is far greater, and sin takes on a new character."
Nathan does not confront Adonijah. He goes first to Solomon's mother, and builds a plan around her:
When Adonijah made the bold move of proclaiming himself king, Nathan the prophet took a wise course. He advised Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, to tell David at once what Adonijah had done. Adonijah had proclaimed himself king, even though David had sworn to Bathsheba that Solomon would reign (vs.11-13). Then Nathan would come in with the same message to confirm it (v.14), so that David would see how urgent things were.
Two mouths, one message. Another writer compares Nathan with Joab, who once used a woman from Tekoah to work on the king:
What a contrast between Nathan's mediation and that of Joab through the woman of Tekoah (2 Sam. 14)! There everything was trickery and lying, meant to sway the king's spirit and flatter his hidden leanings... Here prudence points to what must be done, without straying from the truth at all.
Bathsheba could have taken this news to anyone in the palace. Where she went says something about her:
She went to Nathan, the one man above all who could give the mind of God. He had rebuked the king at the height of his power. He had the courage to speak for God whatever it cost him... We always show where our heart is by whom we trust. Suppose a man is set on his own will and going wrong. He is sure to ask advice from exactly the people he should avoid. If he cannot count on outright approval, he looks for someone weak, who will give the feeblest protest, if not some encouragement. Weakness leans on weakness.
Adonijah's feast had room for every brother but one. Commentators read the omission as more than tactics:
He invites all his brothers, with one exception: the only one having the right to the throne according to the will of God and of his father — Solomon, 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, would condemn it, would bring all his plans and all his ambitions to nothing. Christ is the last to be invited by the world; more than that, the world is unwilling to invite Him.
The conspiracy did not delay Solomon. It fast-tracked him:
The only effect of Adonijah's conspiracy was not to hinder Solomon, but to move him forward to the throne of Israel. Without the conspiracy, Solomon would surely have waited for the king to die. Instead the plot secured the throne for him, and secured it at once. So it is that if we are only calm, God always accomplishes His purpose.
- Unaware. David does not know it. Adonijah is taking the throne while the old king lies helpless in his palace.
- Unmistakable. Israel already knew God had chosen Solomon. So Adonijah's grab was not ordinary ambition; it was rebellion against the Lord.
- Unfailing. God did not leave the gap open. He sent the prophet to Bathsheba with a word of wisdom: prudent in method, exact in truth.
- Unbroken. David's oath still stood. God had already named Solomon Beloved of the Lord, and one reminder of that oath moved the old king to act.
- Undone. The plot backfired. Instead of blocking Solomon, it hurried him onto the throne.
And now, come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy son Solomon.
Adonijah has crowned himself king while David lies old and unaware. Nathan the prophet goes to Bathsheba with advice meant to save two lives. Why were those lives in danger, and whose counsel is safe in a crisis?
The rebellion ran on unchecked. The one man who could stop it did not know it was happening. One commentator points out who was watching while the king knew nothing.
On the day this great danger threatened Israel, no one had taken a step to ward it off (vv. 11-31). The king, weakened by age and confined to his palace, "knew not" what was happening. Thankfully, God was keeping watch for him. God, who has the glory of His Son and His kingdom in view, does not let the schemes of the usurper succeed. To that end He sends the prophet to Bathsheba with a word of wisdom. You can be sure of this: in the Word of God we will always find the means that glorify Christ and keep us safe from the enemy's traps.
Nathan speaks of saving a life, and he means it literally. Bathsheba later put the same danger to David.
She also told David that the eyes of all Israel were on him, waiting to see what he would do in view of this turn of events. For if he let Adonijah's crowning stand, then Bathsheba and Solomon would count as offenders, and they would be killed for it (v.21).
Nathan had once told David to do whatever was in his heart. What he gives here is of a different kind, and one writer marks the difference.
We have seen in this chapter that Nathan's counsel was according to God and according to the respect due to the king. This is not human counsel, as when the same Nathan said to David, "Go, do all that is in your heart" (2 Sam. 7:3). It is divine wisdom, meant to keep the prophet-king from a fall, and to defend the honour of Solomon, the anointed of the Lord, after his father's passing. Above all, it is a matter of establishing the king of glory on his throne.
The same writer sets Nathan beside an earlier scene. Joab once sent a woman from Tekoa to David with an invented story. That was trickery and lies, used to work on the king's mind and flatter his hidden leanings. Nathan is careful, but he never wavers from the truth. David must be told the danger, and persuaded to act firmly for God.
The counsel was practical. It fixed who would speak first, and who would follow.
When Adonijah made the bold move of proclaiming himself king, Nathan the prophet took a wise course. He told Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, to inform David at once that Adonijah had proclaimed himself king. Adonijah had done this even though David had sworn to her that Solomon would be king (vs.11-13). Then Nathan would come in with the same message to confirm it (v.14), so David would see how urgent the situation was.
Bathsheba took the advice, and she took it from Nathan. One commentator makes her choice a test anyone can apply.
Whatever her weakness, her heart was right. She went to the one who, above all, could give the mind of God — to Nathan. He was the one who had rebuked the king at the height of his power. He was the one with the courage to speak for God whatever the cost. She goes to Nathan. And allow me to say, dear friends, as a matter of practical profit, we always show where our heart is by our confidence. Suppose a man is going wrong in his own will. He is sure to ask for advice in exactly the place where he should not. He looks for advice where he will find weakness, if he cannot count on outright approval — somewhere the protest will at least be faint, if not a little encouraging. Weakness leans on weakness.
- Danger. Adonijah crowned himself and no one stopped him, because David did not know what was happening.
- Watchfulness. While the king knew nothing, God kept watch. He has the glory of His Son and His kingdom in view, so He does not let the usurper win.
- Word. God's answer to the danger was a message. In His Word we still find the means that glorify Christ and keep us from the enemy's traps.
- Counsel. Nathan's advice was divine wisdom, not human counsel. It was urgent and truthful, it respected the king, and it guarded the honour of Solomon, the anointed of the Lord.
- Confidence. Bathsheba listened to the man who could tell her the mind of God. Where we go for advice always shows where our heart is.
Go and get thee in to king David, and say to him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear to thy handmaid saying, Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne? why then does Adonijah reign?
David lies old and weak in his palace, and Adonijah has taken the throne. Nathan the prophet sends Bathsheba to the king with one question, built on a promise David once made under oath.
Nobody in the palace had acted against the danger. One writer points out that the king's ignorance did not leave Israel unprotected.
The king, weakened by age, confined to his palace, "knew not" what was happening. Thankfully, God was keeping watch for him. God, who has the glory of His Son and His kingdom in view, does not allow the plans of the usurper to succeed. To this end He sends the prophet to Bathsheba with a word of wisdom. You can be sure of this: in the Word of God we will always find the means to glorify Christ and to keep ourselves safe from the enemy's traps.
Nathan's closing question is sharp because the answer was already public knowledge. Adonijah was not just seizing a chance. He was going against something God had already settled.
Everyone in the house of David and in the land of Israel knew this: just as God chose David from among his brothers, so He had also been pleased to appoint Solomon for the throne of Israel... So Adonijah's sin was not just ambition. It was not even simply rebellion against the king, against David. It was rebellion against the Lord. He set himself directly against the purpose God had declared and revealed.
Nathan's plan uses timing and a chosen speaker. That could look like scheming. So one writer sets it beside Joab's earlier approach to David through the woman of Tekoa.
What a contrast between Nathan's mediation and Joab's through the woman of Tekoa (2 Sam. 14)! There everything was trickery and lying. The aim was to work on the king's mind and flatter his hidden leanings. In the end it was to put a deceitful and violent man on the throne over Israel. Here prudence suggests what should be done, but without straying in the least from the truth. The king must be made aware of the imminent danger. He must be persuaded to act decisively for God.
Before Bathsheba goes to David, she has already gone to Nathan. Kelly reads that choice as a test anyone can apply to themselves.
She went to the one who, above all, could give the mind of God — to Nathan. He was the one who had rebuked the king at the height of his power. He had the courage to speak for God whatever the cost... we always show where our heart is by who we confide in. Suppose a man is going wrong in his own will. He is sure to look for advice in exactly the place where he should not.
Nathan tells her to go in at once and speak to the aged king. One writer treats her manner as a model.
Bathsheba speaks with respect and boldness. She shows David that he does not know the danger (v. 18). She reminds him what he had settled on: a successor who was a king after God's own heart (v. 17). She also points out his responsibility towards herself, her son, and the people. The eyes of all Israel were on David, waiting for him to say who should sit on his throne after him. Truth is in this woman's heart, as it is in the prophet's heart. It is a lovely example of the spirit we should show one another.
The plot did not delay Solomon. It brought his crowning forward, and Kelly draws a general rule from that.
Adonijah's conspiracy did not hinder Solomon. Its only effect was to move him forward to the throne of Israel. If there had been no conspiracy, Solomon would surely have waited for the king to die. Instead the result was to secure the throne, and to secure it at once. So it is that if we are only calm, God always accomplishes His purpose.
Nathan's question rests on an oath, and Rossier explains why that reminder was enough.
The mind of the Lord about Solomon had already been revealed to David. He knew it very well. There was a reason why the Lord had given David's son the name Jedidiah, Beloved of the Lord (2 Sam. 12:25)... It was enough to remind this man of faith of his oath for him to see the path to take.
- Watching — David knew nothing of the plot, but God did. Heaven guarded the throne before anyone in the palace noticed.
- Word — the rescue came as a word of wisdom through a prophet, and one reminder of David's oath was enough to move him. God's Word still shows us how Christ is glorified and how we escape the enemy's traps.
- Way — Nathan's plan was urgent and shrewd, yet it never left the truth. Joab's earlier approach through the woman of Tekoa was pure trickery.
- Witness — Bathsheba went first to the man who could give her the mind of God. Who we ask for advice shows where our heart already is.
- Wait — Adonijah's rush only put Solomon on the throne sooner. If we stay calm, God still accomplishes His purpose.
Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also will come in after thee and confirm thy words.
Adonijah has thrown a feast and had himself crowned king while his father lies old and unaware. Nathan the prophet answers with a plan, not a protest: Bathsheba goes in first, and he follows to confirm her words. Why two voices instead of one?
David's ignorance is the crisis of the chapter. Nobody in the palace had moved to stop the theft of the throne. But David was not the only one watching:
On the day this great danger threatened Israel, no one had taken any measure to ward it off (vv. 11-31). The king, weakened by age, confined to his palace, "did not know" what was happening. Thankfully, God was keeping watch for him. God, who has the glory of His Son and His kingdom in view, does not allow the plans of the usurper to succeed. To this end He sends the prophet to Bathsheba with a word of wisdom. Be assured that we will always find in the Word of God the means by which Christ may be glorified and we ourselves preserved from the ambushes of the enemy.
Nathan's plan has an order to it. Bathsheba raises the alarm first; the prophet then walks in and says the same thing.
When Adonijah made the bold move of proclaiming himself king, Nathan the prophet took a wise course. He advised Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, to tell David at once that Adonijah had proclaimed himself king — even though David had sworn to Bathsheba that Solomon would be king (vv. 11-13). Then Nathan would come in with the same message to confirm it (v. 14). That way David would see how urgent the situation was.
A staged approach to a king can slide into manipulation. Writers contrast Nathan's plan with an earlier scheme, and show what it rested on.
What a contrast between Nathan's mediation and that of Joab through the woman of Tekoah (2 Sam. 14)! There everything was trickery and lying. It was meant to work on the king's feelings and flatter his hidden leanings, so that in the end a deceitful and violent man would take David's place as king over Israel. Here prudence suggests what should be done, but without swerving in the least from the truth. The king must learn of the danger closing in. He must be persuaded to act with resolve for God. The Lord had already revealed His mind about Solomon to David, and David knew it well. He had sworn to Bathsheba by the LORD, the God of Israel, "Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place" (vv. 17, 30). One reminder of that oath was enough to show this man of faith the path to take.
When Bathsheba speaks to David, nothing is invented and nothing is hidden:
Bathsheba speaks with respect and boldness. She shows David that he is unaware of the danger (v. 18)... The truth is in the heart of this woman, as it is also in the heart of the prophet — a lovely example of the spirit in which we should behave toward one another.
Before Nathan can confirm anything, Bathsheba has to be willing to hear him. Her choice of adviser shows where her heart was.
She went to the one who above all could give the mind of God — to Nathan. He had rebuked the king at the height of his power. He had courage to speak for God whatever the consequence. And note this: we always show where our heart is by whom we trust. Suppose a man is going wrong in his will. He is sure to take advice in the very quarter where he ought not. If he cannot count on outright approval, he looks for advice where he will find weakness. At most he will meet a feeble protest, and perhaps even some encouragement. Weakness tends to lean on weakness.
Nathan's aim reaches past palace politics. His counsel guards three things at once.
We have seen in this chapter that Nathan's counsel was according to God and according to the respect due to the king. Here it is not a matter of human counsel, as when this same Nathan said to David, "Go, do all that is in your heart" (2 Sam. 7:3). It is divine wisdom. It aims to keep the prophet-king from a fall, and to defend the honour of Solomon, the anointed of the Lord, after his father's passing. Above all, it is a matter of establishing the king of glory on his throne.
And the rebellion achieved the opposite of what it intended:
The only effect of Adonijah's conspiracy was not to hinder but to hurry Solomon to the throne of Israel... So it is that if we are only calm, God always accomplishes His purpose.
- Watching. David "did not know," but God did; He was keeping watch over a throne His aged king could no longer guard.
- Sending. God answered the danger by sending a prophet with a word of wisdom. His Word still supplies what keeps us safe from the enemy's ambushes.
- Confirming. Nathan planned two messages, not one. Bathsheba speaks, he follows, and David is held to the oath he had already sworn.
- Truthful. Prudence shaped the approach, but no word bent from the truth. Joab's earlier scheme through the woman of Tekoah did the opposite.
- Establishing. The whole quiet plan served one end: to seat the rightful king. The rebellion meant to stop him only hurried him there.
And Bathsheba went in to the king into the chamber; and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered to the king.
Verse 15 takes us into a bedroom while a rebellion runs loose in the city. The one man who could stop it lies weak in bed, a young woman tending him, unaware that his son has claimed the throne.
The verse notes that the king was very old. One writer traces that weakness to the life David had lived.
David was about 70 years old and extremely feeble. Many things left him this weak. He had led a hard life. His youth brought exposure and hardship. His reign brought cares and worries. He went through discipline because of his great sin, and much else weighed on him too. It is another illustration of that unbending law: whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. It was an early decay, with the complete loss of natural warmth.
The second half of the verse names the woman beside the bed. One writer explains how she came to be there, notes what Scripture never says about her, and finds a picture of Christ in it.
The king's servants come up with a way to bring him back to life, copying the rulers of the nations around them. It seems David lacked the will to oppose the plan of those around him. So they bring a Shunammite to him. She cares for him and serves him. This very beautiful young woman of Israel will later be counted by Solomon as one of the most precious jewels in his crown. She is to belong to him, and anyone who dares to look at her with desire will bear his judgment. But let us not get ahead of the story. What the Word teaches us is that she did not become the wife of David, the king of grace. It is like this at present with Christ. His eyes are on Israel, yet right now another bride is being taken from among the Gentiles. He will keep her as King of Glory. Yet as King of Glory He will also renew His relations with the remnant of Israel, the finest of His people.
She did not come on her own. A prophet sent her, and behind the prophet was God.
On the day this great danger threatened Israel, no one had done anything to stop it. The king, weakened by age, confined to his palace, did not know what was happening. Thankfully, God was keeping watch for him. God, who has the glory of His Son and His kingdom in view, does not allow the plans of the usurper to succeed. To this end He sends the prophet to Bathsheba with a word of wisdom.
Before she entered the room, she had gone to Nathan. One writer makes that choice the test of her heart, and applies it to us.
She went to Nathan, the one who above all could give the mind of God. He had rebuked the king himself, at the height of the king's power. He had the courage to speak for God whatever the consequence. And let me say, as a matter of practical profit, we always show where our heart is by our confidence. Suppose a man is going wrong in his own will. He is sure to take advice in exactly the quarter where he ought not.
Notice how she carries herself in the room.
Bathsheba bowed to him, showing the humility of her subjection to the king, even though he was her husband.
Her words matched her manner. One writer finds in them a pattern for how believers should treat one another.
Bathsheba speaks with respect and boldness. She shows David that he is unaware of the danger. She shows him that the purpose he had settled on was to have a king after God's own heart as his successor... The truth is in the heart of this woman, and in the heart of the prophet too. It is a lovely example of the spirit in which we should behave toward one another.
The old man in the bed proved fully awake to the moment.
So the king showed that, old as he was, he was fully alive to how serious the moment was. He saw and judged the crisis that was coming. Adonijah's conspiracy did not hinder Solomon. Its only effect was to bring him forward to the throne of Israel. Had there been no conspiracy, Solomon would have waited, we can hardly doubt, for the death of the king. So it is that if we are only calm, God always accomplishes His purpose.
- Weakness. The verse shows an old, failing king who did not know what was happening. He could no longer defend his own throne.
- Watch. What David could not do for himself, God did for him; He would not let the usurper's plan succeed.
- Word. God's method was not force but a message — the prophet sent Bathsheba in with a word of wisdom.
- Witness. She went to Nathan first, then spoke to the king with respect and boldness, with truth in her heart.
- Work done. The rebellion counted on David's weakness. Instead it hurried Solomon to the throne. God accomplishes His purpose.
And Bathsheba bowed and did obeisance to the king. And the king said, What wouldest thou?
An old king lies in his chamber, and he does not know that another son has already seized his throne. The woman bowing before him has come to tell him, and the throne of Israel turns on it.
Bathsheba comes in because David does not know. No one in the palace had moved against the danger, and that is where God stepped in.
On the day this great danger threatened Israel, no measure had been taken to ward it off. The king, weakened by age, confined to his palace, did not know what was happening. Blessedly, God was keeping watch for him. God, who has the glory of His Son and His kingdom in view, does not allow the plans of the usurper to succeed. To this end He sends the prophet to Bathsheba with a word of wisdom.
She is his wife. She could have come as a wife. She comes instead as a subject, and the room she enters is a sickroom.
Bathsheba then went into David's bedroom, where Abishag was serving as a nurse to David. Bathsheba bowed to him, showing the humility of her subjection to the king, though he was her husband. In answer to David's question, she reminded him that he had sworn by the Lord to her that Solomon would succeed him as king. She also told him that Adonijah had taken the place of king without David being aware of it.
What follows is neither flattery nor panic. Bathsheba tells David what he does not know, and she keeps to the truth.
Bathsheba speaks with respect and boldness. She shows David that he is unaware of the danger (v. 18). She shows him that the purpose he had settled on was to have a king after God's own heart (v. 17) as his successor. She also points out his responsibility toward herself, her son, and the people. The eyes of all Israel were on David, and he should tell them who should sit on his throne after him. This woman has the truth in her heart, and so does the prophet. It is a lovely example of the spirit in which we should treat one another.
The petition she is about to make is not a family dispute over inheritance. Adonijah, David's eldest surviving son, had taken the crown for himself — and the writers press that this was worse than ordinary ambition, because everyone in Israel already knew whom God had chosen.
It was not mere ambition in Adonijah. In someone totally ignorant of the word of God and of the will of the LORD for Israel, it would have been ambition. But if we have an incomparable blessing in the word of God, we have far greater responsibility. And sin takes on a new character. So Adonijah's sin was not just ambition. It was not even just rebellion against the king, against David. It was rebellion against the LORD. It was a direct act of setting himself in contradiction to the declared and revealed purpose of God.
She went to Nathan before she came to the king. That order tells you where she thought the answer lay.
Bathsheba showed her own confidence in the will of God — her faith, in short — by coming to Nathan. She went to the right quarter. She told him of Adonijah's conspiracy and his party, and she goes into the presence of the king. Nathan followed. The result was that the king, however aged, showed he was fully alive to the seriousness of the occasion. He saw and judged the crisis that was coming. The only effect of Adonijah's conspiracy was not to hinder Solomon but to hurry him to the throne of Israel… So it is that if we are only calm, God always accomplishes His purpose.
- Danger. Adonijah took the throne while the king did not know it, and no one in the palace had moved to stop him.
- Watch. God was keeping watch for David. He sent the prophet to Bathsheba with a word of wisdom, and the usurper's plan failed.
- Bow. She came in as a subject, not as a wife, showing the humility of subjection to the king, though he was her husband.
- Truth. She spoke with respect and boldness, with truth in her heart — a lovely example of how we should treat one another.
- Outcome. Adonijah set himself against the revealed purpose of God, and only hurried Solomon to the throne. If we stay calm, God accomplishes His purpose.
And she said to him, My lord, thou hast sworn by Jehovah thy God to thy handmaid, [saying,] Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And now behold, Adonijah is king; and now, my lord the king, thou knowest it not.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And he has sacrificed oxen and fatted cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king and Abiathar the priest and Joab the captain of the host; but Solomon thy servant has he not invited.
Bathsheba stands at the bedside of a dying king. She tells him that a coronation feast is already under way, with sacrifices, guests, the priest and the army commander. Her last clause carries the whole weight of it: Adonijah left Solomon off the list — the son David had sworn would reign.
The meal had the look of worship, and the guests included the king's own household. One writer notes that leaving Solomon out was not an accident. Adonijah's plan required it.
Adonijah gives the meeting at En-rogel the false appearance of a peace offering. He follows in the footsteps of his brother Absalom, who had said he wanted to pay a vow to the Lord. He invites his brothers, the sons of the king, and even the servants of the king... But Adonijah is too shrewd to invite those whose faith or whose testimony keeps them close to David. He invites all his brothers but one. He leaves out Solomon, the only son with a right to the throne by the will of God and of his father — the son who is to become the king of glory. He has to leave him out. Solomon's presence would judge that feast and condemn it, and would ruin every plan and ambition Adonijah had. The world invites Christ last of all; more than that, the world does not want to invite Him at all.
Bathsheba names Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander alongside the king's sons. One writer sees in those three names a picture of the forces that combine against God's chosen King.
In these three men we see three powers combined against Christ. Adonijah is the authority of the world, Joab the power that carries out orders, and Abiathar the religious power. They are the representatives of the three great moral forces of the world. While they were feasting, they heard the people shouting. Fear seized them, and destruction soon followed. So it will be at the end.
Nathan, Benaiah and David's mighty men had nothing to gain at that table. Each of them was looking somewhere else.
The priest looks to God, the prophet to the Spirit of God, the servant to David, to Christ. Do they need anything else? Those mighty men found their strength in David. Will they now go after Adonijah, who cannot give it to them?
On the surface, the numbers were all on Adonijah's side. One commentator warns that early success proves nothing.
Turning away from the mind of God almost always looks successful at first. Every step of unfaithfulness gets big results in the world where there is talent, and where everything that works on people's minds is drawn up in order. This plan was certainly well calculated. Joab would influence a certain set. Abiathar the priest would have his religious name and reputation. And above all there were the king's sons — all of them except Solomon... It was a widespread rebellion, and it seemed a carefully arranged one. "But he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty men or Solomon his brother." And that is where faith can rest — on God's word.
Her report is not flattery and not panic. She lays the facts and the consequences in front of David, and Nathan follows with the same emphasis.
Bathsheba speaks with respect and boldness. She shows David that he does not know the danger he is in (v. 18). She reminds him that he had settled on a successor, a king after the heart of God (v. 17). She also points out his responsibility towards herself, her son, and the people... Nathan comes in next. In his own conversation with the king he stresses two things: Adonijah invited none of the Lord's faithful servants, and, above all, he set Solomon aside on purpose. What must one expect from a man who gives no place to the Lord, to the true King, in his purposes or in his life?
The plan was carefully arranged. That careful arrangement is what collapsed.
Solomon, the chosen of God, who held his rights from God, did not suit them. But in the end, human cleverness fails before the judgment of God. Sooner or later God arranges events so that the cleverest are shown for what they really are. On the surface everything is going well. The king's eldest and best-loved son is there. So is the captain of the army, whom David himself could not resist, and the priest who had always stayed with David. All the king's sons are there too — all except the one God had chosen. Yet no one there gave a thought to God or His will.
- Excluded. Adonijah invited everyone but Solomon. Solomon alone had a God-given right to the throne, and his presence would have condemned the whole feast.
- Disguised. The sacrifices made the rebellion look like worship. Adonijah was copying his brother Absalom, who had once claimed he was going to pay a vow to the Lord.
- Allied. Adonijah, Joab and Abiathar stand for three powers: the world's authority, the power that carries out orders, and religion. All three joined against God's King.
- Absent. The priest, the prophet and the loyal servants stayed away. Their eyes were on God, on His Spirit, and on David — Adonijah had nothing to give them.
- Overturned. The plan looked well-arranged, and for a moment it worked. But human cleverness collapses before God's judgment. Faith rests on His word, not on the size of the crowd.
And thou, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
David is old and shut in his palace. He does not know that his son Adonijah has already thrown himself a coronation feast. Nathan sends Bathsheba in to the king. Her question is the one the whole nation is waiting on: who will follow David on the throne?
No one in Israel moved to stop Adonijah. The throne looked unguarded.
On the day this great danger threatened Israel, no one had taken a step to hold it off. The king, weakened by age and shut in his palace, did not know what was happening. Thankfully, God was keeping watch for him. God, who has the glory of His Son and His kingdom in view, does not let the usurper's plans succeed. To this end He sends the prophet to Bathsheba with a word of wisdom.
Bathsheba is not asking for a favour. If David stays silent, she and her son lose everything.
She also told David that the eyes of all Israel were on him. They were waiting to see what he would do about this turn of events. For if he let Adonijah's crowning stand, Bathsheba and Solomon would count as criminals, and that would cost them their lives.
Her speech is a model of how to bring urgent news to someone in authority.
Bathsheba speaks with respect and boldness. She shows David that he does not know the danger. She reminds him that he had already settled on a successor who would be a king according to God's heart. She also points out his responsibility towards her, her son, and the people, since all Israel was watching to see whom he would name to sit on his throne after him. The truth is in the heart of this woman, as it is in the heart of the prophet — a lovely example of the spirit in which we should treat one another.
The question "who shall sit on the throne?" already had an answer, and everyone knew it. That is why Adonijah's move was worse than ordinary ambition.
It was well known in the house of David, and in the land of Israel, that God chose David from among his brothers. In the same way, He was pleased to appoint Solomon to the throne of Israel… So Adonijah's sin was not just ambition. It was not even just rebellion against the king, against David. It was rebellion against the Lord. It was a direct act of setting himself against the declared and revealed purpose of God.
David had already sworn an oath about it.
The Lord had already revealed His mind about Solomon to David. He knew it very well. There was a reason why the Lord had given David's son the name Jedidiah, Beloved of the Lord. He knew the mind of the Lord on this so well that he had sworn to Bathsheba, by the Lord God of Israel, that Solomon her son would reign after him and sit on his throne in his place. It was enough to remind this man of faith of his oath for him to see the path to take.
Before she ever spoke to David, Bathsheba had gone to Nathan. The place a person turns for counsel reveals what they actually want.
She went to the one who, above all, could give the mind of God — to Nathan. He was the man who had rebuked the king when the king was at the height of his power. He had the courage to speak for God whatever it cost… we always show where our heart is by whom we trust. Suppose a man is going wrong in his will. He is sure to ask for advice in exactly the place where he should not.
The answer she asked for comes at once, once someone finally puts the question to him.
But someone had to urge the aged king to reveal his secret. He decides at once. All his energy returns when it concerns the Beloved. He promises to do exactly that, this very day.
Adonijah had staked everything on the idea that an old man cannot act.
Adonijah thought David was too old and worn out to have any power left as king. But the God who had brought David through all his troubles was still God. He could enable David to use again the moral and spiritual power that had carried him through much opposition before. God always backs up what is His own work.
The joy that followed Solomon's anointing was real, but small next to what it pictures.
The priest anointed him king and the people rejoiced with great joy. But what joy will come to this earth when One greater than Solomon takes His throne and receives His great kingdom! Solomon's glorious reign is only a faint picture of it.
- Watched. David did not know what was happening. God did, and He was already sending Nathan with the word that would save the throne.
- Named. The throne was never open. God had chosen Solomon and David had sworn it, so Adonijah's grab was rebellion against God's revealed purpose, not just ambition.
- Asked. Bathsheba speaks with respect and boldness. She tells the king the truth about the danger, his promise, and his duty to her, her son, and the people.
- Answered. The old king's energy returns the moment the throne of the beloved son is at stake, and he acts that same day.
- Coming. Solomon's crowning brought great joy, but it is only a faint sketch. The throne question ends with One greater than Solomon on the throne.
Otherwise it shall come to pass when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted offenders.
Bathsheba stands before an aged king and spells out what will happen the moment he dies. If Adonijah's crowning stands, she and her son Solomon become the criminals. Her words turn a palace plot into a matter of life and death, and they push David to act on the oath he swore long before.
Being "counted offenders" is not about lost standing. Under a rival king, the rightful heir and his mother are the ones marked for death.
She told David also that the eyes of all Israel were on David, waiting to see what he would do now. For if he let the crowning of Adonijah stand, then Bathsheba and Solomon would be counted as offenders, and for that they would be killed (v.21).
She does not flatter David, and she does not attack him. She lays out what he does not know, what he had already decided, and what he owes to her, to her son, and to the nation.
Bathsheba speaks with respect and boldness. She shows David that he does not know the danger (v. 18). She reminds him that he had resolved on a king according to the heart of God as his successor (v. 17). She also points out his responsibility towards herself, her son, and the people. The truth is in the heart of this woman, and in the heart of the prophet too — a lovely example of the spirit in which we should treat one another.
David was too weak to guard his own throne. God was not, and He had already sent the prophet to Bathsheba — and with him a reminder of the oath David had sworn.
The king was weak with age and shut up in his palace. He did not know what was happening. Thankfully, God was keeping watch for him. God has the glory of His Son and His kingdom in view, and He does not let the usurper's plans succeed. To this end He sends the prophet to Bathsheba with a word of wisdom. You can be sure of this: in the Word of God we will always find the means to glorify Christ and to keep ourselves safe from the enemy's traps. The king had to be made aware of the danger. He had to be persuaded to act firmly for God. The mind of the Lord about Solomon had already been revealed to David, and he knew it well. He had sworn to Bathsheba by the Lord, the God of Israel, that her son Solomon would reign after him and sit on his throne in his place (vv. 17, 30). It was enough to remind this man of faith of his oath for him to see the path to take.
Her fear was real, yet the rebellion achieved the opposite of what it aimed at. It did not delay Solomon's crowning; it brought it forward.
Well then, Bathsheba showed her own confidence in the will of God — her faith in short — by coming to Nathan. She went to the right place... The result was that the king, old as he was, showed he was fully awake to how serious the moment was. He saw the crisis coming and judged it. Adonijah's conspiracy did not hold Solomon back; its only effect was to bring him to the throne of Israel. Without the conspiracy, Solomon would surely have waited for the king to die. Instead the plot secured the throne for him, and secured it at once. So it is that if we are only calm, God always accomplishes His purpose.
Later, with Solomon on the throne, Adonijah came to Bathsheba with a favour to ask. Her caution traces straight back to this verse.
"Do you come peacefully?" asks this godly woman, who has her doubts about Adonijah, the son of Haggith. In fact she knew that if he had succeeded in his plans, she and her son Solomon would be "counted offenders" (1 Kings 1:21).
Look at who is standing in that room, and where their story began.
How marvelous the grace! What a recovery, and it is God's doing! Think of David now. Think of Bathsheba now. Think of Solomon now. Remember who Bathsheba had been, and who Solomon was born of. How wonderful the grace of God! And what a comfort, dear friends, for anyone who has to look back with bitterness on a past that was most humiliating and most painful.
- Danger. Under a rival king, the rightful heir becomes the outlaw. Let Adonijah's crowning stand, and Bathsheba and Solomon die.
- Truth. She speaks with respect and boldness. She names the danger, David's own resolve, and what he owes to her, her son, and the people.
- Watchfulness. The king did not know the danger. God did, and He sent the prophet with a word of wisdom.
- Reversal. The plot meant to block Solomon only hurried him onto the throne. Stay calm: God always accomplishes His purpose.
- Grace. Remember who Bathsheba had been — and that this is the mother now pleading for the promised king. Comfort for anyone with a bitter past.
And behold, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in.
David is old and failing, and Adonijah has already declared himself king at his feast. Bathsheba is at his bedside, reminding him of his oath that Solomon would be king, when Nathan the prophet walks in.
Nathan did not stumble into the room. His arrival was the second half of a plan.
When Adonijah made the bold move of proclaiming himself king, Nathan the prophet took a wise course. He advised Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, to tell David at once that Adonijah had proclaimed himself king. Adonijah had done this even though David had sworn to Bathsheba that Solomon would be king (vv. 11-13). Then Nathan would come in with the same message to confirm it (v. 14). That would make the urgency of the situation clear to David.
But the plan did not begin with Nathan. One writer traces the rescue back to God's own watchfulness.
On the day this great danger threatened Israel, no one had taken a single step to ward it off (vv. 11-31). The king, weakened by age and shut in his palace, did not know what was happening. Yet God, in His goodness, was keeping watch for him. God, who has the glory of His Son and His kingdom in view, does not allow the plans of the usurper to succeed. To this end He sends the prophet to Bathsheba with a word of wisdom. Be sure of this: in the Word of God we shall always find the means to glorify Christ and to keep ourselves safe from the traps of the enemy.
A staged entrance could be a trick. This one is not. The same writer sets it beside an earlier scene, when Joab worked on the king through a woman from Tekoa.
What a contrast between Nathan's mediation and that of Joab through the woman of Tekoa (2 Sam. 14)! There everything was trickery and lying. The aim was to work on the king's feelings, flatter his hidden leanings, and in the end put a deceitful and violent man on Israel's throne in David's place. Here prudence points to the right course, without wavering in the least from the truth.
He also names what Adonijah had left out of his calculations:
No doubt Adonijah had counted on his father's failing powers to seize the kingdom. But he had not reckoned on God, on the prophet, or on the truthfulness of the king's heart. Bathsheba speaks with respect and boldness... Truth is in this woman's heart, and in the prophet's heart too. It is a lovely example of the spirit we should show one another.
Before Bathsheba entered the king's room, she had gone to Nathan. Another writer treats that choice as a test of her heart, and as a warning about how we choose advisers.
She went to the one who, above all, could give the mind of God — to Nathan. He was the man who had rebuked the king at the height of his power. He was the man with courage to speak for God whatever the cost. She goes to Nathan. And let me say, dear friends, this is worth putting into practice: we always show where our heart is by whom we trust. Suppose a man is going wrong in his own will. He is sure to look for advice in the one place where he should not.
Two people stand in David's room. A crowd feasts with Adonijah outside.
Notice that it was those willing to be at a distance from David who were moved to follow Adonijah. They were not near to David as Bathsheba and Nathan were. What a lesson for every believer! Only staying near to the Lord keeps us from that danger. Otherwise we risk dishonouring Him by following what looks appealing but is in fact disobedience.
Nathan's arrival wakes the old king to the crisis. The rebellion then produces the opposite of what its leader wanted.
The result was that the king, old as he was, proved wide awake to the seriousness of the moment. He saw and judged the crisis that was coming, and the only effect of Adonijah's conspiracy was not to hinder but to hurry Solomon to the throne of Israel. Without the conspiracy, Solomon would no doubt have waited for the king to die. Instead the plot secured the throne for him, and secured it at once. So it is that if we are only calm, God always accomplishes His purpose.
- Danger. David did not know. Adonijah was taking the throne while the old king lay helpless, and no one had lifted a finger to stop it.
- Word. God did not leave the gap unfilled. He sent the prophet with a word of wisdom, and His Word still shows us how to glorify His Son and stay safe.
- Two voices. Bathsheba first, then Nathan with the same message. It was a plan, but an honest one — never Joab's trickery.
- Nearness. Those who kept their distance from David drifted to Adonijah's feast. God used the two who stayed near.
- Throne. The rebellion did not delay the true king by a day; it hurried him to his throne.
And they told the king saying, Behold, Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.
David is old and failing. Adonijah has already thrown his own coronation feast, and Bathsheba stands in the king's bedroom pleading for her son's life. Then a servant announces that the prophet has arrived. The verse records one act of court protocol, yet Israel's future turns on the message Nathan carries in.
Nathan does not come with a private opinion. Commentators see his entrance as God taking the matter in hand.
God uses His prophet, the witness to His will, to carry out that will. Solomon is proclaimed king, and installed as king before the eyes of David himself.
Adonijah's feast went ahead without him. One writer names the men who stayed away, and what Nathan was among them:
"Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet," the man who was the interpreter of the mind of God — these, as well as "Shimei, and Rei, and David's mighty men, were not with Adonijah."... A departure from the mind of God is always apt to succeed at first. It was a widespread rebellion, and it seemed a shrewdly planned one. And faith can rest in only one place — on God's word.
Nathan chose the order of the two visits. Bathsheba went in first, and he came in behind her.
Then, to confirm this to David, Nathan would come in with the same message (v.14). That way David would see how urgent the situation was.
David knew nothing of the plot. One writer shows who was watching over him, and how unlike Nathan's approach was to an earlier scheme in that same court:
The king, weakened by age and shut up in his palace, did not know what was happening. But God was keeping watch for him. God, who has the glory of His Son and His kingdom in view, does not let the usurper's plans succeed. To this end He sends the prophet to Bathsheba with a word of wisdom... What a contrast between Nathan's mediation and Joab's, through the woman of Tekoah (2 Sam. 14)! There everything was trickery and lying, to work on the king's spirit and flatter his hidden leanings... Here wisdom suggests what should be done, without wavering in the least from the truth. The king must be told of the danger closing in. He must be persuaded to act firmly for God.
A bow like this was ordinary courtesy in that part of the world.
An act of respect between one person and another, very common in the East, as when Abraham bowed down before the people of the land when he bought a burial place for his dead (Gen. 23:7, 12). It is also an act of reverence to God (Ps. 95:6), but it is forbidden before an idol or image (Ex. 20:5), and there it counts as an act of worship.
What makes it striking is who receives it. David is dying, and another son has already claimed his crown. Nathan still goes to the floor. One writer ties the courtesy and the counsel together:
We have seen in this chapter that the counsel of Nathan was according to God and according to the respect due to the king... This is not human counsel but divine wisdom. It sets out to keep the prophet-king from a fall, and to defend the honour of Solomon, the Lord's anointed, after his father's death.
When Nathan speaks, he does not lead with Adonijah's ambition. He leads with the names left off the invitation list.
Nathan comes in his turn, and in his own talk with the king he stresses two things. Adonijah had invited none of the Lord's faithful servants. Above all, he had set Solomon aside on purpose. What can you expect from a man who gives no place to the Lord, to the true King, in his plans or in his life?
One writer draws a dividing line through the whole chapter. Nathan's bow puts him on one side of it.
Notice that it was those who were willing to be at a distance from David who were moved to follow Adonijah. They were not near to David as were Bathsheba and Nathan. What a lesson for every believer! Only by staying near to the Lord will we be kept from dishonouring Him by following what looks appealing but is really disobedience.
- Near. Those who stayed close to David stayed loyal. Distance from the king made Adonijah's offer attractive.
- Sent. God sent him. He comes in not with advice of his own, but as the witness to God's will and the interpreter of His mind.
- Low. His first act inside the room is to go face down, showing the respect due to the king even when the king is powerless.
- True. His plan is wise, but never deceitful like Joab's appeal through the woman of Tekoah. It wakes David to the danger instead of flattering him.
- Named. The heart of his message is the guest left out. A man who plans with no place for the true king shows what he is.
And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne?
David is old and bedridden. His son Adonijah has already thrown his own coronation feast. Into that room walks the prophet Nathan — not with an accusation, but with a question: had the king himself given the throne away? Nathan knew the answer before he asked, and that is what makes the question worth studying.
The question was a tool, and commentators read it as a deliberate one:
Nathan knew that David had nothing to do with making Adonijah king. Still, he asked David whether he had ordered this without telling Nathan (v. 27). Nathan meant the question to stir David to act, and it worked.
A question forced David to answer for himself. He had to say out loud who would follow him on the throne.
Nathan's question names two claims: that Adonijah would reign, and that he would sit on David's throne. Nathan then points to who was missing from the feast. One absence carries the weight of his case:
Nathan comes in his turn. In his own talk with the king he stresses that Adonijah had invited none of the faithful servants of the Lord — and, above all, that he had deliberately pushed Solomon aside. What can you expect from a man who gives no place to the Lord, to the true King, in his plans or in his life?
Leaving Solomon out was no oversight. Adonijah knew whose presence would have ruined the feast.
Nathan planned his approach. Bathsheba went in first, and he followed with the same message. That was strategy, but commentators keep it clear of manipulation. Years earlier the same court had seen persuasion of another sort, run by Joab through a woman from Tekoa:
What a contrast between Nathan's mediation and Joab's, carried out through the woman of Tekoah (2 Sam. 14)! There everything was trickery and lying, meant to work on the king's feelings and flatter his hidden leanings, so that in the end a deceitful and violent man would replace David as king over Israel. Here prudence points out what should be done, without straying from the truth in the least.
Bathsheba's part is read the same way. Commentators set her honesty beside the prophet's as a pattern worth copying:
Bathsheba speaks with respect and boldness. She shows David that he is unaware of the danger (v. 18)... Truth is in this woman's heart, and in the prophet's too — a lovely example of the spirit in which we should treat one another.
Nathan's concern was not court politics. Commentators see something far larger at stake in this quiet exchange:
We have seen in this chapter that Nathan's counsel was according to God, and according to the respect owed to the king... This is divine wisdom at work. It aims to keep the prophet-king from a fall, and to defend the honour of Solomon, the anointed of the Lord, after his father's death. Above all, it aims to set the king of glory on his throne. Of all this the world sees and hears nothing.
Nathan's words landed. David had been too weak to notice a rebellion, yet he acted at once. The plot itself put Solomon on the throne sooner:
The result was that the king, old as he was, showed himself fully awake to how serious the moment was. He saw the coming crisis and judged it. Adonijah's plot did not hold Solomon back at all; it only carried him forward to the throne of Israel. Without the plot, Solomon would surely have waited for the king's death. Instead the plot secured the throne for him, and secured it at once.
The old king's weakness was not the end of him. One subject brought his strength back:
But the aged king had to be urged to reveal his secret. He decides at once: all his energy comes back when the matter concerns the Beloved. He says he will certainly do it that very day (v. 30).
- The question stirs. Nathan asked what he already knew, and the asking moved a bedridden king to act.
- The question exposes. Adonijah left Solomon off the guest list. That one absence told David everything.
- The question stays honest. Nathan planned his approach, but he never bent a fact — unlike Joab's scheming through the woman of Tekoa.
- The question defends a throne. The real matter was not court rivalry. It was the rightful king's place on the throne — and the crowd outside saw and heard nothing of it.
- The question wakes love. David's strength returned the moment the subject was his beloved son. The rebellion only hurried Solomon to the throne.
For he is gone down this day, and has sacrificed oxen and fatted cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah!
Nathan reports the scene to King David in plain words. Animals killed in quantity, a guest list of princes, generals and a priest, and a shout that a new king already reigns. But what does a feast prove when the one God has chosen was never invited?
The report opens with slaughtered animals, which sounds like worship. One writer reads that detail as deliberate staging, borrowed from an older brother who had also used religious language to mask a bid for the throne.
Adonijah gives the meeting at En-rogel the false appearance of a peace offering. He follows the footsteps of his brother Absalom, who had said that he wished to pay a vow to the Lord... How many of these "king's servants" do we see today running after people who hide their hatred of Christ behind a show of godliness?
A priest on the guest list made the staging work. Another writer links the sacrifices to Abiathar's presence.
His plans were well thought out. He wanted God counted as one of his supporters, so he sacrificed sheep, oxen and fatted cattle near Jerusalem, in the Kidron valley. Having Abiathar as priest, he could consider these sacrifices appropriate for his purpose. Also, he invited all his brothers, the kings' sons and many servants of David. He marshaled all the support he could possibly find.
Nathan names three groups at the table: the king's sons, the army commanders, and the priest. Read together, those names form a pattern far bigger than one palace quarrel.
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.
The shout of "Long live King Adonijah" sounds like a settled matter. One writer warns that a wrong move often succeeds at first, and points to where faith can rest instead.
Adonijah might have his feast and invite all his brothers the king's sons! A departure from the mind of God is always likely to succeed at first. Every step of unfaithfulness gets a great result in the world where there is ability, and where everything that works on people's minds is lined up behind it. No doubt this was well planned. Joab would influence a certain set. Abiathar the priest would have his religious name and reputation... "But he did not call Nathan the prophet, or Benaiah, or the mighty men, or Solomon his brother." And there is just where faith can rest — on God's word.
Nathan's list is as striking for who is absent as for who is present. Those closest to David had nothing to gain from the man at the centre of the feast.
Surrounded by such a fair show, no wonder Adonijah becomes the gathering point for the crowd. He is no such centre for faith. What can faith find in the company of the usurper? Zadok, Benaiah, Nathan, and the mighty men of David are not present with Adonijah... The priest looks to God, the prophet to the Spirit of God, the servant to David, to Christ. Do they need anything else? Those mighty men found their strength in David. Will they go after Adonijah, who cannot give it to them?
One name was left off the list on purpose.
He invites all his brothers, with one exception: Solomon, the only one with a right to the throne according to the will of God and of his father. He must keep out of his feast the one whose presence would condemn it and bring all his plans and ambitions to nothing. Christ is the last to be invited by the world; more than that, the world is unwilling to invite Him.
The feast does not get to finish. One writer reads the noise that breaks into it as a picture of a far bigger interruption still to come.
But what an awakening! What trouble overwhelms those at his feast! Suddenly, while they were feasting, the false king, Joab, and all the guests hear the trumpet. They hear such cries of joy that the noise of Solomon's procession seems to split the earth. "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. Then "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision... As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill."
- Cover — The sacrifices dress the gathering up as a peace offering, copying Absalom's earlier vow.
- Coalition — Adonijah, Joab and Abiathar stand for the authority of the world, the executive power and the religious power. All three are joined against God's chosen king.
- Crowd — A departure from the mind of God tends to succeed at first. Ability, reputation and numbers can all line up behind it.
- Contrast — Solomon is the one brother left off the list, and Zadok, Benaiah, Nathan and David's mighty men stay away. Faith finds nothing in a usurper who cannot give it strength.
- Collapse — The uproar of Solomon's crowning breaks into the feast. The God who has set His King on Zion turns the party into fear.
But me, [even] me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, he has not invited.
Nathan ends his appeal to David by naming the men left off the guest list at Adonijah's feast: himself, Zadok the priest, Benaiah, and Solomon. Those four missing names prove the feast was a rebellion, and they show where every man stood.
Adonijah did not forget these men. He knew which of them would refuse him, and he kept them away from his feast.
However, he did not invite Nathan the prophet, a faithful man of God. He did not invite Benaiah, a fully devoted servant of David, nor other mighty men like Benaiah, nor Solomon his brother (v.10). Why did he not invite these men? Because he knew he could not count on their support. Everyone knew that David had decided Solomon was to be king. But Adonijah seemed to think David was now too old to enforce this choice, and that popular opinion would favor him. Sad blunder!
These men were not simply left out. They had nothing to look for in Adonijah, because each of them was already looking elsewhere.
What can faith find in the company of the man who is taking a throne that is not his? Zadok, Benaiah, Nathan, and the mighty men of David are not there with Adonijah. There is the true priest. There is the prophet, the messenger of God. There is Benaiah, the true servant who walks in his master's footsteps. What do these men have to do with Adonijah? The priest looks to God, the prophet to the Spirit of God, the servant to David, to Christ. Do they need anything else? Those mighty men found their strength in David. Will they go after Adonijah, who cannot give them any strength at all?
Benaiah already held a high place in David's service. What marks him out is not that place but what he wanted from it.
Benaiah is of special interest to us. In David's time he already held a leading place in service (1 Chr. 27:5). Is he not worthy? He had followed his master's footsteps in everything, step by step, and he later became chief captain over the whole army. Still, this man has no ambition except to stay faithful to his king and to be like him. He is not like Joab, who seized the stronghold of Zion to win first place. No, he is humble, because his whole aim is to reproduce David in the way he lives.
Every other son of David was at the table. The one name left out was the one name God had chosen. Commentators see that gap as a picture of how the world treats Christ.
He invites all his brothers, with one exception. He leaves out the only one who has a right to the throne by the will of God and of his father: Solomon, the one who is to become the king of glory. Clearly he has to shut out of his feast the one whose presence would judge it, would condemn it, would ruin all his plans and all his ambitions. The world invites Christ last of all; more than that, the world is unwilling to invite Him.
On paper, Adonijah had won. The absent four looked like a handful of men on the wrong side of the crowd.
Adonijah might have his feast and invite all his brothers, the king's sons! Here is another thing we have to notice. Turning away from the mind of God is always likely to succeed at first. Every step of unfaithfulness has a great result in the world where there is ability, and where everything that can sway people's minds is lined up. No doubt this was well calculated. Joab would influence one group. Abiathar the priest would bring his religious name and reputation... The rebellion was widespread, and it seemed to be shrewdly planned. "But he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty men or Solomon his brother." And that is just where faith can rest — on God's word. That was what gave Solomon his weight. There was nothing very remarkable known about Solomon at this time, if we leave God out. Yet that is really the root of all his blessing, for there is no real blessing except where the call of God is.
- Uninvited. Adonijah left out Nathan, Zadok, Benaiah and Solomon because he knew he could not count on them. The guest list itself exposes the plot.
- Unbought. No one could buy these men, because each already had his object: the priest looks to God, the prophet to the Spirit of God, the servant to David.
- Unambitious. Benaiah had long held a leading place in service. Yet he wanted nothing except to stay faithful to his king and be like him. Joab grabbed at first place; Benaiah did not.
- Unwanted. Adonijah shut Solomon out because his presence would have condemned the whole feast. In the same way, the world is unwilling to invite Christ.
- Unshaken. Unfaithfulness often looks successful at first, and this rebellion was well planned and widely backed. But Solomon's weight came from the call of God, so faith rests on God's word, not on numbers.
Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewn to thy servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?
Nathan ends his appeal to the dying David with a question, not an accusation. Did the king order this himself, and leave his own servants in the dark about who would take the throne? Behind the question lies a crisis. Adonijah has crowned himself while David lies weak in his bed, pushing aside the son God had chosen.
Nathan was not looking for information. He already knew the answer. He asked because a question can move a man where a plain report cannot.
Nathan knew perfectly well that David had nothing to do with making Adonijah king. Even so, he asked David whether he had ordered this himself without telling Nathan (v.27). Nathan meant the question to stir David to action, and it worked.
Skilful speech to a king can slide into manipulation. Joab had once used a woman from Tekoa for that, working on David's feelings by trickery. Nathan is shrewd too, but every word he says is true.
What a contrast between Nathan's mediation and that of Joab through the woman of Tekoa! There everything was trickery and lying. The aim was to work on the king's spirit and to flatter his hidden leanings. In the end it was to put a deceitful and violent man on the throne over Israel in David's place. Here prudence suggests what is to be done, without wavering in the least from the truth. The king must be made aware of the imminent danger. He must be persuaded to act resolutely for God.
Nathan's question lists who was not invited to Adonijah's feast, and the list ends with Solomon. That omission, not the discourtesy to Nathan himself, is the point he drives home.
Nathan comes in his turn. In his own talk with the king he stresses two things. None of the faithful servants of the Lord were invited — and above all, Solomon was deliberately set aside. What must one expect from a man who gives no place to the Lord, to the true King, in his purposes or in his life?
Those who joined the rebellion, one writer observes, were those already content to keep their distance from David.
Notice that it was those who were willing to be at a distance from David who were moved to follow Adonijah. They were not near to David as were Bathsheba and Nathan. What a lesson for every believer! Only in being near to the Lord shall we be preserved from the danger of dishonoring Him by following what seems to be appealing, but is actually disobedience.
David already knew who should sit on his throne after him. He had sworn it, and one reminder was enough.
The Lord had already made His mind about Solomon known to David. He knew it very well. There was good reason why the Lord had given David's son the name Jedidiah, which means Beloved of the Lord (2 Sam. 12:25). David knew the Lord's mind on this so well that he had sworn to Bathsheba, by the Lord God of Israel, that Solomon her son would reign after him and sit on his throne in his place. It was enough to remind this man of faith of his oath for him to see the path to take.
The sting of the question is that the king's own servants did not know his mind about the throne. Nathan wants the secret said out loud. One writer contrasts that silence with what believers now enjoy.
Nathan also points out that the true servants of the king did not know the king's plans (v. 27). Certainly such is not the case with us! God has "made known to us the mystery of His will" (Eph. 1:9), which is to gather together in one all things in Christ. But someone must urge the aged king to reveal his secret. He decides at once, and all his energy returns when it is a matter of the Beloved. "Even so," he says, "will I do this day" (v. 30).
More hangs on Nathan's question than a quarrel inside the palace. Commentators see two kinds of counsel at work here, and only one of them comes from God.
Here it is not a matter of human counsel, as when this same Nathan said to David, "Go, do all that is in your heart" (2 Sam. 7:3). It is a matter of divine wisdom. That wisdom aims to keep the prophet-king from a fall, and to defend the honour of Solomon, the Lord's anointed, after his father's passing. Above all, it is a matter of the establishment of the king of glory upon his throne. Of all this the world neither sees nor hears anything.
The clever men had arranged everything except the one thing that mattered.
Solomon, the elect of God, who held his rights from God, did not suit them. But after all, man's prudence fails before the judgment of God. God arranges events so that, sooner or later, He shows the most prudent men in their true light. On the surface all goes on well, but the thought of God, or His will, had no place there.
- Danger. David did not see the danger closing in, so Nathan set out to make him aware of it and move him to act for God.
- Truth. Nathan's question was shrewd but honest — prudence that never wavered from the truth, unlike the trickery used on David before.
- Omission. The real complaint is not that Adonijah skipped Nathan, but that he set aside Solomon — the one God loved and David had sworn would reign.
- Disclosure. David's servants did not know who would take the throne. Believers stand in the opposite place: God has made the mystery of His will known to them.
- Outcome. Once the word reached him, the failing king acted at once, and human scheming collapsed before the purpose of God.
Then king David answered and said, Call me Bathsheba. And she came into the king's presence, and stood before the king.
David is old and failing. One son has already declared himself king, and Solomon's mother has just pleaded for the promise made to her. Now the dying king calls her back in. One question hangs over the whole scene: can a determined rival overturn God's choice of a king?
Why call Bathsheba, when she had just been speaking with the king?
Bathsheba had withdrawn while Nathan was before the king. She is called back and David once more assures her that Solomon her son should reign after him. Then David gives orders to anoint Solomon king without further delay.
David answers with an oath. He names the Lord, and he names the day.
Bathsheba came back into David's presence (v.28). David swore to her by the Lord who had redeemed him from all his troubles. He had sworn before by the Lord God of Israel, and now he would carry out that oath — and do it "this day" (v.30), making Solomon king in David's place.
David's plan for the throne was still unspoken.
But someone must urge the aged king to reveal his secret. He decides at once: all his energy comes back when it is a matter of the Beloved. He says he will certainly do it this very day (v. 30).
The name "Beloved" came from the Lord Himself.
There was a reason why the Lord had given David's son the name Jedidiah, which means Beloved of the Lord (2 Sam. 12:25). David knew the Lord's mind on this so well that he had sworn to Bathsheba by the Lord God of Israel that Solomon her son would surely reign after him and sit on his throne in his place (vv. 17, 30). It was enough to remind this man of faith of his oath, and he saw the path to take.
The king was shut in his palace and out of touch.
On the day this great danger threatened Israel, no one had taken a single step to ward it off (vv. 11-31). The king, weakened by age, confined to his palace, "knew not" what was happening. Thankfully, God was keeping watch for him. God, who has the glory of His Son and His kingdom in view, does not allow the schemes of the usurper to succeed. To this end He sends the prophet to Bathsheba with a word of wisdom.
Adonijah, the son who had declared himself king, read David's weakness as his chance. He had read only half of it.
Adonijah had thought David was so old and drained of strength that he would have no more power as king. But the God who had brought David through all his troubles was still God. He could enable David to still use the moral and spiritual power that had carried him through much opposition before. God always backs up what is His own work.
Who ended up on which side? It came down to distance.
Notice that it was those who were willing to be at a distance from David who were moved to follow Adonijah. They were not near to David as Bathsheba and Nathan were. What a lesson for every believer! Only nearness to the Lord will keep us from the danger of dishonouring Him by following what seems appealing, but is actually disobedience.
Clever planning stood on one side, and God's choice on the other.
Solomon, the elect of God, who held his rights from God, did not suit them. But after all, man's prudence fails before the judgment of God. God arranges events in such a way that, sooner or later, the most prudent are shown in their true light.
More is at stake here than which son gets a throne.
Above all, this is about setting the king of glory on his throne. The world sees nothing of it and hears nothing of it.
- Watched. David "knew not" what was happening, but God was keeping watch for him, with the glory of His Son and His kingdom in view.
- Sent. God sent the prophet to Bathsheba with a word of wisdom, and David called her back in.
- Sworn. David does more than recall his promise. He swears by the Lord who redeemed him from all his troubles, and he names the day: this day.
- Near. Those willing to stay far from David drifted after the usurper. Nearness to the Lord keeps us from following what only looks appealing.
- Established. Human cleverness fails before God's judgment. God sets the king of glory on his throne, and the world sees and hears nothing of it.
And the king swore, and said, [As] Jehovah liveth, who has redeemed my soul out of all distress,
David is old and weak, and one of his sons, Adonijah, has already thrown himself a coronation feast. Into that weakness comes the king's oath, which names God as his rescuer and settles who will take the throne.
David does not simply swear "by God." He swears by the God known through a lifetime of rescue. He had used these same words years before. One writer draws out what they meant then:
He acknowledges the Lord's gracious help in the past and his present confidence in Him. His case had rested in the Lord's hands.
The oath also says what David will not accept:
"As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity …" Such is the One in whom I trust. I will receive nothing from the world because I depend on the Lord.
Until now the king has been too weak to notice the danger. Then Nathan and Bathsheba speak:
But the aged king must be urged to reveal his secret. He decides at once. All his energy returns when it is a matter of the Beloved [Solomon]. "Even so," he says, "will I do this day" (v. 30).
Adonijah's whole plan rested on the assumption that a failing old man could no longer act. That calculation left God out:
Adonijah had thought David was too old and drained of strength to have any power left as king. But the God who had brought David through all his troubles was still God. He could enable David to still use the moral and spiritual power that had carried him through much opposition before. God always backs up what is His own work.
David is not picking a favourite son. Israel already knew whom God had chosen:
Everyone in the house of David, and in the land of Israel, knew this. As God chose David from among his brothers, so He had also been pleased to appoint Solomon to the throne of Israel… Adonijah's sin was not merely ambition. It was not merely rebellion against the king, against David. It was rebellion against the LORD. It was a direct act of setting himself against the declared and revealed purpose of God.
The king himself saw none of the danger coming. The warning reached him because God sent it:
The king, weakened by age, shut up in his palace, "did not know" what was happening. Thankfully, God was keeping watch for him. God, who has the glory of His Son and His kingdom in view, does not allow the schemes of the usurper to succeed. To this end He sends the prophet to Bathsheba with a word of wisdom.
Without the plot, David's oath might have waited until his death to take effect:
The only effect of Adonijah's conspiracy was not to hinder, but to advance Solomon to the throne of Israel. Had there been no conspiracy, Solomon would have waited for the death of the king; we can hardly doubt that. But the result was to secure the throne for him, and to secure it at once. So it is that if we are only calm, God always accomplishes His purpose.
David keeps the oath within hours. Solomon is anointed king that same day, and one writer looks past the scene to something still ahead:
The priest anointed him king and the people rejoiced with great joy. But what joy will come to this earth when He who is greater than Solomon takes His throne and receives His great kingdom! Solomon's glorious reign is only a faint picture of it. All that David did was according to the LORD's will and purpose.
- Redeemed. David swears by the God who has brought him out of every trouble. Past rescue remembered; present trust resting on it.
- Revived. The oath wakes a dying man. His strength returns when Solomon's throne is at stake, and he acts "this day."
- Revealed. God had made His choice of Solomon known in Israel. So fighting it was rebellion against the LORD, not merely against David.
- Rescued. David did not see the danger coming; God sent the prophet, because God guards the honour of His king's throne.
- Reigning. The plot only hastened the crowning. That small anointing points to the joy of the earth when One greater than Solomon reigns.
even as I swore to thee by Jehovah the God of Israel, saying, Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day.
David is old and failing. Adonijah has made his own bid for the throne, and Bathsheba has come to the king's bedside to remind him of a promise made years before. David answers by renewing his oath. But the real question is who chose Solomon in the first place.
David is not inventing a successor on the spot. God had already given the throne to Solomon, and Israel knew it. That is what makes Adonijah's move so serious:
Here we have David nearing his end, and the eldest of his surviving sons, Adonijah, takes advantage of the king's weakness for his own ambitious purpose. There was no fear of God in this. It was well known in the house of David, and in the land of Israel, that God chose David from among his brothers. In the same way, He had also been pleased to designate Solomon for the throne of Israel... The sin of Adonijah was not merely ambition; not merely even rebellion against the king, against David; it was rebellion against the Lord. It was a direct act of setting himself in contradiction to the declared and revealed purpose of God.
David had known God's choice long before this bedside scene. God had even given the child a name that marked it:
The mind of the Lord concerning Solomon had already been revealed to David. He knew it very well. It was not without reason that the Lord had given to David's son the name Jedidiah, Beloved of the Lord (2 Samuel 12:25). David knew the mind of the Lord on this subject so well that he had sworn to Bathsheba by the Lord God of Israel. It was enough to remind this man of faith of his oath for him to see the path to take.
The same writer points out who was guarding the throne while the king lay unaware:
The king, weakened by age, confined to his palace, "did not know" what was happening. Thankfully, God was keeping watch for him. God, who has the glory of His Son and His kingdom in view, does not allow the schemes of the usurper to succeed. To this end He sends the prophet to Bathsheba with a word of wisdom.
David does not put the promise off to a later day. He fixes it to the present hour, and something in the old man wakes up:
But the aged king must be urged to reveal his secret. His decision is made immediately: all his energy is renewed when it is a matter of the Beloved. "Even so," he says, "will I certainly do this day."
(Rossier quotes an older translation here. The ESV reads, "even so will I do this day.")
Adonijah's rebellion did not delay Solomon by an hour. It brought the coronation forward:
He saw and judged the crisis that was coming, and the only effect of Adonijah's conspiracy was not to hinder, but to advance Solomon to the throne of Israel. Had there been no conspiracy, Solomon would have waited until the king's death — we can hardly doubt it. But the result was simply to secure the throne, and to secure it at once. So it is that if we are only calm, God always accomplishes His purpose.
David promises that Solomon will sit on his throne while he himself is still alive. One writer traces what became of that throne, and the dignity it carries:
The young Solomon did not have to wait until his father's death to sit on his throne. "When David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel" (1 Chronicles 23:1). Adonijah's grab for power, which Chronicles does not mention, led to a second enthronement: they made Solomon king a second time and anointed him as prince for the LORD. At that point David's throne is called "the throne of the LORD" (1 Chronicles 29:22-23). That is a title of exaltation indeed. David's throne has a place in the ways of God that no other has ever had, or can have. It is the centre of divine administration for the earth, and can only be filled in perfection by the Lord Jesus.
One writer keeps the parallel with Adonijah modest, calling him at most "a faint shadow, for self-will is the common mark of all that oppose Christ" (The Bible Treasury).
- Chosen — the throne was never David's to hand out; God had designated Solomon, and everyone in Israel knew it.
- Named — David could swear because God had already spoken, giving the child the name Jedidiah, "Beloved of the Lord."
- Guarded — while the king lay ignorant of the plot, God was keeping watch and sent the prophet with a word of wisdom.
- Dated — David fixes the promise to the present hour. A failing man finds all his energy again when the matter is the beloved son.
- Advanced — the rebellion only hurried the coronation. The throne it secured is one that only Christ can fill in perfection.
And Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.
David has just sworn that Solomon will sit on his throne that very day. Bathsheba answers with a deep bow and a cry for the king's long life. Two questions follow. Why does a woman whose own life was in danger bow low instead of showing relief? And what does it mean to wish endless life on a dying man?
Her bow was the ordinary language of respect in that world. One reference work sets out what the gesture could mean:
Bowing was an act of respect between one person and another, very common in the East. Abraham bowed before the people of the land when he bought a burial place for his dead (Genesis 23:7, 12). It was also an act of reverence to God (Psalm 95:6). But God forbade it before an idol or image (Exodus 20:5), and treated it as an act of worship.
The stakes were life and death. Adonijah had already taken the crown, and if David let that stand, Bathsheba's household was finished:
She told David that the eyes of all Israel were on him. They wanted to see what he would do now. For if he let the crowning of Adonijah stand, Bathsheba and Solomon would count as offenders, and that would cost them their lives.
David tied the promise she bows over to the God who had rescued him:
David called Bathsheba back into his presence. He swore to her by the Lord who had redeemed him from all his troubles. He had sworn before by the Lord God of Israel, and now he would carry out that oath — and carry it out "this day", making Solomon king in David's place.
David is old, and he knows nothing of the plot. One writer traces how fast that changes once the matter touches his chosen son:
The aged king needed urging to reveal his secret. Then he decides at once: all his energy returns when the matter concerns the Beloved.
The same writer weighs how Bathsheba spoke to the king:
Bathsheba speaks with respect and boldness. She shows David that he does not see the danger. She reminds him that he had resolved to have a king after the heart of God as his successor. She also points out his responsibility towards herself, her son, and the people. The truth is in the heart of this woman, and in the heart of the prophet too — a lovely example of the spirit in which we should treat one another.
Bathsheba was not bowing to a father's preference for one son. One writer weighs what Adonijah was really doing:
This was not mere ambition in Adonijah. In someone who knew nothing of the word of God and the will of Jehovah for Israel, it would have been ambition. But if we have an incomparable blessing in the word of God, our responsibility is far greater, and sin takes on a new character. So Adonijah's sin was not merely ambition. It was not even merely rebellion against the king, against David. It was rebellion against Jehovah.
This throne was unlike any other:
On the other hand, it was not a matter of God's people as such. What made the throne in Israel remarkable was this: here was a king by God's election — the only king who was so in the full sense of the word. Nebuchadnezzar reigned by God's providence, no doubt. But there was more than providence in the throne of Israel. The reason is simple. The throne of Israel was in a very true and real sense the throne of Jehovah.
The wish for endless life outran the man, but not his line:
There was always a man whose birthright it was to sit upon David's throne. Unworthiness was found in each, but the line of descent continues till Christ came. He is the Man on Whom the Holy Spirit looks. In Him there was, and is, the divine right as well as the human title. He is the Son of God as well as Son of David. Whatever comes between the promise and its fulfilment, He will certainly sit there.
- Word. David's oath, not Adonijah's crowning, decided who would reign. He swore it by the God who had redeemed him from all his troubles.
- Truth. Bathsheba spoke with respect and boldness, setting the danger before the king — an example of how we should treat one another.
- Rebellion. Adonijah's move was worse than ambition. Where God's will is known, greater light gives sin a new character.
- Throne. Israel's kingship was not ordinary providence but God's own election — in a real sense the throne of the Lord.
- Forever. No son of David held that throne for ever. The wish waits on Christ, who holds both the divine right and the human title, and who will certainly sit there.
And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king.
David's last act as king is a summons: three names, called to his bedside while a rival son is already feasting as king a short distance away. Why these three men? And how does a man too weak to leave his bed still decide who takes the throne?
Adonijah counted on his father being finished. But the old king needed only a push, and he decided on the spot.
But the aged king must be urged to reveal his secret. He decides at once: all his energy returns when it is a matter of the Beloved. "I will certainly do this today," he says (v. 30).
This is not natural recovery.
Adonijah had thought David was too old and worn out to have any power left as king. But the God who had brought David through all his troubles was still God. He could enable David to still use the moral and spiritual power that had carried him through much opposition before. God always backs up what is His own work.
The three men David calls are the same three who were missing from Adonijah's feast. Each of them was already looking elsewhere.
Zadok, Benaiah, Nathan, and the mighty men of David are not present with Adonijah. The true priest; the prophet, the messenger of God; Benaiah, the true servant who walks in the footsteps of his master — what have they to do with him? The priest looks to God, the prophet to the Spirit of God, the servant to David, to Christ.
Two priests had stood beside David for years. One crisis divided them.
At this point we see a remarkable difference between the two priests, Zadok and Abiathar... But now the time has come for the wheat to be separated from the chaff: Adonijah "conferred with Joab … and with Abiathar …, and they followed Adonijah and helped him" (1 Kings 1:7)... How refreshing to read in the next verse: "But Zadok the priest, … and the mighty men whom David had, were not with Adonijah."
This is the man David names first.
King David, though weak and at death's door, rises to the occasion. He knows who he can trust: "Call me Zadok the priest …" (v. 32). He gives command that Solomon should be king and that Zadok should have the honour of anointing him. Zadok receives his reward during his own lifetime. Solomon becomes king, and "the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar" (1 Kings 2:35).
Benaiah would rise to the top of David's army, yet he never reached for position.
Is he not worthy, he who had followed in everything, step by step, the footprints of his master, later to become chief captain over the whole army? Yet this man has no ambition except to stay faithful to his king and to be like him. He is not like Joab, who takes the stronghold of Zion to gain first place. No, he is humble, for his whole purpose is to reproduce David in his conduct.
Adonijah's move looked like a threat to Solomon. It turned out to be the reason Solomon was crowned that very day.
I say then that the grand point here is the establishment of the son of David... And since there were many sons, this was the question. The devil was quite willing to use a son of David against the son of David. This was exactly the question now. God was pleased to use the wickedness of those who insulted the king by treating him as a dead man while he was still alive. The haste and hurry of Adonijah only confirmed Solomon's title all the more. We never need to worry about our own schemes for carrying out God's plans... God has His own way, and very often it runs through man's sin.
Nathan is the second name on David's list. His work does not stop at announcing God's will.
God uses His prophet, the witness to His will, to carry that will out. Solomon is proclaimed king and installed before the eyes of David himself.
The anointing that follows this summons points forward.
The priest anointed him king and the people rejoiced with great joy. But what joy will come to this earth when One greater than Solomon takes His throne and receives His great kingdom! Solomon's glorious reign only faintly pictures it. All David did was according to Jehovah's will and purpose.
- Called. David calls three men who had already proved loyal while the rebellion was forming.
- Tested. Zadok and Abiathar had long stood together. One crisis separated the wheat from the chaff. The faithful priest received the honour of anointing.
- Copied. Benaiah rose without ambition. He reproduced his master instead of grabbing first place like Joab.
- Overruled. Adonijah's plot to seize the throne only confirmed Solomon's title and brought his crowning forward.
- Foreshadowed. The anointing that follows is a faint sketch. It points to the joy coming to earth when One greater than Solomon reigns.
And the king said to them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon;
Adonijah had declared himself king in a valley outside Jerusalem. David answers with an order rather than an argument, naming the escort, the mount and the exact place for Solomon's anointing.
The place David picks is not neutral ground:
David then called for Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah, the trusted military leader (v.32). He ordered them to take the servants of David (the Cherethites and Pelethites) and have Solomon ride on David's mule down to Gihon. This was the same valley in which Adonijah had proclaimed himself king. It was the Kidron Valley, east of Jerusalem rather than south.
Horses came later. The animal David names belongs to a plainer time, and Solomon's own proverb about horses sharpens the point:
In David's day we read of mules and donkeys. These humble animals seem to have had no place with Solomon, except for the day when he rode on David's mule to be anointed at Gihon (1 Kings 1:38). Solomon himself tells us in Proverbs 21:31 that "the horse is made ready for the day of battle." Then he adds what he later quite forgot: "but the victory belongs to the LORD."
The mule was David's, and so was the throne. He hands over both while he is still alive:
All his service is now ended. Nothing remains but to reap the fruit of it, and the glory and kingdom for which all these things had been prepared. Yet he retires, content to be nothing, when he must cease to serve. The throne of Jerusalem was no more to him than his shepherd's tent at Bethlehem. In both, all he wanted was to work out his day like a hired man. And now, having come to the evening of his day, he retires. He will not glorify himself… He gives up the throne which his hands had established, and all its honours. These were nothing in his account. He had finished his work and service, and this was everything to him.
One of the men David sends is a prophet. That makes this more than a family arrangement:
God uses His own prophet, the witness to His will, to carry that will out. Solomon is proclaimed king and installed in front of David himself.
Adonijah's side had planned carefully, and the planning failed:
But after all, man's prudence fails before the judgment of God. God arranges events in such a way that, sooner or later, the most prudent are shown up for what they are.
The attempt to seize the crown only hastened the thing it meant to prevent. What began as a whispered emergency ends as a public, sealed transaction:
Well, the thing is now established, and the very effort to destroy it brings out, as I have already said, the speedy establishment of the will of God. They set Solomon on the king's mule. They sound the trumpet. The real men who had fought the battles of the kingdom and who had guided the counsels of the king — and the king himself above all — put their seal on this great transaction. Solomon is truly seated as king on the throne of Jehovah in Israel.
The anointing at Gihon ended in great rejoicing, and one writer looks past it:
The priest anointed him king and the people rejoiced with great joy. But what joy will come to this earth when He who is greater than Solomon is enthroned and receives His great kingdom! Solomon's glorious reign is only a faint foreshadowing of it. All David did was according to Jehovah's will and purpose. Solomon was a mere youth at his anointing.
- Choice. God had chosen His king before the crisis. Adonijah's move only forced the appointment into the open.
- Mule. David lends his own animal, the plain mount of his own day, so everyone can see whose authority Solomon carries.
- Gihon. The anointing takes place in the same valley where Adonijah had claimed the crown.
- Witnesses. A priest, a prophet and a soldier carry it out in public, so God's will is announced, not just decided.
- Throne. Solomon takes what the writers call the throne of Jehovah. The joy of that day is a faint sketch of the day when One greater than Solomon reigns.
and let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel; and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, Long live king Solomon!
At the end of his reign, David gives one last order. A priest and a prophet are to anoint his son Solomon at Gihon. A trumpet and a shout are to announce it. Why two men from two different offices? Why that spot, and why so much noise?
Adonijah's feast looked like a success. The eldest son, the army commander and the priest were all there. What was missing was any regard for what God wanted.
On the face of it, all goes well. The king's older, much-loved son is there. So is the captain of the army, whom David himself could not resist. So is the priest who had always gone with David. All the king's sons are there too, except the one God had chosen. But the thought of God, or His will, had no place there.
The verse names a prophet alongside the priest. God uses His prophet to put His choice into effect, and David watches it happen.
The prophet of God is the witness to His will. God uses him to carry out that will. So Solomon is proclaimed king and brought into office before the eyes of David himself.
Anointing with oil was not decoration. It did something for the man who received it.
Three kinds of people were anointed with oil in Old Testament times — prophets, priests and kings. Oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit. In fact the Holy Spirit is called "the Anointing" in 1 John 2:27. When the prophet was anointed, it gave him what he needed to fulfil the prophet's office. When the priest was anointed, it gave him what he needed to fulfil the priest's office. When the king was anointed, it gave him what he needed to fulfil the king's office.
The verse names Zadok as the priest who anoints. That name marks a change at the top of the priesthood.
David still lives until after the last struggle of the enemy. That struggle is seen when Adonijah tries to take the kingdom. With him are Joab, the chief of the army, and Abiathar the priest, who up to that moment was head of the priesthood. But Abiathar is now thrust aside. This happened just as God's word to Samuel long before had said, yet in history it came about by his own act and deed. So wonderfully does God blend man's responsibility with His own counsels. Zadok is called to anoint Solomon.
Gihon was not chosen at random.
David gave orders that Solomon should ride on David's mule down to Gihon. This was the same valley in which Adonijah had proclaimed himself king — the Kidron Valley, but east of Jerusalem instead of south.
The sound carried along the valley to the rival feast.
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.
The mule Solomon rides is David's own, and the throne is David's own. The old king hands over both without a backward look.
All his service is now ended. Nothing remains but to reap the fruit of it — the glory and kingdom for which all these things had been prepared. So he retires. He stops being king at the point where he must stop serving. The throne of Jerusalem meant no more to him than his shepherd's tent at Bethlehem. In both, all he wanted was to fill his day like a hired workman… He gives up the throne his own hands had established, and all its honours. These were nothing in his account. He had finished his work and service, and that was everything to him.
The joy at Gihon was real. It also points to a far greater day.
The priest anointed Solomon king and the people rejoiced with great joy. But what joy will come to this earth when He who is greater than Solomon is enthroned and receives His great kingdom! Solomon's glorious reign is only a faint picture of it. When another One, the greater Son of David, is enthroned and the glad news flashes out that He has taken His throne, all His enemies will be scattered.
- Chosen. Adonijah's party had the eldest son, the general and the priest. It did not have the thought or will of God, and that settled the outcome.
- Anointed. Oil pictures the Holy Spirit. It gave a prophet, a priest or a king what he needed for his office.
- Replaced. Abiathar fell and Zadok was called in his place. God's purpose and a man's own act and deed met in one event.
- Proclaimed. The trumpet sounded in the same valley as the rival feast. The rebels heard the shout, and sudden fear seized them.
- Foreshadowed. The great joy at Gihon is only a faint picture of the joy when One greater than Solomon is enthroned and His enemies are scattered.
And ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit on my throne; for he shall reign in my stead, and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, Amen Jehovah, the God of my lord the king, say so too.
David has just given the order: Solomon rides the king's mule to Gihon, and the priest anoints him king. Benaiah, the officer who must carry it out, answers with one word — and then asks God to say the same thing.
Benaiah is named earlier in the chapter among those Adonijah deliberately left off his guest list. He belonged to a group whose loyalty ran to David's purpose rather than to David's most impressive son.
"But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada," who was the true servant of the king's purposes, not Joab — Joab had the name, the title, but Benaiah was the man who did the real work — "Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and Nathan the prophet," the man who was the interpreter of the mind of God — these, as well as "Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah."
His whole ambition ran along one line, and it was not his own advancement.
Benaiah is of special interest to us. In David's time he already held an outstanding place in service (1 Chron. 27:5)... Yet this man has no ambition other than to stay faithful to his king and to imitate him. He is not like Joab, who takes the stronghold of Zion to gain the top place. No, he is humble, for his whole purpose is to reproduce David in his conduct.
"Amen" is not a polite closing here. It is one of the strongest words of agreement in the Bible.
This word "Amen" is a remarkable one. It is a symbol-word of absolute and final affirmation. Among the Jews it was the "formula of agreement," the word a witness used when he answered under oath. It was the word our Lord used again and again, translated "verily" about 100 times in the Gospels. Most languages across the earth do not translate it at all; they take the word in just as it is.
This word has roots that reach into truth and faith.
Translators almost always leave the Hebrew word as 'Amen.' Twice, in Isaiah 65:16, they render it 'truth': "he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth." In Jeremiah 11:5 they render it 'So be it.' There God declared that He would perform the oath He had sworn, and the prophet answered, "So be it, LORD." A related Hebrew word means 'to believe'; it appears in Genesis 15:6.
Benaiah does not stop at approval. He asks God to say the same, and in the next verse he asks for more.
Benaiah answered the king with positive approval (v.36). He added the desire that Solomon's kingdom would become greater than David's. In one respect this proved true: the peace of Solomon's day helped make his kingdom wonderfully prosperous. But Solomon's own disobedience spoiled that prosperity, and it led to the break-up of the kingdom after he died (ch.12).
Benaiah's "Amen" landed on something God had already settled.
Adonijah had thought David was too old and too drained of strength to have any power left as king. But the God who had brought David through all his troubles was still God... God always backs up what is His own work.
Adonijah's grab for the crown only hurried on the very thing he wanted to stop.
Well, the thing is now established, and the very effort to destroy it brings out the speedy establishment of the will of God... The real men who had fought the battles of the kingdom and had guided the counsels of the king — and the king himself above all — put their seal on this great act. Solomon now sits firmly as king on the throne of Jehovah in Israel.
The anointing that Benaiah welcomed was a small picture of something still ahead.
The priest anointed him king and the people rejoiced with great joy. But what joy will come to this earth when One greater than Solomon takes His throne and receives His great kingdom! Solomon's glorious reign is only a faint picture of it.
The word Benaiah used has become a name for Christ Himself.
Amen is from a Hebrew word that means what is fixed, true and unchangeable... It implies divine certainty. In Christ we have the guarantee that every promise and every truth of God will be Amened, fully carried out. Christ is God's last word, His Amen.
- Amen means firm. It is the word of a witness under oath: "so be it," fixed, true, unchangeable. It shares a root with the words for truth and for believing.
- Amen takes sides. Benaiah had spent years serving David without seeking the top place, and his one word said out loud where he already stood.
- Amen becomes prayer. He agrees with the king, asks the LORD to say the same, and prays for a kingdom greater than David's.
- God answers Amen. The throne was God's own work, and God backs up what is His own. The rebellion only sped up the crowning it tried to stop.
- Amen has a name. Solomon crowned is a faint sketch of a greater King, and in Christ God says Amen to every promise He has made.
As Jehovah has been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David.
Benaiah answers David's order to crown Solomon with a prayer, not a salute. He asks that the God who stood by the old king would stand by the young one, and then lift the son's throne higher than the father's.
The words carry weight because of who spoke them. One writer draws attention to Benaiah's long record of service and to the single aim that shaped it.
Benaiah is of special interest to us. In David's time he already occupied a leading place in service (1 Chr. 27:5). He had followed his master's footsteps in everything, step by step. Did he not deserve to take charge of the whole army later on? Yet this man has no ambition other than to stay faithful to his king and to imitate him. He is not like Joab who takes the stronghold of Zion to gain the top place. No, he is humble, for his whole purpose is to reproduce David in his conduct.
Another commentator sets Benaiah beside the men who had gone over to the usurper, and notes who actually carried David's purposes through.
"But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada," who was the true servant of the king's purposes, not Joab — Joab had the name, the title, but Benaiah was the man who did the real work.
Did the prayer come true? One commentator answers on both sides.
Once anointed, Solomon was to come up and sit on David's throne. David had appointed him king in his place. Benaiah answered the king with full approval (v.36). He added the wish that Solomon's kingdom would become greater than David's. In one way this came true. The peace of Solomon's day helped to make his kingdom wonderfully prosperous. But Solomon's own disobedience spoiled that prosperity, and it led to the breakup of the kingdom after he died (ch.12).
Benaiah speaks of "the throne of my lord King David," yet Scripture gives that seat a higher name. One writer follows where that higher name leads.
At this point Scripture calls David's throne "the throne of the LORD" (1 Chron. 29:22-23). What a title of exaltation — and the Queen of Sheba acknowledged it when she came to visit (2 Chron. 9:8). David's throne has a place in the ways of God that no other has ever had, or can have. It is the centre of God's rule over the earth, and only the Lord Jesus can fill it perfectly. It was a sad day for Israel and for all the nations when the LORD in righteousness had to "make his splendor cease and cast his throne to the ground" (Psalm 89:44). Then began "the times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24).
Benaiah's prayer counts on God keeping His word to David's line. But a sure promise does not leave the king free to live as he pleases.
God holds to the certainty of His purpose of grace. He holds just as firmly to the certainty of His judgments, if the king fails to meet the demands of His holiness. These two streams, grace and responsibility, flow on side by side and never get mixed up.
The prayer outgrew the man it was made for. One writer reads Solomon's crowning as a sketch of a reign still to come.
Solomon and his glorious reign foreshadow the reign of that greater Son of David, our Lord. In Him God will fully keep the covenant promise made to David. Solomon's righteous judgments, his wisdom, his reign in peace, and above all the building of the temple, all point to Him. He will soon receive the throne and build the temple of the LORD (Zech 6:13).
- Presence first. Benaiah asks for greatness only after he asks for God's presence. The son's throne stands on the same presence that carried the father.
- Prayer from a follower. The man who asked for a greater throne wanted none himself. His one aim was to copy his master, while Joab grabbed at the top place.
- A greater throne, briefly. God answered the prayer in Solomon's peace and prosperity. Then Solomon's own disobedience left the kingdom split after his death.
- A throne on loan. Scripture calls the seat the throne of the LORD, the centre of God's rule over the earth. That is why it could be cast down, and why only Christ fills it perfectly.
- Greater fulfilled. Grace and responsibility run side by side. Solomon failed, but the greater Son of David will not; He will take the throne and build the temple.
And Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon.
David's men carry out his dying order at once: the priest, the prophet and the trusted soldier take Solomon down to Gihon on the king's own mule. Every detail matters here — who goes, what he rides, where they stop — and each one shows whose will is being done.
Adonijah had already held his own coronation banquet, and his guest list was as telling as David's. The three men named here are exactly the three he had left out.
Zadok, Benaiah, Nathan, and the mighty men of David are not with Adonijah. Zadok is the true priest. Nathan is the prophet, the messenger of God. Benaiah is the true servant who walks in the footsteps of his master. What do they have to do with Adonijah? The priest looks to God, the prophet to the Spirit of God, the servant to David, to Christ. Do they need anything else? Those mighty men found their strength in David — will they go after Adonijah, who cannot give it to them?
Careful human planning can still collide with God's own choice.
Solomon, the elect of God, who held his rights from God, did not suit them. But after all, man's prudence fails before the judgment of God. God arranges events in such a manner as, sooner or later, to show the most prudent in their true light.
The prophet's work did not stop at speaking.
God uses the prophet, the witness to His will, to carry that will out. Solomon is proclaimed king and installed before David's own eyes.
Two things gave the crowd its proof: what Solomon sat on, and who walked beside him.
Solomon rides 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 — and above all the king himself — put their seal on this great transaction. Solomon is properly seated as king on the throne of Jehovah in Israel.
David is the one giving the order, and what he orders is his own retirement.
The throne in Jerusalem meant no more to him than his shepherd's tent at Bethlehem. In both he only wanted to fill his day like a hired worker. He gives up the throne his own hands had built, and all its honours. They counted for nothing with him. He had finished his work and his service, and that was everything to him.
The place they chose was not neutral ground.
David gave orders that they were to take the servants of David (the Cherethites and Pelethites) and have Solomon ride on David's mule down to Gihon. This was the same valley in which Adonijah had proclaimed himself king — the Kidron Valley — but east of Jerusalem instead of south.
Abiathar had served David for years, yet at this moment it is Zadok who is sent for. Loyalty tested at the right hour receives its reward.
King David, though weak and at death's door, rises to the occasion. He knows who he can trust: "Call me Zadok the priest …" (v. 32). He gives command that Solomon should be king and that Zadok should have the honour of anointing him. Zadok receives his reward already in his own lifetime.
The change at Gihon reached further than one man's appointment.
After the king is brought in, the position of the priesthood changes. It is no longer the usual link between the people and God. When God sets Eli aside, He says, "I will raise up for myself a faithful priest … and he shall go in and out" — not before Me, but "before my anointed forever" (1 Samuel 2:35).
Commentators read this procession as a small picture of something still ahead.
The priest anointed him king and the people rejoiced with great joy. But what joy will come to this earth when He who is greater than Solomon takes His throne and receives His great kingdom! Solomon's glorious reign gives only a faint picture of it.
- Chosen — Solomon's right to the throne came from God, not from ambition. Those with no room for God's will gathered elsewhere.
- Called — the three men who stayed away from Adonijah are the three David sends. Each one looked to someone higher than himself.
- Carried — David's own mule and David's own servants show that the old king is handing over what his own hands had built.
- Confronted — the trumpet sounds in the valley where Adonijah had claimed the crown. God answers him on his own ground.
- Coming — the joy at Gihon is only a faint sketch of the joy when One greater than Solomon takes His kingdom.
And Zadok the priest took the horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, Long live king Solomon!
David is dying. Adonijah has already thrown himself a coronation feast. The old king gives one last order: bring Solomon down to Gihon and anoint him. This verse records the moment it happens — a priest, a horn of holy oil, a trumpet, and a shout that settles who reigns.
The anointing carries out what God had already decided.
The prophet of God, the witness to His will, is used to carry that will out. Solomon is proclaimed king and installed in office before the eyes of David himself.
Adonijah's plot did not delay the throne; it hurried it.
Well, the thing is now settled, and the very effort to destroy it brings out how quickly the will of God is established. Solomon is made to ride 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 — and above all the king himself — put their seal on this great event. Solomon is now properly seated as king on the throne of the LORD in Israel.
Solomon was brought down to Gihon, close to where Adonijah had staged his own crowning.
David ... gave orders that they were to have Solomon ride on David's mule down to Gihon. This was the same valley in which Adonijah had proclaimed himself king, the Kidron Valley. But this spot lay east of Jerusalem rather than south.
The oil came from the tent — the sanctuary — and pouring it on a man's head meant something definite.
The word "anointing" is a symbol, and it carries a definite meaning. Three classes of people were anointed in Old Testament times — priests, prophets, kings. They were anointed by having oil poured on their heads. It was a ceremony, but it carried with it a definite result. 1 Samuel 16:13 shows this clearly: "Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him [David] in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward." So Scripture links anointing with oil to the giving of the Spirit. With the priest, the oil enabled him to take the priestly position and service; with the prophet, the prophetic position and service; with the king, the kingly position and service.
Two priests served at that time. Abiathar went with Adonijah. Zadok did not, and Zadok is the man holding the horn.
Zadok is found once again among the faithful and trusted men of David... But now the time has come to separate the wheat from the chaff. Adonijah "conferred with Joab … and with Abiathar …, and they followed Adonijah and helped him" (1 Kings 1:7)... How refreshing to read in the next verse: "But Zadok the priest … and David's mighty men were not with Adonijah." Again Zadok is on the right side — this time unlike his fellow priest Abiathar.
Commentators see a picture in that pairing of priest and king:
So Zadok stands for the priesthood, alongside the king of God's choice and the kingdom God set up in David's seed — a foreshadowing of Christ.
The sound carried to Adonijah's banquet.
But what an awakening! What trouble overwhelms those at his feast! In the middle of the meal the false king, Joab, and all the guests hear the trumpet. They hear such cries of joy that the noise of Solomon's procession splits the very earth. "Why," asks Joab, "is the city in such an uproar?" In the same way, the public setting up of the reign of Christ will surprise the world and trouble it deeply.
Commentators see the day at Gihon as a small picture of something still ahead.
The priest anointed him king and the people rejoiced with great joy. But what joy will come to this earth when He who is greater than Solomon is enthroned and receives His great kingdom! Solomon's glorious reign is only a faint picture of it.
- Chosen — God had already settled the throne on Solomon. The plot against him only sped the day up.
- Anointed — the oil from the tent marked a man out for office. Scripture links that oil with the giving of the Spirit for the work.
- Sealed — Zadok held the horn. He stayed loyal while his fellow priest joined the revolt, so priest and God's chosen king stand together.
- Proclaimed — the trumpet and the shout made it public. The noise carried to the rival feast and filled it with dread.
- Foreshadowed — the joy at Gihon faintly pictures the day when One greater than Solomon takes His kingdom. That day will startle the world.
And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.
A priest has just anointed Solomon king at the spring of Gihon. The crowd now walks him back up to the city, piping and shouting loud enough to shake the ground — a noise that meant joy to some and dread to others.
Another son of David, Adonijah, had already thrown himself a coronation feast. The crowd behind Solomon is the answer to that feast. God used the plotting of others to settle His own choice.
The devil was quite willing to make use of a son of David against the son of David. This was exactly the question now. And God was pleased to make use of the wickedness of those who insulted the king, treating him in effect as a dead man while he was still alive. The hurry and haste of Adonijah only confirmed Solomon's title all the more. We need never trouble ourselves with our schemes for carrying out God's plans. All man's efforts are in vain. God has His own way, and very often through man's sin.
The joy does not start with the crowd. A priest anoints Solomon first. The people's shout follows the anointing; it does not make him king.
Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah had Solomon ride on King David's mule and brought him to Gihon. The priest anointed him king and the people rejoiced with great joy. But what joy will come to this earth when He who is greater than Solomon takes His throne and receives His great kingdom! Solomon's glorious reign gives only a faint picture of it.
Close enough to hear it, Adonijah's party was still eating. The trumpet told them their feast was over.
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 cries of joy that the very earth is split by the noise of Solomon's procession. "Why," says Joab, "is this noise of the city in an uproar?" So the public setting up of the reign of Christ will surprise the world and deeply trouble it.
Three men led that feast. Between them they held every kind of power the world has.
In these three men we see three powers combined against Christ: in Adonijah the authority of the world, in Joab the executive power, in Abiathar the religious power. They stand for the three great moral forces of the world. While they are celebrating, they hear the shouting of the people. Sudden fear seizes them, and destruction soon overtakes them. So it will be at the end.
Worship in Israel had always meant sacrifice. Singing arrived with a king who had no war left to fight.
Solomon's was the time of rest. No enemy remained for him to conquer. He had no more preparing to do through trouble and toil; he sits down full of honours and peace. And his was the time of joy also. Then, for the first time, songs broke out from the middle of the congregation of Israel. Long before, Moses had appointed sacrifices, but the tabernacle had never heard songs.
Solomon's reign pictures the peace of Christ's coming rule. But one writer says the picture needs his father's wars too.
It may not have been so generally seen that it takes both David's reign and Solomon's to give the complete picture of the millennial period. David reigned at Hebron for seven years before he reigned at Jerusalem, and even after all the tribes accepted him as king he fought one long series of wars with Israel's enemies all around. Solomon, as his name shows, was the peaceful prince. David stands as the picture of "the Lion of the tribe of Judah." But it is in Solomon's reign that we see the divine picture of the peaceful glories of Christ's kingdom.
Yet the picture has its limit. Even this prince of peace kept an army.
Solomon did not disarm: he gathered 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen. Truly every picture falls short! When He who is "greater than Solomon" reigns in Jerusalem, men "shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks." Then "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore."
- Plot. Adonijah's rush to the throne did not stop God's choice. His haste only made Solomon's title surer.
- Oil. The gladness starts with an anointing at Gihon, not with the crowd. The people's shout agrees with God's choice; it does not create it.
- Sound. Rest produces song. With no war left to fight, Solomon's reign was the first time Israel's worship broke into music.
- Dread. The world's authority, its force, and its religion were feasting together when that shout reached them. The noise that gladdened the city terrified the table.
- Shadow. Solomon's day is a faint sketch. The full joy waits for the One greater than Solomon, when swords become farm tools and war is not learned again.
And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard [it] as they were finishing their repast; and Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, and he said, Wherefore this noise of the city in an uproar?
Adonijah's coronation feast at En-rogel was just ending when a noise reached it from the city. Commentators see here a picture of the day the world finds out, too late, that God has already crowned His King.
Adonijah chose his guests with care. He invited his brothers and even servants of the king. He left out the one son God had chosen. One writer sees the reason plainly:
It is clear that he had to keep out of his feast the one whose presence would judge it and condemn it. That presence would bring to nothing all his plans and all his ambitions. Christ is the last person the world invites; more than that, the world does not want to invite Him at all.
That is why the noise from the city is unbearable. The man they refused to seat at the table now sits on the throne.
The feasting was over. The rejoicing outside had only begun.
Such a celebration was a startling interruption to the celebration of Adonijah's claim to the throne of Israel. Adonijah and his followers had only finished their meal of celebration when this noise erupted in Jerusalem. Joab asked: "What does this uproar in the city mean?"
Rossier carries the same scene forward into prophecy, and hears Psalm 2 in it:
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. The shouts of joy are so loud that the very earth is split by the noise of Solomon's procession... So the public setting up of the reign of Christ will take the world by surprise and deeply trouble it. Then "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision… As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill" (Ps. 2:4-6). Do we not hear the noise of this scene in our chapter?
The uproar itself was gladness. One writer looks past Solomon to a greater enthronement:
The priest anointed him king and the people rejoiced with great joy. But what joy will come to this earth when He who is greater than Solomon takes His throne and receives His great kingdom! Solomon's glorious reign is only a faint picture of it... And while the people were rejoicing in Gihon over God's true King, Adonijah's feast was almost over.
The sound did not change on its way from Gihon to En-rogel. Only the hearers differed.
Joab is not alone when he hears it. Adonijah and Abiathar the priest sit beside him. One writer reads the three of them as the whole world's strength gathered in one room:
In these three men we see the authority of the world in Adonijah, the executive power in Joab, and the religious power in Abiathar — all combined against Christ. They are the representatives of the three great moral forces of the world. In the middle of their celebrating they hear the shouting of the people. Sudden fear seizes them, and destruction soon overtakes them. So it will be at the end.
Rossier looks past the plotting to what that night was really about — and to how much the world missed:
Above all, it is a matter of the setting up of the king of glory on his throne. Of all this the world neither sees nor hears anything.
- Excluded. Adonijah's feast only worked because Solomon was not there. The world keeps Christ off the guest list for the same reason: His presence would judge the whole occasion.
- Crowned. While the rebels ate, the priest anointed God's chosen king at Gihon. The world saw and heard nothing of it.
- Heard. The guests hear of the new king before they see him. So the public setting up of Christ's reign will take the world by surprise.
- Feared. The same shout that is joy in the city is terror outside it. Fear seizes Adonijah, Joab and Abiathar together — the world's authority, force and religion.
- Ended. The banquet was already finishing when the trumpet sounded. Every rival celebration runs out of time; only the reign that God announced lasts.
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.
And the king has sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the king's mule;
Jonathan the messenger has burst into Adonijah's celebration with the heart of his report: David sent his priest, his prophet, his commander and his bodyguard to set Solomon on the royal mule. Every detail proves the throne has changed hands, and that the men at the feast had bet against God's choice.
Jonathan does not argue or advise. He lays out the facts, and the facts are final.
Jonathan did not suggest that Adonijah should resist the crowning of Solomon as king. Instead he gave him a full account of what had taken place. It left Adonijah no loophole, no chance to change it. David had sent Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah the military leader, along with the Cherethites and the Pelethites, David's bodyguard, to have Solomon ride on the king's mule.
The messenger himself is worth a look, along with the one demand his news makes on everyone who hears it.
"You bring good news," Adonijah says to him. "Indeed," he replies, but this news was not good for those who heard it. It was a disaster to Adonijah... He may serve David while David is rejected, or serve the world on the day when David's son triumphs. Either way, Jonathan stays the same faithful messenger. The time is short: people must submit at once by "kissing the Son."
The men Jonathan names were the very men missing from Adonijah's feast. Each of them was looking somewhere Adonijah could not reach.
Zadok, Benaiah, Nathan, and the mighty men of David are not present with Adonijah. The true priest; the prophet, the messenger of God; Benaiah, the true servant who walks in the footsteps of his master — what have they to do with him? The priest looks to God, the prophet to the Spirit of God, the servant to David, to Christ. Do they need anything else? Those mighty men found their strength in David. Will they now follow Adonijah, who cannot give them any strength at all?
Solomon does not grab the throne. David's own mule carries him, and the men who fought David's battles stand behind it.
Well, the thing is now settled. The very effort to destroy it brings out, as I have already said, how quickly the will of God is established. They make Solomon ride on the king's mule. The trumpet sounds. The real men who had fought the battles of the kingdom and guided the king's counsels, and above all the king himself, put their seal on this great act. Solomon is properly seated as king on the throne of Jehovah in Israel.
Adonijah's feast had the right names: the king's elder son, the army commander, the priest who had always been with David. The one thing missing was God's will.
But in the end, man's careful planning fails before the judgment of God. God arranges events so that sooner or later the shrewdest planners are shown for what they really are. On the surface, all goes well. The king's elder and much-loved son is there. So is the commander of the army, whom David himself could not resist, and the priest who had always gone with David. All the king's sons are there too — all except the one God had chosen. But the thought of God, and His will, had no place there.
Commentators also read the scene forward. The trumpet that reached the banquet points to the day Christ's reign breaks in on a world busy crowning itself.
In the middle of the feast the false king, Joab and all the guests hear the trumpet. Solomon's procession makes such joyful noise that the earth itself seems to split. "Why," asks Joab, "is the city in such an uproar?" In the same way, when Christ's reign is set up in public, it will take the world by surprise and fill it with dread. Then "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision... As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill" (Ps. 2:4-6).
One writer looks past Solomon's glad day to a far greater one.
The priest anointed him king and the people rejoiced with great joy. But what joy will come to this earth when One greater than Solomon is enthroned and receives His great kingdom! Solomon's glorious reign gives only a dim picture of it.
- Sent — David sent the priest, the prophet, his commander and his bodyguard. The crowning carries the king's own authority, not Solomon's ambition.
- Sealed — The king's mule, the trumpet and David's own fighting men set their seal on the act. Solomon now sits on the throne of Jehovah.
- Exposed — Adonijah had gathered Israel's ablest men. But man's careful planning fails before the judgment of God, and God's will had no place in his plan.
- Told — Jonathan gives the full account and leaves no loophole. His news allows no delay: submit to the King now.
- Coming — The noise that broke into the feast pictures the day Christ's reign is set up in public. It will startle the world and bring joy far past Solomon's.
and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon; and they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise which ye have heard.
Jonathan bursts into Adonijah's feast with one sentence that ends everything. While the guests were eating, Zadok and Nathan anointed Solomon king at Gihon. The noise reaching the feast was the sound of it. The reader sees the coronation through the eyes of the men it defeats.
The verse names the two men who anointed Solomon: Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet. Zadok had stood by David long before this day:
Zadok holds a leading place in the history of Israel. He was high priest in David's reign and in Solomon's. He stayed loyal to David when Absalom rebelled. With Nathan the prophet he took up Solomon's cause when Adonijah tried to seize the throne. David thought as they did, and told Zadok to anoint Bathsheba's son. So Zadok stands for the priesthood, joined to the king of God's choice and to the kingdom God set up in David's seed — a picture of Christ.
Adonijah's grab for the crown did not delay the true king. It hurried him onto the throne:
Well, the thing is now settled. The very effort to destroy it only brings out how quickly the will of God is established. They set Solomon 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 — and the king himself above all — put their seal on this great act. Solomon is now firmly seated as king on the throne of Jehovah in Israel.
The last words of the verse are about sound. Adonijah's guests hear the city before anyone explains it to them. The same shock waits for 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 trumpet. They hear such shouts of joy that the very earth is split by the noise of Solomon's procession. Joab asks, "What does this uproar in the city mean?" So the public setting up of Christ's reign will surprise the world and trouble it deeply. Then "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision… As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill" (Ps. 2:4-6).
Adonijah did not act alone. Three men stood behind him, and together they picture the powers that oppose Christ:
In these three men we see three powers joined against Christ: in Adonijah the authority of the world, in Joab the power that carries out orders, in Abiathar religious power. They stand for the three great moral forces of the world. In the middle of their celebrating they hear the people shouting. Sudden fear seizes them, and destruction soon overtakes them. So it will be at the end.
Jonathan was Abiathar's son, yet his loyalty lay with David. Adonijah greets him as a man with good news, and he agrees — though not in the way his hearers hope:
He comes full of what is good news to him. His words show that his heart has stayed faithful to David. "You… bring good news," Adonijah says to him. "Indeed," he replies — but this news was not good for his hearers. It was a disaster to Adonijah… Whether he serves David in the time of his rejection, or serves the world on the day the son of David triumphs, Jonathan remains the same faithful messenger. The time is short: people must submit at once by "kissing the Son." So it will be in the last days, when those whom the King calls His brothers will announce far and wide that people must recognise the reign of the true Solomon.
The joy at Gihon was real, and it was only a taste:
The priest anointed him king and the people rejoiced with great joy. But what joy will come to this earth when One greater than Solomon takes His throne and receives His great kingdom! Solomon's glorious reign gives only a faint picture of it.
- Anointed. Zadok and Nathan anoint Solomon together, so priest and prophet stand with the king of God's choice.
- Established. The plot to seize the throne is what brought the true king to it that same day.
- Heard. Adonijah's feast hears the noise before it hears the news. Christ's reign will break in on a world that did not plan for it.
- Exposed. Adonijah, Joab and Abiathar picture the world's authority, force and religion joined together. Their feast ends in sudden fear.
- Answered. Jonathan tells them what has happened, and the only answer left is to submit at once to the Son.