There Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then 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.
God's Will Made Public
The anointing carries out what God had already decided.
J. N. DarbyThe 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.
William KellyWell, 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.
The Place Chosen
Solomon was brought down to Gihon, close to where Adonijah had staged his own crowning.
Leslie M. GrantDavid ... 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 Horn of Oil
The oil came from the tent — the sanctuary — and pouring it on a man's head meant something definite.
A. J. PollockThe 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.
Why Zadok Holds the Horn
Two priests served at that time. Abiathar went with Adonijah. Zadok did not, and Zadok is the man holding the horn.
Michael HardtZadok 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:
Numerical Bible NotesSo 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 Trumpet and the Shout
The sound carried to Adonijah's banquet.
H. L. RossierBut 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.
A Greater Than Solomon
Commentators see the day at Gihon as a small picture of something still ahead.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe 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.
Summary
- 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.