So Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.
David's long reign ends here. His son takes his place, and the throne still carries his father's name. Commentators see more here than a note on history. They read this verse as a summary of the whole reign, and as a picture of a greater King to come.
One reign, without a break
This is not the start of something new and separate. Solomon had already sat on his father's throne before David died. One writer sees the two reigns as a single whole.
H. L. RossierThe Second Book of Samuel shows David setting up the kingdom of Israel. The opening of First Kings shows us that same kingdom firmly established by Solomon. Note that Solomon's rule forms one continuous whole with David's. The death of the old king did not interrupt it for a moment, because Solomon had sat on his father's throne while David was still alive. As a picture, this is one single, unbroken reign. Its two periods look very different from each other, yet the reign joins them both in a complete and unbreakable unity.
A sentence that describes the whole reign
The verse comes right after David's burial, yet it does not describe day one of the new king. It states what marked the reign from start to finish, and sets it against what came before.
H. L. RossierDavid dies (vv. 10-12). Here the Word does not note the opening of Solomon's reign. It notes what marks that reign in general and as a whole: "his kingdom was firmly established." This is the character of the kingdom of righteousness, in contrast with the kingdom of grace, which was full of trouble and rebellion.
Established by righteous judgment
A king makes his throne secure by dealing with wrongdoing. Solomon wrote that principle down himself. The same chapter that opens with his enthronement then applies it to Joab and others.
W. W. FeredayWe can learn Solomon's own thinking from his Book of Proverbs: "Take away the wicked from the presence of the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness" (Proverbs 25:5). After Solomon carried out judgment on Joab and others, the Holy Spirit says, "the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon" (1 Kings 2:46).
The chapter ends by saying it again. One writer notes the gap of time between the two statements, and sees the same pattern in what is still to come.
Leslie M. GrantSo, when the evil had been fully judged, "the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon." Three years passed before Scripture says the kingdom was fully established… In the same way, when Christ takes His kingdom, there will be a short period in which Gog and Magog come down from the far north to attack Israel — a land brought back from war and living in peace. But they will be judged without mercy, so that Christ's kingdom may be established in unchallenged supremacy (Ezekiel 38).
Still called David's throne
Solomon sat on it, but the seat kept his father's name. That detail runs right through Scripture, even though Solomon later built a throne of his own.
Truth & TestimonyIt is worth noting that the throne is always called David's throne, not Solomon's or any other king's (1 Kings 2:12; Jeremiah 13:13; Jeremiah 29:16). Solomon made a throne (1 Kings 10:18; 2 Chronicles 9:17-18)… All of this carries symbolic teaching. It will be fulfilled in the One who will sit on the throne of David in power and glory for a thousand years.
The greater Son of David
The promise God made to David reached further than Solomon. Commentators take his enthronement and everything that follows it as an advance sketch.
Arno C. GaebeleinSolomon and his glorious reign foreshadow the reign of that greater Son of David, our Lord, in whom the covenant promise made to David will be fully accomplished. The section that begins with Solomon's enthronement is full of rich meaning, both as a picture and as prophecy. Solomon's righteous judgments, his wisdom, his reign in peace, and above all the building of the temple, all foreshadow Him who will soon receive the throne and build the temple of the LORD (Zechariah 6:13).
The same phrase, "the throne of David," appears again when Gabriel speaks to Mary. There it does not point back to Solomon's day.
Michael HardtLuke tells us how Gabriel announced the coming of Christ as a Saviour, and then goes on to say: "the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David" (Luke 1:32). In this verse the "throne of David" refers to Christ's thousand-year reign… David's reign foreshadowed the reign of Christ.
Summary
- Continuous — David's death interrupted nothing. Solomon had already sat on his father's throne, so the two reigns form one whole.
- Characteristic — the verse does not report day one. It sums up the whole reign: a kingdom of righteousness, unlike the reign of grace, which was full of trouble and rebellion.
- Cleared — a throne is established when the wicked are taken away from the king. That is why chapter 2 ends with the same words.
- Christ's — the throne always carries David's name, never Solomon's. It waits for the One who will sit on it in power and glory.
- Coming — Gabriel used the same phrase to Mary. So Solomon's established kingdom is a sketch of a reign still ahead.