Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, “Do you come peacefully?” He said, “Peacefully.”
Solomon is secure on the throne, and the first man to test it is the brother whose own bid for the crown had just failed. Adonijah does not go to the king; he goes to the king's mother, who asks at once if he comes in peace.
A pardoned rebel returns
Adonijah had tried to seize the crown, and the king pardoned him. One commentator shows what he did with that pardon.
William KellyAdonijah is the first to bring judgment on himself. The king had treated him kindly and had pardoned his offence and rebellion. But now he asks for something that can only suggest a second and subtle try for the kingdom. He sought the one who had been the young companion of the aged king. And he sought it through Bathsheba.
Why he avoided the king
Adonijah picks his route with care. He wants someone with influence to carry his case for him. One writer finds the same instinct in a religious habit alive today.
Leslie M. GrantAdonijah was like many religious people today, who choose to pray to Mary the mother of the Lord Jesus, to seek her influence with the Lord. He was too cautious to approach Solomon himself.
Bathsheba's guarded question
Her question is not politeness. She knew what Adonijah's success would have cost her and her son.
H. L. RossierAdonijah speaks to Bathsheba, so that she may bring his request to the king, her son. "Do you come peacefully?" asks this godly woman, who has her doubts about the son of Haggith. She knew that if he had succeeded in his plans, she and her "son Solomon should be counted offenders."
Yet her caution did not go far enough.
Leslie M. GrantAdonijah was not a changed man, even though he had submitted to Solomon. After David's death he came to Bathsheba. She was on her guard, wondering if he came in peace, but she was not on her guard enough.
"Peacefully" — outward only
Adonijah answers with one word. Then he starts to talk about the crown that he says should have been his.
H. L. RossierThis man, though outwardly broken, is still far from broken in his heart. "You know," he says, "that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel fully expected me to reign." … His words alone reveal an embittered heart. The bitterness was long held down, and now it shows itself, because he had not judged himself in the least.
His appeal was moving, and Bathsheba missed what lay behind it.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinAdonijah, the wicked rebel on probation, visits Bathsheba. … Bathsheba was completely won by Adonijah's moving plea and did not discover the wicked plot hidden beneath his request.
A throne that brings things to light
Adonijah makes his move while the throne is still new. A kingdom of righteousness does not leave what opposes it alone.
H. L. RossierThe throne is barely set up before hostile elements, foreign to the kingdom, show themselves. But this is the character of the kingdom of righteousness: it reproves everything that is not in harmony with itself. In Solomon's presence the flesh can no longer push itself forward or follow its own bent as it pleases.
Summary
- Pardoned. Adonijah had rebelled, and the king pardoned him. This visit turns that pardon into the opening move of a second try for the throne.
- Indirect. He goes to the king's mother, not to the king. It is the same instinct that sends people to a go-between instead of to the Lord Himself.
- Guarded. Bathsheba doubted him, and with reason. His success would have left her and Solomon counted as offenders.
- Unjudged. His "Peacefully" was outward only. The words that follow reveal a bitterness long held down, because he had never judged himself.
- Exposed. A kingdom of righteousness reproves whatever does not match it. In the true king's presence the flesh can no longer push itself forward.