1 Kings 2:1-11. David's last charge to Solomon, and his death (Not in Chronicles) 1. _Now the days of David drew nigh that_he _should die_ According to the narrative of Josephus (_Antiq_. vii. 14, 7) all the events recorded in 1 Chronicles 28, 29 took place in the interval between the first anointi... [ Continue Reading ]
_I go the way of all the earth_ i.e. Of all who live on the earth, viz. to the grave. The same expression is used by Joshua (Joshua 24:14), and, though the Hebrew noun is not the same, we may compare Job 16:22 -I shall go the way whence I shall not return." _be thou strong therefore_ Compare the oft... [ Continue Reading ]
_keep the charge of the Lord_ The word rendered -charge" here has no connexion with the verb used in 1 Kings 2:1, but is the customary expression in the Book of Numbers for the care and oversight of the Tabernacle and other things committed to the Levites. (See Numbers 1:53; Numbers 3:7-8 &c.) It is... [ Continue Reading ]
_that the Lord may continue his word_ The verb is most commonly rendered -establish" and may be so translated here. Cf. 1 Samuel 1:23 where the same phrase occurs. The sense is of confirming and ratifying what has previously been promised. David is here looking forward to the generations that shall... [ Continue Reading ]
_what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me_ This one of the sons of Zeruiah had been all through his reign too strong for his uncle. See 2 Samuel 3:39: and for the rough remonstrances of Joab with David, cf. 2 Samuel 19:5-7. The slaughter of Absalom, though neither mentioned here by David, nor afterwar... [ Continue Reading ]
_Do therefore according to thy wisdom_ Compare 1 Kings 2:9. The wisdom to which David in both cases alludes is a politic method of bringing these men to do something for which they might be put to death. Such men were specially dangerous in the court of a young king. _his hoar head_ Most likely Joa... [ Continue Reading ]
_sons of Barzillai the Gileadite_ The deserving conduct of Barzillai, during David's flight from Absalom, is narrated 2 Samuel 19:31 _seqq_. The Chimham there mentioned was probably a son of Barzillai, though we are not expressly told so. No other son is anywhere spoken of, but we find that Barzilla... [ Continue Reading ]
thou hast _with thee Shimei_ Shimei was not at present living in Jerusalem (see 1 Kings 2:36), but that his conduct might be more closely watched Solomon compelled him to come and dwell in the city. _Bahurim_ Besides its connexion with the story of Shimei, this place is mentioned (2 Samuel 17:18) a... [ Continue Reading ]
_hold him not guiltless_ i.e. Be sure not to let him go unpunished. Find out some good reason for vengeance to be taken on him. We are not to wonder at these injunctions of David, which were not unnatural, both for the satisfaction of his own feelings and for providing for the security of Solomon's... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the city of David_ The place is defined (2 Samuel 5:7) as -the stronghold of Zion." We are told (_Aboth de-Rabbi Nathan_i. 35) that -no graves are made in Jerusalem, except the tombs of the house of David, and of Huldah the prophetess, which have been there from the days of the first prophets.... [ Continue Reading ]
_seven years reigned he in Hebron_ According to 2 Samuel 5:5 the time was seven years and six months. The Old Testament writers often in this way omit pieces of a year, and speak only of the full years. Cf. 1 Chronicles 29:27.... [ Continue Reading ]
Adonijah asks for Abishag to wife and is put to death by Solomon (Not in Chronicles) 13. _Comest thou peaceably_ There was the same sort of alarm in Bath-sheba's mind as was in those of the people of Bethlehem when Samuel came to visit Jesse before David was anointed (1 Samuel 16:4), when the elder... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine_ He means that as the eldest living son of David, he could rightly claim it. Thus he in a way apologizes for his previous attempt to secure the succession to himself. _set their faces on me_ They looked forward to my accession and were resolved on bringing it... [ Continue Reading ]
_deny me not_ The Hebrew is -turn not away my face," and implies that a person whose suit is refused is turned away in disgrace. The same expression is rendered -to say not nay" in 1 Kings 2:17; 1 Kings 2:20. Adonijah's argument was to this effect: -You know I have lost a great deal, surely you will... [ Continue Reading ]
_that he give me Abishag_ It is highly probable that the construction which Solomon put upon Adonijah's request was the true one, for in the East the widows of the late king become the wives of his successor, and to marry, or seek to marry, such a widow is equivalent to putting forward a claim to th... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will speak for thee_ Bath-sheba does not seem to have suspected Adonijah's design, and this simplicity of hers he perhaps hoped to trade upon, and thought that his petition, coming to Solomon through her, might appear less dangerous. That she should consent to ask the king was not unnatural. -The... [ Continue Reading ]
_caused a seat to be set for the king's mother_ For -seat" we should have THRONE. The word is the same as that which occurs earlier in the verse for Solomon's own -throne." In Eastern nations the queen-mother was a very important personage and treated with the same sort of reverence as the king. Thi... [ Continue Reading ]
_I desire one small petition of thee_ These words seem to confirm what has been said above, that Bath-sheba had not realized the grave import of her request. _I will not say thee nay_ i.e. If it be possible for me to grant it. The condition, though unexpressed, is of necessity understood.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah_ These two having aided Adonijah in his attempt on the throne, would naturally have been his chief ministers and advisers had he succeeded. So Solomon includes them with him, and thus Bath-sheba may see whither the design of Adonijah is t... [ Continue Reading ]
_God do so to me, and more also_ This is a very idiomatic rendering for the Hebrew, which is literally -Thus shall God do to me, and thus shall He add." The expression occurs again in 1Ki 19:2, 1 Kings 20:10, and in 2 Kings 6:31 as well as several times in the books of Samuel, and in Ruth 1:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
_who hath made me a house_ -House" here is used in the sense of -possessions," -property." So (Esther 8:1) the -house" of Haman, i.e. his wealth and property, is given to queen Esther. The LXX. renders in that place by ὅσα ὑπῆρχεν Ἀμάν.... [ Continue Reading ]
_by the hand of Benaiah_ To Benaiah was committed not the oversight, but the execution of the sentence. In like manner he puts to death Joab (1 Kings 2:34) and Shimei (1 Kings 2:46). Solomon was absolute as a monarch, and the command was executed as promptly as it was given. The LXX fills out the se... [ Continue Reading ]
Punishment of Abiathar (Not in Chronicles) 26. _Get thee_to _Anathoth_ This city was in the tribe of Benjamin, and has been identified by Robinson with _Anáta_at the distance of 1¼ hours N.N.E. of Jerusalem. It is mentioned as a priest's city with suburbs in Joshua 21:18; 1 Chronicles 6:60, and Jer... [ Continue Reading ]
_So Solomon thrust out Abiathar_ The verb is the same which is used (Genesis 3:24) of the _driving out_of Adam from Paradise. _fulfil the word of the Lord_ The allusion is to 1 Samuel 2:31-36, where it is foretold to Eli that his family, to which Abiathar belonged, should be deprived of the priest'... [ Continue Reading ]
Flight of Joab and his death. Benaiah succeeds him as captain of the host (Not in Chronicles) 28. _Then tidings came to Joab_ The Hebrew says - AND THE tidings came to Joab", i.e. of Abiathar's banishment, and he felt that his own turn was soon to come. _turned after_ i.e. Took the side of. It was... [ Continue Reading ]
he is _by the altar_ The LXX. has -he has taken hold of the horns of the altar", after which that version adds -And Solomon the king sent to Joab, saying, What has happened to thee that thou hast fled to the altar? And Joab said, Because I was afraid of thee, and fled unto the Lord." These words see... [ Continue Reading ]
_Come forth_ Benaiah would prefer, if it may be, to execute the sentence upon Joab elsewhere than within the precincts of the tabernacle. _I will die here_ Joab is conscious of Benaiah's errand, but perhaps hopes still to escape death if he remain at the altar. _brought the king word again_ It see... [ Continue Reading ]
_and bury him_ The LXX. adds these words to the king's previous order in 1 Kings 2:29. Joab was Solomon's cousin, and so though it was a political necessity to put him to death, the king would not care to add further dishonour to the dead body. _the innocent blood_ i.e. The causeless bloodshed of i... [ Continue Reading ]
_his blood_ i.e. The blood which he hath shed. _my father David not knowing_thereof] The verb is a finite tense and not a participle, and the clause may therefore be rendered -and my father D. KNEW IT NOT." _Abner_ See notes on 1 Kings 2:5 above. In that verse both Abner and Amasa are called captai... [ Continue Reading ]
_and upon the head of his seed for ever_ Solomon has in mind here the words of his father at the time of Abner's murder (2 Samuel 3:29). David's prayer then was "let the blood rest on the head of Joab and on all his father's house." _shall there be peace for ever_ The law of Moses ordained that the... [ Continue Reading ]
_went up_ i.e. To the Tent of the Lord, which probably stood on a higher part of Mt. Zion than did Solomon's own house. _buried in his own house_ i.e. In the ground around his home. He appears to have had a home far out in the open country. _in the wilderness_ Probably that district known as the w... [ Continue Reading ]
_put in the room of Abiathar_ The LXX. amplifies and says that Zadok was now appointed εἰς ἱερέα πρῶτον, to be the first priest. Hitherto he seems to have had his post at Gibeon. There was not a great interval between the deposition of Abiathar and the building of the Temple, after which event the w... [ Continue Reading ]
Shimei meets with his deserts (Not in Chronicles) 36. _sent and called for Shimei_ Solomon sent for him to Jerusalem from Bahurim (see 1 Kings 2:8). Keeping him under close watch, he could hardly fail to find him tripping.... [ Continue Reading ]
_passest over the brook Kidron_ This brook, being between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, on that side of Jerusalem where Shimei would go if he wanted to return to Bahurim. Solomon takes the distance in this direction as a measure of bounds within which he must keep himself on every side. For in... [ Continue Reading ]
_many days_ The LXX. has τρία ἔτη, three years, a reading evidently drawn from the next verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
_two of the servants of Shimei_ Shimei appears to have been a man of wealth, both from this circumstance, and from his ability to establish himself in Jerusalem as soon as Solomon commanded him. The servants may have been Philistines. _Achish son of Maachah king of Gath_ The Achish to whom David fl... [ Continue Reading ]
_Did I not make thee to swear by the Lord_ There is no mention of an oath in the previous part of the narrative (1 Kings 2:37), but the solemnity of the charge was probably so enforced. The LXX, making both portions of the story to correspond, inserts in 1 Kings 2:37 -and the king made him to swear... [ Continue Reading ]
_the oath of the Lord_ i.e. Which was sworn unto the Lord.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou knowest_ The Hebrew inserts the pronoun emphatically. It was needless for Solomon to recall the wrong with which Shimei's own conscience would upbraid him. _the Lord shall return_ The Hebrew says -the Lord hath returned." The punishment is so sure that the king speaks of it as already inflict... [ Continue Reading ]
_Solomon_shall be _blessed_ See above on 1 Kings 2:33. _the throne of David shall be established_ According to God's promise (2 Samuel 7:13-16). Solomon regards the punishments which he has inflicted and is about to inflict, as a fulfilment of the conditions under which the promise was made. His ac... [ Continue Reading ]
_which went out_ Literally - AND HE went out," which reads rather better than the A.V. _in the hand of Solomon_ The conspirators who might have been dangerous were all removed, and now, though still but a youth, Solomon had gained complete hold of the reins of government. Cf. 2 Chronicles 1:1, wher... [ Continue Reading ]