And Adonijah... came. — The application of Adonijah to Bath-sheba, and the signs of honour paid to her by the king — of which there is no trace in her approach to the presence of David (1 Kings 1:15; 1 Kings 1:28; 1 Kings 1:31) — illustrate the universal custom of Eastern monarchies; by which, while the wives of the king, being many, are seldom held to be of any great political account, the mother of the reigning king is a person of great dignity and influence. We may notice how constantly the name of each king’s mother is recorded in the history.

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