1 Kings 1:9

_AND ADONIJAH SLEW SHEEP AND OXEN AND FAT CATTLE BY THE STONE OF ZOHELETH, WHICH IS BY ENROGEL, AND CALLED ALL HIS BRETHREN THE KING'S SONS, AND ALL THE MEN OF JUDAH THE KING'S SERVANTS:_ En-rogel - now Bir-ayub, or the well of Joab, at the foot of Ophel, situated (Joshua 15:7: see the notes at 2 Samuel 17:17) east of Jerusalem, in a level place beyond Siloam, just below the junction of the Valley of Hinnom with that of Jehoshaphat. It is a very deep well, measuring 125 feet in depth: the water is sweet, but not very cold, and it is at times quite full to overflowing. The Orientals are fond of enjoying festive repasts in the open air, at places which command the advantage of shade, water, and verdure; and those fetes champetres are not cold collations, but magnificent entertainments, the

5-10 Indulgent parents are often chastised with disobedient children, who are anxious to possess their estates. No worldly wisdom, nor experience, nor sacredness of character, can insure the continuance in any former course of those who remain under the power of self-love. But we may well wonder by what arts Joab and Abiathar could be drawn aside....

Verse 1 Kings 1:9. _SLEW SHEEP AND OVEN_] Making a royal feast, in reference to his inauguration. As he had Abiathar the _priest_ with him, no doubt these animals were offered _sacrificially_, and then the guests fed on the flesh of the victims. He had not only a splendid feast, but a great sacrifice; and he gave by this a popular colour to his pretensions, by affecting to receive his authority from _God_....

Adonijah’s feast was probably of a sacrificial character, and intended to inaugurate him as king. Compare the “sacrifices” of Absalom 2 Samuel 15:12. ZOHELETH - No satisfactory explanation has been given of this name. Large blocks of stone always attract attention in the East, and receive names which are often drawn from some trivial circumstance. Sinai and Palestine are full of such “Hajars,” which correspond to the “Ebens” or “stones” of Holy Scripture. (Compare Genesis 28:22; Jos 4:9; 1 Samuel 6:14.) For En-Rogel, see the margin reference....

EXPOSITION THE REVOLT OF ADONIJAH AND THE ACCESSION OF SOLOMON.—The first chapter of this book is occupied with the accession of Solomon and with the circumstances which preceded, marked, and followed that event. The author, or compiler, evidently considered that his work properly began with the reign of Israel's third king, and David's illness and death are only introduced into the narrative because they necessitated a hasty and premature coronation of Solomon, and exercised an important influence on the beginning of his reign (1 Kings 2:1). In the natural order of events, Solomon would not have succeeded until his father's death, but Adonijah's attempt to possess himself of the kingdom required the immediate elevation of Sol

AND ADONIJAH SLEW SHEEP AND OXEN AND FAT CATTLE,.... To make a feast of for those that were of his party, which was numerous, and some of them persons of the first rank, and therefore a large and elegant entertainment was provided for them: BY THE STONE OF ZOHELETH, WHICH [IS] BY ENROGEL; or the fullers' fountain, as the Targum, where the fullers washed their clothes, using their feet in doing it, from whence it had its name; and which they laid upon this stone for the water to drain out of them, "Zoheleth" signifying a slow motion of waters, or on which they beat them to get out the spots; the Targum calls it the stone of a watchtower, on which they could stand and look to a great distance; or, as Jarchi and Ben Gersom suggest, it was a large smooth stone, which young men used to come to, and cast to and fro to try and exercise their strength; it was, as Josephus e says, in or near the...

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. DAVID'S LAST DAYS AND THE CROWNING OF SOLOMON 1. Adonijah's Exaltation to be King CHAPTER 1:1-27 _ 1. David's decrepitude (1 Kings 1:1)_ 2. Adonijah's self-exaltation (1 Kings 1:5) 3. The plot of Nathan and Bath-sheba (1 Kings 1:10) 4. Bath-sheba and Nathan before the king (1 Kings 1:15) David was about 70 years old and extremely feeble. The strenuous life he had led, the exposures and hardships of his youth, the cares and anxieties of his reign, and the chastenings through which he passed on account of his great sin, and much else were responsible for thi

LAST DAYS OF DAVID AND ACCESSION OF SOLOMON. This chapter with the following has many analogies with the court history of David (2 Samuel 11-20). The narrative bears every sign of an authentic account of actual events, told with complete impartiality, and without any attempt to comment favourably or otherwise on the events related. David is represented as a very aged man nursed by his youngest wife, Abishag the Shunammite (1 Kings 1:3). Her beauty is especially noticed as it may have caused the death of David's son, Adonijah. Shunem, her native place, was a slope overlooking the plain of Esdraelon near Jezreel, and she is the Shulammite in the Song of Songs (Ca. 1 Kings 6:13). The pivot around which all revolves is the succession. The chief claimant was Adonijah the son of Haggith ...

EN-ROGEL. well or spring of Rogel. South side of Jerusalem, in the Kidron valley. THE KING. Some codices with Syriac, read "and the", &c....

_Adonijah slew_&c. The verb is that which is constantly used for _sacrificing_. And here there was no doubt intended to be a certain solemnity connected with the feast held in honour of Adonijah's proclamation. Beside its use in this chapter, where it is rendered -to slay" in 1 Kings 1:19; 1 Kings 1:25, the verb is only so translated in 1 Kings 19:21 of Elisha's slaughter of his oxen, and 2 Kings 23:20 of Josiah's slaughter of the priests of the high places, both which acts partook of the nature of a solemn sacrifice. _by the stone of Zoheleth, which_is _by En-rogel_ The name En-rogel signifies the -fountain of th