1 Kings 2:22-25

C. THE PUNISHMENT ORDERED BY SOLOMON 2:22-25

TRANSLATION

(22) And King Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why are you asking for Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? You might as well ask the kingdom for himbecause he is my older brothereven for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah. (23) Then King Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, Thus may God do to me and even more if Adonijah has not spoken this thing against his life. (24) And now as the LORD lives who has established me, and caused me to sit upon the throne of my father David, and who has made for me a house as He promised, Today Adonijah shall be put to death. (25) And King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him and he died.

COMMENTS

While Bathsheba may have been gullible concerning Adonijah's request, Solomon was not. He exploded with anger when he heard his mother's request. Rhetorically he asked Why are you asking Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Commentators through the years have addressed themselves to Solomon's question. Apart from fanciful theories which imagine a heated rivalry between Bathsheba and Abishaga theory which proposes that Bathsheba would be most anxious to get Abishag out of the palace and out of her son's affectionsthere are several suggestions as to why Bathsheba allowed herself to be used in this way. First, the smooth talking Adonijah had played on her sympathies and flattered her pride. Then too, being a woman, perhaps she was simply helping along the course of true love. Or perhaps she thought that the granting of such a small favor might help to reconcile the half-brothers. Solomon himself suspected another plot and he was infuriated at the thought that the conspirators had successfully deceived his mother and had made her the unwitting instrument of their evil designs.

Continuing the rebuke of his mother Solomon declared, You might as well have asked the kingdom for him also! Solomon saw in the request of Adonijah an indirect but dangerous attempt to usurp the throne. Why so? Taking possession of a wife or harem of a deceased king was equivalent to establishment of the claim to the throne. David took possession of the wives of Saul when he succeeded to the throne (2 Samuel 12:8). To show contempt for his father and to demonstrate conclusively that he had seized the sovereignty, Absalom made a public display of possessing David's harem (2 Samuel 16:22).[121] In public opinion there existed a close connection between the title to the crown and possession of the deceased monarch's wives. To grant this request would be to throw gasoline on the fires of conspiracy which continually burned within the heart of Adonijah. Further- more, Solomon declared, he is my elder brother, and as such, many thought he should be king. The request, if granted, would have given Adonijah a wedge to drive further, and eventually to oust Solomon.

[121] Ishbosheth probably suspected, though without justification, that Abner was making a bid for the crown when he accused him of illicit relations with Rizpah, the concubine of Saul (2 Samuel 3:8).

But the question has been raised as to whether Abishag had actually been the wife of David. She is never so called, the sacred historian always referring to her as David's attendant.

Some think that had she actually been the wife of the king, Adonijah would here be seeking an incestuous union in the light of Leviticus 18:8; Leviticus 20:11. Whatever the precise legal status of Abishag might have been, this much is clear: In the eyes of the people, the beautiful Abishag for all intents and purposes was a wife of David. It may have been on the legal technicality that David had never been able to consummate his marriage to Abishag (assuming he had married her), that Adonijah thought he stood a chance to gain her hand. Solomon was concerned about what this marriage might mean in the eyes of the populace. He was not about to allow Adonijah to use Abishag as a stepping-stone to the throne.

One further indication of the conspiratorial designs of the Abishag request is indicated in the immediate mention of Abiathar and Joab in connection with the request (1 Kings 2:22). It almost seems that Solomon had received from his intelligence officers some prior information indicating that another plot was brewing. Be that as it may, Solomon views the petition of Adonijah as conclusive proof of another plot.

Having once been lenient with his elder brother, Solomon was in no mood to further ignore the threat that Adonijah posed to his rule. Before his mother and those who might have been present in the room, He took a solemn oath in the name of God that Adonijah would die that very day. Solomon employed the traditional oath formula which literally translated is: Thus shall God do unto me and thus shall He add. Basically this is a self-imprecation which would fall upon one if he failed to keep his oath. Paraphrased the formula would be: May God do something terrible to me and even worse than that if I fail to perform this deed. Solomon believedand there was good basis for that beliefthat his coming to the throne was an act of God. The Lord had established him on the throne of his father, and furthermore, had made for him a house (1 Kings 2:24). By the latter expression Solomon may be referring to his son Rehoboam who would have been about a year old at this time.[122] To Benaiah, captain of the king's bodyguard, Solomon gave the execution order. The order was immediately carried out (1 Kings 2:25), the first of a bloody trilogy of executions. Those who look on this deed as an example of the ruthless misuse of royal power and as cold blooded murder should ponder anew the following facts: (1) Had Adonijah's first rebellion succeeded, both Solomon and his mother would doubtlessly been killed (1 Kings 1:12); (2) by fleeing to the altar following the collapse of his conspiracy, Adonijah was clearly conscious that he deserved the death of a traitor; (3) Solomon displayed the greatest magnanimity towards Adonijah when, instead of executing him, he placed him on probation; (4) Adonijah had been warned that he must show himself to be a worthy man, that if wickedness were found in him, he would be killed (1 Kings 1:52); (5) now so it would appear, Adonijah was seeking anew to wrest the throne from his brother; (6) for Solomon to ignore a second offense might suggest that the king was weak, and such weakness would be an encouragement to sedition throughout the land.

[122] Keil, BCOT, p. 33. Cf. 1 Kings 11:42 with 1 Kings 14:21 and 2 Chronicles 12:13.