CHAPTER II _David leaves his dying charge with Solomon, relative to his own_ _personal conduct_, 1-4; _to Joab_, 5, 6; _to Barzillai_, 7; _to Shimei_, 8, 9. _He dies, and Solomon is established in the kingdom_, 10-12. _Adonijah requests to have Abishag to wife, and is put to death_ _by Solom... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:2. _I GO THE WAY OF ALL THE EARTH_] I am dying. All the inhabitants of the earth must come to the dust. In _life_, some follow one occupation, some another; but all must, sooner or later, come to the _grave_. Death is no respecter of persons; he visits the palace of the king as well... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:3. _KEEP THE CHARGE OF THE LORD_] Keep what God has given thee to keep. 1. _Walk in his ways_. Not in thine own, nor in the ways of a wicked, perishing world. 2. _Keep his statutes_. Consider all his appointments to be holy, just, and good; receive them as such, and conscientiously... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:4. _THAT THE LORD MAY CONTINUE HIS WORD_] The prosperity which God has promised to grant to my family will depend on their faithfulness to the good they receive; if they live to God, they shall sit for ever on the throne of Israel. But alas! they did not; and God's justice cut off th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:5. _THOU KNOWEST - WHAT JOAB - DID TO ME_] He did every thing bad and dishonourable in itself, in the murder of Abner and Amasa, and indeed in the death of the profligate Absalom. _SHED THE BLOOD OF WAR - UPON HIS GIRDLE - AND IN HIS SHOES_] He stabbed them while he pretended to _em... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:6. _LET NOT HIS HOAR HEAD GO DOWN TO THE GRAVE IN PEACE._] It would have been an insult to justice not to have taken the life of Joab. David was culpable in delaying it so long; but probably the circumstances of his government would not admit of his doing it sooner. According to the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:7. _BUT SHOW KINDNESS UNTO THE SONS OF BARZILLAI_] 2 Samuel 19:31, c.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:8. _THOU HAST WITH THEE SHIMEI_] See on 2 Samuel 16:5, c., and the notes on 2 Samuel 19:18-10.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:9. _HOLD HIM NOT GUILTLESS_] Do not consider him as an innocent man, though I have sworn to him that I would not put him to death by the sword; yet as thou art a wise man, and knowest how to treat such persons, treat him as he deserves; only as I have sworn to him, and he is an aged... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:10. _DAVID SLEPT WITH HIS FATHERS_] His life was a life of remarkable providences, of much piety, and of great public usefulness. In general he lived well, and it is most evident that he died well; and as a king, a general, a poet, a father, and a friend, he has had few _equals_, and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:15. _THOU KNOWEST THAT THE KINGDOM WAS MINE_] It certainly was his by the right of _primogeniture_, and it was his by the _voice_ _of the people_, and the consent of the _high priest_. But there was a right paramount to all these, the _right of God_; it was his kingdom; the kings wer... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:17. _THAT HE GIVE ME ABISHAG - TO WIFE._] He cheerfully gives up all right to the kingdom, and only desires to have this young woman, who, though she had been his father's wife or concubine, was still in a state of virginity. Some think that Joab and Abiathar had advised Adonijah to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:25. _SOLOMON SENT - BENAIAH - AND HE FELL UPON HIM THAT HE_ _DIED._] Benaiah seems to have been the public state executioner, and yet he was generalissimo of all the forces. See him employed in a similar work, 1 Kings 2:34; 1 Kings 2:46. I suppose him to have been such another genera... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:27. _SO SOLOMON THRUST OUT ABIATHAR_] This was for having taken part before with Adonijah, but by it a remarkable prophecy was fulfilled; see 1 Samuel 2:13-9, and the notes there. God had told Eli that the priesthood should depart from his house; Abiathar was the last of the descenda... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:28. _TIDINGS CAME TO JOAB_] He heard that Adonijah had been slain and Abiathar banished, and probably he had heard of David's dying charge to Solomon. Fearing therefore for his personal safety, he takes refuge at the tabernacle, as claiming Divine protection, and desiring to have his... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:30. _NAY; BUT I WILL DIE HERE._] The altars were so sacred among all the people, that, in general, even the vilest wretch found safety, if he once reached the altar. This led to many abuses, and the perversion of public justice; and at last it became a maxim that the guilty should be... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:34. _SO BENAIAH - WENT UP - AND SLEW HIM_] It appears he slew him at the very altar. Joab must have been both old and infirm at this time, and now he bleeds for _Abner_, he bleeds for _Amasa_, and he bleeds for _Uriah_. The two former he murdered; of the blood of the latter he was no... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:36. _BUILD THEE A HOUSE_] Thus he gave him the whole city for a prison, and this certainly could have reduced him to no hardships.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:37. _THY BLOOD SHALL BE UPON THINE OWN HEAD._] Thou knowest what to expect; if thou disobey my orders thou shalt certainly be slain, and then thou shalt be considered as a _self-murderer_; thou alone shalt be answerable for thy own death. Solomon knew that Shimei was a seditious man,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:40. _AND SHIMEI - WENT TO GATH_] It is astonishing that with his eyes wide open he would thus run into the jaws of death.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:45. _KING SOLOMON_ SHALL BE _BLESSED_] He seems to think that, while such bad men remained unpunished, the nation could not prosper; that it was an act of justice which God required him to perform, in order to the establishment and perpetuity of his throne.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 2:46. _AND THE KINGDOM WAS ESTABLISHED_] He had neither foes within nor without. He was either dreaded or loved universally. His own subjects were affectionately bound to him, and the surrounding nations did not think proper to make him their enemy. As there are serious doubts relativ... [ Continue Reading ]