We come to the latter days of David’s life at the start of this book (v1-4). He was struggling to keep warm (v1) so they were wrapping him up with covers. It is bought that he was around 70 years old. Some might say not that old really, but it may well have been that the type of life he had lived brought old age on earlier. The years seemed to have taken their toll on him. He had had many highs and lows, spending much time on the run from Saul, living rough, so life hadn’t always been easy.
He was so cold that his servants suggested that a young woman be sought (v2) to wait on the king and serve him and lie in his arms to keep him warm. Seems rather strange but it is apparent that she was provided to give him sexual pleasure, to cherish. One has to remember that often men of the Old Testament had more than one wife. Whilst this was not God’s ideal, it was permitted. They sought for a lovely young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. This may have accounted for the practice and appointment of Abishag as a concubine or even a further wife to David. However, we read definitely that “The king did not know her” (v4), meaning that he had no sexual relations with her. How different to the incident with Bathsheba many years before. One wonders why Bathsheba couldn’t keep him warm. To us this may sound rather strange, even immoral.
One commentator writes “The fact of the health of the young and healthier person being, as it were, stolen to support that of the more aged and sickly is well established among the medical faculty. And hence the prescription for the aged king was made in a hygienic point of view for the prolongation of his valuable life, and not merely for the comfort to be derived from the natural warmth imparted to his withered frame.”
In 2 Samuel 7:12,13 Nathan, the prophet, promised David that God would raise up one of his sons and establish his kingdom forever. In the first few chapters of 1 Kings, we have the problem as to who that would be. King David could not last much longer, and his family history had been marked by treachery and murder. Absalom had raised himself up, but that hadn’t lasted very long.
It may well have been that this episode led to Adonijah taking advantage and setting himself up to be king (v5) because of the frailty of his father. Adonijah was the fourth of David’s sons and presumed to be the eldest surviving; Amnon and Absalom having died and Chileab is unmentioned after 2 Samuel 3, so one must presume that he is dead also. To our present day, it might have been logical that the eldest son should be the next king, but God, alone, determined who the king was to be. Adonijah exalted himself, just like Absalom, his brother, had tried to do before him, and set up his own military bodyguard with horses and chariots.
Like Absalom, Adonijah was very good-looking, however, David had not done a very good job in bringing up his children (as we saw with Absalom). He failed to rebuke him at any time (v6). He does not seem to have had a good relationship with his own father (1 Samuel 16:11), rather a godly influence seemed to have come from his mother (see Psalm 86 and 116). This was no excuse for David because he had no doubts about how God had treated him, even with correction (Psalm 23). ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child’ is a well-known maxim (Proverbs 13:24; Ephesians 6:4). This, of course, is not condoning physical abuse, but suitable correction and training.
Nathan (v11) went to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon and told her what was going on. It appears that David didn’t know of it. Bathsheba went in to the king (v15) and again we are reminded that the king was very old and was attended to by Abishag. Bathsheba reminds David that he had said that Solomon would reign in his place, but Adonijah had set himself up as king over Solomon, in fact, Abiathar, the priest, and Joab, commander of the army and David’s other sons had been invited to a feast, probably his coronation, but Solomon had not been invited. (v19).
Adonijah discussed the situation with Joab and Abiathar, the priest and they both helped him. It was sad to see these two men who once supported David, turning against him (v7-10). It is thought that they acted out of revenge (on Joab’s part because David had appointed Amasa and Benaiah over him), and jealousy (on Abiathar’s part, of Zadok the priest). However, there remained some who remained loyal to David. Among them were Zadok the priest, Benaiah, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei and David’s mighty men. Adonijah offered sacrifices at Zoheleth and invited all his brothers, except Solomon, all the men of Judah, the king’s servants, but not Zadok, Benaiah nor the mighty men.
Nathan then went to Bathsheba and asked if she knew of Adonijah’s plan and told her that David didn’t know of it (v11-14). He asked if he could go to see her to give her advice that may save her own life and that of Solomon, who would have been rivals to Adonijah’s kingship. Bathsheba was to go immediately to David to tell him of Adonijah’s plot. David had promised Bathsheba that Solomon would be next king, but it is not recorded, although 1 Chronicles 22:5-9 shows that that was David’s intention, which was a display of God’s grace that the son of the sinful situation that had occurred, was to be exalted.
Nathan knew that David might find it hard to believe that Adonijah would do such a thing, so he would come in after Bathsheba to confirm the story (v14).
Bathsheba went to David, and she bowed before him. David was evidently quite frail by now; she reminded him of his words to her that Solomon would be the heir to the throne but informed him that Adonijah had raised himself up to be king. While Bathsheba was speaking with David, Nathan arrived and confirmed the story (v22). It seemed that Nathan had free access to the king now, whereas he might not have done some years before when he confronted David with his sin with Bathsheba. Nathan first of all asked David if he had given permission to Adonijah to be king. Maybe it was possible that he had done it due to his frailty. He told David that Adonijah had invited some leading people to his feast, but left out most of David’s trusted followers, including Solomon (v15-27).
As a result, David made it clear that he had sworn before The LORD that Solomon would reign after him (v29,30) and gave instructions to Nathan, Zadok the priest and Benaiah and his own troops to anoint Solomon as the next king (v31-37). Solomon was to ride on David’s own mule (v38,39), probably a symbol of kingship; and instructed them to anoint him with a horn of oil from the tent. (v39) All the people rejoiced with an earth-splitting sound (v40). We would probably have put Solomon on a horse, a charger, to ride in his coronation, but he rode on a mule, David’s own mule, which in those days was a sign of royalty.
Adonijah and his followers were just finishing of their feast when Joab heard the sound of the horn and the city’s rejoicing (v41) when Jonathan the son of Abiathar came in and told Adonijah and his gathered revellers that king David had made Solomon the next king. On hearing the news, they were afraid and all dispersed. (v42-49) They realised that there was little point in their revelling now that Solomon was anointed king with David’s approval.
Adonijah acknowledged his apparently futile situation and went and took hold of the horns of the altar (v50). This was a form of asylum; a place of safety and Solomon heard that he pleaded with Solomon to show mercy to him. Solomon told his men to tell Adonijah, “If he proves himself a worthy man, not one hair of him shall fall to the earth; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.” (v52). Solomon sent for him and Adonijah came and paid homage to King Solomon and Solomon told him to go home. (v53)
