2:3,4David stressed to Solomon the need to make God and his laws the center of personal life and government in arder to preserve the kingdom, as God had promised to do (2 Samuel 7). This promise from God fad two parts. One part was conditional and depended upon the king’s actions. The other part was unconditional. God’s conditional promise was that David and his descendants would remain in office as kings only when they honored and obeyed him. When David’s descendants failed to do this, they lost the throne (2 Kings 25). God’s unconditional promise was that David's line would go on forever. This was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ, a descendant of David who was also the eternal Son of God (Romans 1:3, 4). David, whose life exemplified obedience, gave well-seasoned advice to his son, the next king. It would be up to Solomon to follow it.
Life Application Study Bible1 KingsChapter 2
1 Kings 2
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 514, 515, 516
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
David's Final Instructions to Solomon
12 As the time of King David's death approached, he gave this charge to his son Solomon: 2“T am going where everyone on earth must someday go. Take courage and be aman. 3Observe the requirements of the LORD your God, and follow all his ways. Keep the decrees, commands, regulations, and laws written in the Law of Moses so that you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go. 4If you do this, then the LORD will keep the promise he made to me. He told me, ‘If your descendants live as they should and follow me faithfully with all their heart and soul, one of them will always sit on the throne of fsrael.’ 5“And there is something else. You know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me when he murdered my two army commanders, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He pretended that it was an act of war, but it was done ina time of peace,* staining his belt and sandals with innocent blood.* §Do with him what you think best, but don’t let him grow old and go to his grave in peace.* 7“Be kind to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead. Make them permanent guests at your table, for they took care of me when I fled from your brother Absalom. 8“And remember Shimei son of Gera, the man from Bahurim in Benjamin. He cursed me with a terrible curse as I was fleeing to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the jordan River, fswore by the LORD that would not kill him. 9But that oath does not make him innocent. You are a wise man, and you will know how to arrange a bloody death for him.*” 10Then David died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. David had reigned over Israet for forty years, seven of them in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 12Solomon became king and sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.
Solomon Establishes His Rule
1313Qne day Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, came to see Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. “Have you come with peaceful intentions?” she asked him. “Yes,” he said, “I come in peace. 14In fact, I have a favor to ask of you.” “What is it?” she asked. 15He replied, “As you know, the kingdom was rightfully mine; all Israel wanted me to be the next king. But the tables were turned, and the kingdom went to my brother instead; for that is the way the LORD wanted it. 16So now I have just one favor to ask of you. Please don’t turn me down.”* 2:5a Or He murdered them during a time of peace as revenge for deaths they had caused in time of war. 2:5b As in some Greek and Old Latin manuscripts; Hebrew reads with the blood of war. 2:6 Hebrew don’t let his white head go down to Sheol in peace. 2:9 Hebrew how to bring his white head down to Sheol in blood. “What is it?” she asked. 17He replied, “Speak to King Solomon on my behalf, for I know he will do anything you request. Ask him to let me marry Abishag, the girl from Shunem.” 18“All right,” Bathsheba replied. “I will speak to the king for you.” 19So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak on Adonijah’s behalf. The king rose from his throne to meet her, and he bowed down before her. When he sat down on his throne again, the king ordered that a throne be brought for his mother, and she sat at his right hand. 20"T have one small request to make of you,” she said. “I hope you won't turn me down.” “What is it, my mother?” he asked. “ You know I won't refuse you.” 2t“Then let your brother Adonijah marry Abishag, the girl from Shunem,” she replied. 22“How can you possibly ask me to give Abishag to Adonijah?” King Solomon demanded. “You might as well ask me to give him the kingdom! You know that he is my older brother, and that he has Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah on his side.” 23Then King Solomon made a vow before the LORD: “May God strike me and even kill me if Adonijah has not sealed his fate with this request. 24The LORD has confirmed me and placed me on the throne of my father, David; he has established my dynasty as he promised. So as surely as the LORD lives, Adonijah will die this very day!” 25So King Solomon ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada to execute him, and Adonijah was put to death. 26Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your home in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but I will not kill you now, because you carried the Ark of the Sovereign LORD for David my father and you shared all his hardships.” 2”So Solomon deposed Abiathar from his position as priest of the LORD, thereby fulfilling the prophecy the LORD had given at Shiloh concerning the descendants of Eli. 28Joab had not joined Absalom’s earlier rebellion, but he had joined Adonijah’s rebellion. So when Joab heard about Adonijah’s death, he ran to the sacred tent of the LORD and grabbed onto the horns of the altar. 29When this was reported to King Solomon, he sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada to execute him. 30Benaiah went to the sacred tent of the LORD and said to Joab, “The king orders you to come out!” But Joab answered, “No, I will die here.” So Benaiah returned to the king and told him what Joab had said. 31"Do as he said,” the king replied. “Kill him there beside the altar and bury him. This will remove the guilt of Joab’s senseless murders from me and from my father’s family. $?The LORD will repay him* for the murders of two men who were more righteous and better than he. For my father knew nothing about the deaths of Abner son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and of Amasa son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. 33May their blood be on Joab and his descendants forever, and may the LORD grant peace forever to David, his descendants, his dynasty, and his throne.” 34$9 Benaiah son of Jehoiada returned to the sacred tent and killed Joab, and he was buried at his home in the wilderness. 35Then the king appointed Benaiah to command the army in place of Joab, and he installed Zadok the priest to take the place of Abiathar. 36The king then sent for Shimei and told him, “Build a house here in Jerusalem and live there. But don’t step outside the city to go anywhere else. 37On the day you so much as cross the Kidron Valley, you will surely die; and your blood will be on your own head.” 38Shimei replied, “Your sentence is fair; I will do whatever my lord the king commands.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. 39But three years later two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. When Shimei learned where they were, °he saddled his donkey and went to Gath to search for them. When he found them, he brought them back to Jerusalem. 41Solomon heard that Shimei had left Jerusalem and had gone to Gath and returned. 42So the king sent for Shimei and demanded, “Didn't I make you swear by the LORD and warn you not to go anywhere else or you would surely die? And you replied, ‘The sentence is fair; I will do as you say.’ 43Then why haven't you kept your oath to the LORD and obeyed my command?” 44The king also said to Shimei, “ You certainly remember all the wicked things you did to my father, David. May the LORD now bring that evil on your own head. 4° But may I, King Solomon, receive the LORD’s blessings, and may one of David’s descendants always sit on this throne in the presence of the LORD.” 46Then, at the king’s command, Benaiah son of Jehoiada took Shimei outside and killed him. So the kingdom was now firmly in Solomon’s grip.
Textual footnotes
- 2:32 Hebrew will return his blood on his own head.
Life Application Notes 9 notes
2:5-7Joab epitomizes those who are ruthless in accomplishing their goals. To Joab, winning was everything. He wanted to get power for himself and protect it. In contrast, Barzillai stands for those who are loyal to God and live by his standards. When offered glory, for example, he unselfishly asked that it be given to his son. Is your leadership self-serving or God-serving?
2:5-9David had some harsh advice for Solomon concerning his enemies. This advice was designed to hetp the young king establish and secure his throne, and it was directed only toward blatant enemies—those who opposed God by opposing God's appointed king. Legally, David was asking Solomon to give his enemies the punishment they deserved. It was against both civil taw and God's laws for Shimei to curse a king (Exodus 22:28).
2:10David died at about age 70 (2 Samuel 5:4, 5). See David's Profile in 1 Samuel 17, p. 439, for more on his life.
2:15-22This was not a case of thwarted love; Adonijah had more in mind than his supposed love for Abishag. Although she was still a virgin, Abishag was considered part of David's harem. Adonijah wanted Abishag because possessing the king's harem was equivalent to claiming the throne. Absalom had done the same thing in his rebellion against David (2 Samuel 16:20-23). Solomon well understood what Adonijah was trying to do.
2:26,27As a young man, Abiathar had been the only one to escape when King Saul massacred all the priests in the city of
2:31Joab had spent his lite trying to defend his position as David's commander. Twice David tried to replace him, and both times Joab treacherously killed his rivals before they could assume command (2 Samuel 3:17-30; 19:13; 20:4-10). Because Joab was in his service, David was ultimately responsible for these senseless deaths. But for political and military reasons (see the note on 2 Samuel 3:39), David decided not to publicly punish Joab. Instead, he put a curse on Joab and his family (2 Samuel 3:29). Solomon, in punishing Joab, was publicly declaring that David was not part of Joab’s crimes, thus removing the guilt from David and placing it on Joab where it belonged.
2:35Abiathar the high priest and Joab the army commander were key men in David's kingdom. But when they conspired against Solomon, they were replaced with Zadok and Benaiah. Zadok, a descendant of Aaron, had been a prominent priest during David's reign, and he was also loyal to Solomon after David's death. He was put in charge of the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 15:24ff). His descendants were in charge of the Temple until its destruction. At one time, Benaiah was one of David's mighty men (2 Samuel 23:20-23) and the captain of David's bodyguard.
2:46Solomon ordered the executions of Adonijah, Joab, and Shimei; forced Abiathar out as priest; and then appointed new men to take their places. He took these actions swiftly, securing his grip on the kingdom. By executing justice and tying up loose ends that could affect the future stability of his kingdom, Solomon was promoting peace, not bloodshed. He was a man of peace in two ways: He did not go to war, and he put an end to internal rebellion.
Charts, profiles & sidebars from the printed pages
Personality profile · page 515
Profile: Abishag
Chosen for her youth and beauty, Abishag found herself one day the live-in nurse of the great but elderly King David. Her job was to keep the ailing king warm. Within months her patient died. We know little about their relationship (although, for those who might wonder, the writer makes it clear that they never had sexual intercourse). Almost immediately after David’s death, Abishag became the bargaining chip in a power struggle between his sons Solomon and Adonijah. Solomon had been chosen for fhe throne; Adonijah had tried to usurp it. Solomon could have killed his rival, but instead said that if Adonijah proved to be loyal, he would not be harmed (1:52). Loyalty, however, was not in Adonijah’s vocabulary. When he went to Bathsheba asking for Abishag’s hand in marriage, he had strong ulterior motives. For Adonijah, Abishag was probably little more than a possible angle to renew his claim to the throne of David. Bathsheba may have been trying to do Abishag a favor as well as to pacify Adonijah. Solomon saw through the ruse, however, and understood that Adonijah was planning to use Abishag (who had technically been a part of King David's harem) to gain leverage in his fight for the throne. Adonijah paid for this request with his life, for he had proven that he would not be loyal to Solomon. These maneuvers revealed one clear fact: no one cared what Abishag thought. She might as well have been listed with the furniture. Home and work are both settings in which persons are sometimes treated as objects. You may be hurt today by such treatment. Family members may withhold appreciation. Fellow workers may treat you like just another office machine. Resist these invitations to hopelessness by remembering that God knows you intimately and will always treat you as a person.
Strengths and accomplishments
• Served an apparently thankless role as a king’s personal servant with grace and silence
• Witnessed David’s decision to pass the throne to his son Solomon
Lessons from her life
# We may go unnoticed and devalued by others, but God never loses track of us
• We frequently know only a small part of the significance of events in our lives as they relate to God’s larger pian for the world
Vital statistics
• Where: Shunem, Jerusalem
• Occupation: King David’s nurse and companion
• Contemporaries: Nathan, Bathsheba, Solomon, Adonijah
Key verse
“The girl was very beautiful, and she looked after the king and took care of him. But the king had no sexual relations with her” (1 Kings 1:4).
Abishag’s story is told in 1 Kings 1:1-4; 2:13-24.
Nob (1 Samuel 22:11-23). Abiathar then became the high priest under David and remained loyal to David throughout his reign. When Abiathar supported Adonijah’s wrongful claim to the throne after David's death (1:7), Solomon forced him to give up the priesthood, fulfilling the prophecy of 1 Samuel 2:27-36 that Eli's descendants would not continue to serve as priests.
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