1 Kings 1:38 Komentář

In this chapter we have, I. David declining in his health (Kg1 1:1-4). II. Adonijah aspiring to the kingdom, and treating his party, in order to it (Kg1 1:5-10). III. Nathan and Bathsheba contriving to secure the succession to Solomon, and prevailing for an order from David for the purpose (v. 11-31). IV. The anointing of Solomon accordingly, and the people's joy therein (Kg1 1:32-40). V. The effectual stop this put to Adonijah's usurpation, and the dispersion of his party thereupon (Kg1 1:41-49). VI. Solomon's dismission of Adonijah upon his good behaviour (Kg1 1:50-53).

This chapter gives an account of the infirmities of David in his old age, and the method used to relieve him under them, Kg1 1:1; of the preparation his son Adonijah made to usurp the throne, Kg1 1:5; of Bathsheba's address to the king upon it, in favour of her son Solomon, on which she was put by, Nathan the prophet, and seconded in it by him, Kg1 1:11; when the king with an oath confirmed the succession of Solomon in the kingdom, and ordered Nathan the prophet, and Zadok the priest, to anoint him, which was accordingly done with great ceremony, to the satisfaction of the king and his servants, Kg1 1:28; the news of which being brought to Adonijah and his friends, struck them with terror, and on which they dispersed, Kg1 1:41; and upon the promise of Adonijah, that he would behave well to Solomon, he was pardoned and dismissed, having fled and lain hold on the horns of the altar, Kg1 1:51.

So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada,.... The three men that David sent for on this occasion: and the Cherethites and the Pelethites; not the sanhedrim, as Ben Gersom, but David's guards, over whom Benaiah was: these went down; from Jerusalem; and caused Solomon to ride upon King David's mule; as he had ordered: and brought him to Gihon; or Siloah, as the Targum; hence the Jews say (e), they do not anoint a king but at a fountain; but this is the only instance of it. (e) T. Bab. Ceritot, fol. 5. 2.

David, grown old, is, by the advice of his physicians, cherished by Abishag the Shunammite, Kg1 1:1-4. Adonijah conspires with Joab and Abiathar to seize on the government, Kg1 1:5-10. Nathan and Bathsheba communicate these tidings to the aged king, vv. 11-27. David immediately pronounces Solomon his successor, and causes Zadok and Nathan to proclaim and anoint him king, Kg1 1:28-40. Adonijah and his friends hear of it, are afraid, and flee away, Adonijah laying hold on the horns of the altar, from which he refuses to go till Solomon shall promise him his life; this he does, and banishes him to his own house, Kg1 1:41-53.

ABISHAG CHERISHES DAVID IN HIS EXTREME AGE. (Kg1 1:1-4) Now king David was old--He was in the seventieth year of his age (Sa2 5:4-5). But the wear and tear of a military life, bodily fatigue, and mental care, had prematurely, if we may say it, exhausted the energies of David's strong constitution (Sa1 16:12). In modern Palestine and Egypt the people, owing to the heat of the climate, sleep each in a "separate" bed. They only depart from this practice for medical reasons (Ecc 4:11). The expedient recommended by David's physicians is the regimen still prescribed in similar cases in the East, particularly among the Arab population, not simply to give heat, but "to cherish," as they are aware that the inhalation of young breath will give new life and vigor to the worn-out frame. 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 [PORTER, Tent and Khan]. The polygamy of the age and country may account for the introduction of this practice; and it is evident that Abishag was made a concubine or secondary wife to David (see on Kg1 2:22).

Anointing And Accession Of Solomon - 1 Kings 1 The attempt of Adonijah to seize upon the throne when David's strength was failing (Kg1 1:1-10), induced the aged king, as soon as it was announced to him by Bathsheba and the prophet Nathan, to order Solomon to be anointed king, and to have the anointing carried out (vv. 11-40); whereupon Adonijah fled to the altar, and received pardon from Solomon on condition that he would keep himself quiet (Kg1 1:41-53).

The anointing of Solomon was carried out immediately, as the king had commanded. On the Crethi and Plethi see at Sa2 8:18. "The oil-horn out of the tent" (i.e., a vessel made of horn and containing oil) was no doubt one which held the holy anointing oil, with which the priests and the vessels of the sanctuary were anointed (see Exo 30:22.). The tent (האהל), however, is not the tabernacle at Gibeon, but the tent set up by David for the ark of the covenant upon Mount Zion (Sa2 6:17). For even though Zadok was appointed high priest at the tabernacle at Gibeon, and Abiathar, who held with Adonijah, at the ark of the covenant, the two high priests were not so unfriendly towards one another, that Zadok could not have obtained admission to the ark of the covenant in Abiathar's absence to fetch away the anointing oil.