1 Kings 1:4 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.

And the damsel was very fair,.... And so very agreeable to the king to be in his presence, and wait upon him, and take things of her hand, as well as lie with him: and cherished the king; enlivened his spirits by her amiable countenance, her graceful behaviour, and tender care of him, and especially by bedding with him: and ministered to him; serving him with her own hands whatever he took for his sustenance: but the king knew her not; as a man knows his wife; which shows that she was his wife, and that it would not have been criminal in him had he known her; but this is observed, not to point at the chastity of David, but his feebleness, and loss of desire after women, and that the damsel remained a virgin; and that was the ground of Adonijah's request, and his hope of succeeding.

But he “did not know her,” that is, he did not get close to her, not because he was by now devoid of concupiscence but because he restrained the movements of concupiscence, fearing that it might be believed that he, who had many women, had asked for that girl out of lust. He paid for his inordinate desire for Bathsheba through his restraint toward this girl and inflicted this punishment on himself: indeed, the sin with Bathsheba remained fixed in his memory until his death.

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.

The king knew her not - The maxim of Bacon in his enigmatical cure is, "Take all you can from the medicine, but give nothing to it; if you give any thing, it increases the disease and hastens death." I have seen this abundantly verified; but it is a subject on which it would be improper to dilate except in a medical work. An extract from Friar Bacon's Cure of Old Age may be found at the end of the chapter.

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).