1 Kings 2
2
David’s Instructions to Solomon
1 # [Gen. 47:29] When David’s time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, 2#Josh. 23:14 “I am about to go the way of all the earth. #See Josh. 1:6, 7Be strong, and show yourself a man, 3and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, #Deut. 29:9; 1 Chr. 22:12, 13that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, 4that the Lord may #2 Sam. 7:25 establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, #Ps. 132:12 ‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, #[ch. 3:6; 9:4; 2 Kgs. 20:3] to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, #ch. 8:25; 9:5; 2 Sam. 7:12, 13you shall not lack#2:4 Hebrew there shall not be cut off for you a man on the throne of Israel.’
5“Moreover, you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah #2 Sam. 18:5, 12, 14; [2 Sam. 3:39] did to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, #ver. 32; 2 Sam. 3:27 Abner the son of Ner, #2 Sam. 20:10and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, avenging#2:5 Septuagint; Hebrew placing in time of peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of war#2:5 Septuagint innocent blood on the belt around his#2:5 Septuagint my; twice in this verse waist and on the sandals on his feet. 6Act therefore #[ver. 9]according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. 7But deal loyally with the sons of #See 2 Sam. 19:31-38 Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be #2 Sam. 9:7, 10 among those who eat at your table, #2 Sam. 17:27-29for with such loyalty#2:7 Or steadfast love they met me when I fled from Absalom your brother. 8And there is also with you #2 Sam. 16:5 Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day #2 Sam. 17:24 when I went to Mahanaim. #2 Sam. 19:18But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ 9Now therefore do not hold him guiltless, #[ver. 6] for you are a wise man. You will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall #[Gen. 42:38; 44:31]bring his gray head down with blood to Sheol.”
The Death of David
10 # ch. 1:21; Acts 2:29; 13:36 Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in #ch. 3:1; 9:24the city of David. 11And the time that David reigned over Israel was #2 Sam. 5:4, 5; 1 Chr. 29:26, 27forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12#1 Chr. 29:23; 2 Chr. 1:1So Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.
Solomon’s Reign Established
13Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, #1 Sam. 16:4“Do you come peacefully?” He said, “Peacefully.” 14Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” She said, “Speak.” 15He said, “You know that #[ch. 1:5, 25] the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel fully expected me to reign. However, the kingdom has turned about and become my brother’s, #1 Chr. 22:9, 10; 28:5-7for it was his from the Lord. 16And now I have one request to make of you; do not refuse me.” She said to him, “Speak.” 17And he said, “Please ask King Solomon—he will not refuse you—to give me #ch. 1:3, 4Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.” 18Bathsheba said, “Very well; I will speak for you to the king.”
19So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king’s mother, #[Ps. 45:9]and she sat on his right. 20Then she said, “I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you.” 21She said, “Let #[See ver. 17 above]Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as his wife.” 22King Solomon answered his mother, “And why do you ask #[See ver. 17 above] Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, #ch. 1:6; 1 Chr. 3:2, 5 for he is my older brother, and on his side #ch. 1:7are Abiathar#2:22 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew and for him and for Abiathar the priest and Joab the son of Zeruiah.” 23Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, #See Ruth 1:17“God do so to me and more also if this word does not cost Adonijah his life! 24Now therefore #See Ruth 3:13 as the Lord lives, who has established me and placed me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, #2 Sam. 7:11, 13; 1 Chr. 22:10as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today.” 25So King Solomon sent #2 Sam. 8:18Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down, and he died.
26And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to #Josh. 21:18 Anathoth, to your estate, for you deserve death. But I will not at this time put you to death, #1 Sam. 23:6; 2 Sam. 15:24, 29 because you carried the ark of the Lord God before David my father, #See 1 Sam. 22:20-23and because you shared in all my father’s affliction.” 27#[ver. 35] So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, thus fulfilling #See 1 Sam. 2:27-36the word of the Lord that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
28When the news came to Joab—for Joab #ch. 1:7 had supported Adonijah although #2 Sam. 17:25; 18:2 he had not supported Absalom—Joab fled to the tent of the Lord and caught hold of the #ch. 1:50horns of the altar. 29And when it was told King Solomon, “Joab has fled to the tent of the Lord, and behold, he is beside the altar,” Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down.” 30So Benaiah came to the tent of the Lord and said to him, “The king commands, ‘Come out.’” But he said, “No, I will die here.” Then Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.” 31The king replied to him, #[Ex. 21:14] “Do as he has said, strike him down and bury him, #Num. 35:33; Deut. 19:13; 21:8, 9and thus take away from me and from my father’s house the guilt for the blood that Joab shed without cause. 32The Lord will #See Judg. 9:24 bring back his bloody deeds on his own head, because, without the knowledge of my father David, he attacked and killed with the sword two men #2 Chr. 21:13 more righteous and better than himself, #ver. 5; 2 Sam. 3:27 Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and #2 Sam. 20:9, 10Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. 33#[See ver. 32 above]So shall their blood come back on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever. But for David and for his descendants and for his house and for his throne there shall be peace from the Lord forevermore.” 34Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck him down and put him to death. And he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. 35#ch. 4:4 The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in place of Joab, and the king put #1 Chr. 29:22 Zadok the priest #ver. 27in the place of Abiathar.
36Then the king sent and summoned #ver. 8Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there to any place whatever. 37For on the day you go out and cross #2 Sam. 15:23 the brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall die. #See 2 Sam. 1:16Your blood shall be on your own head.” 38And Shimei said to the king, “What you say is good; as my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.
39But it happened at the end of three years that two of Shimei’s servants ran away to #[1 Sam. 27:2]Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. And when it was told Shimei, “Behold, your servants are in Gath,” 40Shimei arose and saddled a donkey and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants. Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. 41And when Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and returned, 42the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord and solemnly warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and go to any place whatever, you shall die’? And you said to me, ‘What you say is good; I will obey.’ 43Why then have you not kept your oath to the Lord and the commandment with which I commanded you?” 44The king also said to Shimei, “You know in your own heart #See 2 Sam. 16:5-14 all the harm that you did to David my father. So the Lord will #See 1 Sam. 25:39bring back your harm on your own head. 45But King Solomon shall be blessed, #[Prov. 25:5]and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.” 46Then the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck him down, and he died.
# ver. 12; [2 Chr. 1:1] So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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1 Kings 2
2
David’s Last Instructions and Death. 1When the time of David’s death drew near, he gave these instructions to Solomon his son: 2“I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong and be a man! 3#Dt 17:18–19. Keep the mandate of the Lord, your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees as they are written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in whatever you do, and wherever you turn, 4#2 Sm 7:11–16; Ps 132:11–12. and that the Lord may fulfill the word he spoke concerning me: If your sons so conduct themselves that they walk before me in faithfulness with their whole heart and soul, there shall never be wanting someone of your line on the throne of Israel.
5#David urges Solomon to purge Joab and Shimei and supplies him with justification for doing so. Joab had killed Abner (2 Sm 3:22–30) and Amasa (2 Sm 20:4–12), thereby bringing blood guilt upon himself and perhaps upon his master David. Shimei had cursed David (2 Sm 16:5–8), though David pledged that Shimei would not be killed for it (2 Sm 19:16–24). David’s motives, however, may have been more personal. Joab also killed David’s son Absalom and chided David for his untimely public display of grief (2 Sm 18:9–19:8), and David may have felt himself free of the promise he made to Shimei because that promise was coerced by the presence of Shimei’s thousand partisans backing him at the time. #2 Sm 3:22–30; 20:8–10. “You yourself know what Joab, son of Zeruiah, did to me—what he did to the two commanders of Israel’s armies, Abner, son of Ner, and Amasa, son of Jether: he killed them and brought the blood of war into a time of peace, and put the blood of war on the belt about his waist and the sandal on his foot. 6Act with all the wisdom you possess; do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. 7#2 Sm 17:27–29; 19:32–41. But be true to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and have them among those who eat at your table. For they were loyal to me when I was fleeing from your brother Absalom. 8#2 Sm 16:5–13; 19:17–24. You also have with you Shimei, son of Gera, the Benjaminite of Bahurim, who cursed me bitterly the day I was going to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord: ‘I will not kill you by the sword.’ 9But you must not let him go unpunished. You are wise; you will know what to do to send his gray head down to Sheol in blood.”
10#Acts 2:29. David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. 11#2 Sm 2:1–4; 5:1–5. David was king over Israel for forty years: he was king seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
The Kingdom Made Secure.#The second major unit of the Solomon story shows how Solomon eliminated people he considered threats to the security of his throne. It is marked by a device called “inclusion,” where the text repeats a word, phrase, or idea at the beginning and end of a literary unit (see vv. 12b, 46b). Compare 11:14–25, where Solomon is unable to eliminate other threats to his security. 12Then Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingship was established.
13Adonijah, son of Haggith, came to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon. “Do you come in peace?” she asked. “In peace,” he answered, 14and he added, “I have something to say to you.” She replied, “Speak.” 15So he said: “You know that the kingship was mine, and all Israel expected me to be king. But the kingship passed me by and went to my brother; by the Lord’s will it went to him. 16But now there is one favor I would ask of you. Do not refuse me.” And she said, “Speak on.” 17#Abishag had belonged to David’s harem (1:3–4), which Solomon inherited. Adonijah’s request could imply a challenge to Solomon’s accession and so exposes Adonijah to the suspicion of insurrection that will cost him his life; cf. 2 Sm 3:6–11; 16:21–22. He said, “Please ask King Solomon, who will not refuse you, to give me Abishag the Shunamite to be my wife.” 18Bathsheba replied, “Very well, I will speak to the king for you.”
19Then Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, and the king stood up to meet her and paid her homage. Then he sat down upon his throne, and a throne was provided for the king’s mother, who sat at his right. 20She said, “There is one small favor I would ask of you. Do not refuse me.” The king said to her, “Ask it, my mother, for I will not refuse you.” 21So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunamite be given to your brother Adonijah to be his wife.” 22King Solomon answered his mother, “And why do you ask that Abishag the Shunamite be given to Adonijah? Ask the kingship for him as well, for he is my older brother! Ask for him, for Abiathar the priest, for Joab, son of Zeruiah!” 23And King Solomon swore by the Lord: “May God do thus to me and more, if Adonijah has not spoken this word at the cost of his life. 24#2 Sm 7:11–16. And now, as the Lord lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father and made for me a house as he promised, this day shall Adonijah be put to death.” 25Then King Solomon sent Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, who struck him dead.
26#1 Sm 22:20–23. The king said to Abiathar the priest: “Go to your estate in Anathoth. Though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before David my father and shared in all the hardships my father endured.”#The narrator indulges in a subtle wordplay: Abiathar’s exile to Anathoth (‘anatot) continues the series of hardships he has endured (hit‘annita). 27#1 Sm 2:27–33. So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from the office of priest of the Lord, thus fulfilling the word the Lord had spoken in Shiloh against the house of Eli.
28When the news came to Joab, since he had sided with Adonijah, though not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the Lord and clung to the horns of the altar. 29King Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to the tent of the Lord and is by the altar.” He sent Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, with the order, “Go, strike him down.” 30Benaiah went to the tent of the Lord and said to him, “The king says, ‘Come out.’” But he answered, “No! I will die here.” Benaiah reported to the king, “This is what Joab said to me in reply.” 31The king answered him: “Do as he has said. Strike him down and bury him, and remove from me and from my father’s house the blood which Joab shed without provocation. 32#2 Sm 3:22–30; 20:8–10. The Lord will bring blood upon his own head, because he struck down two men better and more just than himself, and slew them with the sword without my father David’s knowledge: Abner, son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa, son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army. 33Their blood will be upon the head of Joab and his descendants. But upon David and his descendants, upon his house and his throne, there shall be peace forever from the Lord.” 34Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, went back, struck him down and killed him; he was buried in his house in the wilderness. 35The king appointed Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, over the army in his place; Zadok the priest the king put in place of Abiathar.
36Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him: “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and stay there. Do not go anywhere else. 37For the day you leave, and cross the Wadi Kidron, be certain you shall surely die. Your blood shall be upon your own head.” 38Shimei answered the king: “I accept. Your servant will do just as my lord the king has said.” So Shimei stayed in Jerusalem for a long time. 39But three years later, two of Shimei’s servants ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath, and Shimei was told, “Your servants are in Gath.” 40So Shimei rose, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish in Gath in search of his servants; and Shimei returned from Gath with his servants. 41When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned, 42the king summoned Shimei and said to him: “Did I not have you swear by the Lord and warn you clearly, ‘The day you leave and go anywhere else, be certain you shall surely die’? And you answered, ‘I accept and obey.’#In his charge against Shimei, Solomon misrepresents the truth in two ways. He did not make Shimei take an oath. And he imposed capital punishment only on crossing the Wadi Kidron, to the east of Jerusalem. This was presumably to prevent Shimei from returning to his home, Bahurim, which lay in that direction; Gath, however, is southwest of Jerusalem. Solomon’s next words to Shimei reveal that he is really being punished for cursing David, not for violating Solomon’s command. 43Why, then, have you not kept the oath of the Lord and the command that I gave you?” 44#2 Sm 16:5–13; 19:17–24. And the king said to Shimei: “In your heart you know very well the evil that you did to David my father. Now the Lord is bringing your own evil upon your head. 45But King Solomon shall be blessed, and David’s throne shall be established before the Lord forever.” 46The king then gave the order to Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, who went out and struck him dead.
And the royal power was established in Solomon’s hand.
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