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1 Kings 1-2
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

I. The Reign of Solomon[a]

Chapter 1

David’s Old Age. 1 [b]When King David was old and advanced in years, though they covered him with blankets he could not get warm. 2 His servants therefore said to him, “Let a young virgin be sought to attend my lord the king,[c] and to nurse him. If she sleeps with you, my lord the king will be warm.” 3 So they sought for a beautiful girl throughout the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunamite. So they brought her to the king. 4 The girl was very beautiful indeed, and she nursed the king and took care of him. But the king did not have relations with her.

Adonijah’s Ambition. 5 Adonijah, son of Haggith, boasted, “I shall be king!” and he provided himself with chariots, horses, and a retinue of fifty to go before him.(A) 6 Yet his father would never antagonize him by asking, “Why are you doing this?” Adonijah was also very handsome, and next in age to Absalom by the same mother. 7 He consulted with Joab, son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest, and they became Adonijah’s supporters. 8 However, Zadok the priest, Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei and Rei, and David’s warriors did not support Adonijah.

9 Adonijah slaughtered sheep, oxen, and fatlings at the stone Zoheleth near En-rogel[d] and invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah; 10 but he did not invite Nathan the prophet, or Benaiah, or the warriors, or Solomon his brother.

Solomon Proclaimed King. 11 Then Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother: “Have you not heard that Adonijah, son of Haggith, has become king, and our lord David does not know? 12 Come now, let me advise you so that you may save your life and the life of your son Solomon. 13 Go, visit King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord king, swear to your handmaid: Your son Solomon shall be king after me; it is he who shall sit upon my throne? Why, then, has Adonijah become king?’ 14 And while you are still there speaking to the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.”

15 So Bathsheba visited the king in his room. The king was very old, and Abishag the Shunamite was caring for the king.[e] 16 Bathsheba bowed in homage to the king. The king said to her, “What do you wish?”[f] 17 She answered him: “My lord, you swore to your servant by the Lord, your God, ‘Solomon your son will be king after me; it is he who shall sit upon my throne.’ 18 But now Adonijah has become king, and you, my lord king, do not know it.[g] 19 He has sacrificed bulls, fatlings, and sheep in great numbers; he has invited all the king’s sons, Abiathar the priest, and Joab, the commander of the army, but not your servant Solomon. 20 [h]Now, my lord king, all Israel is looking to you to declare to them who is to sit upon the throne of my lord the king after him. 21 If this is not done, when my lord the king rests with his ancestors, I and my son Solomon will be considered criminals.”

22 While she was still speaking to the king, Nathan the prophet came in. 23 They told the king, “Nathan the prophet is here.” He entered the king’s presence and did him homage, bowing to the floor. 24 Then Nathan said: “My lord king, did you say, ‘Adonijah shall be king after me and shall sit upon my throne’? 25 For today he went down and sacrificed bulls, fatlings, and sheep in great numbers; he invited all the king’s sons, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest, and even now they are eating and drinking in his company and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ 26 But me, your servant, he did not invite; nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon. 27 If this was done by order of my lord the king, you did not tell me, your servant, who is to sit upon the throne of my lord the king after him.”

28 King David answered, “Call Bathsheba here.” When she entered the king’s presence and stood before him, 29 the king swore, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress, 30 this very day I will fulfill the oath I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Your son Solomon shall be king after me and shall sit upon my throne in my place.’” 31 Bowing to the floor in homage to the king, Bathsheba said, “May my lord, King David, live forever!”

32 Then King David said, “Call Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, son of Jehoiada.” When they had entered the king’s presence, 33 he said to them: “Take with you the royal officials. Mount my son Solomon upon my own mule and escort him down to Gihon. 34 There Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet shall anoint him king over Israel, and you shall blow the ram’s horn and cry, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ 35 When you come back up with him, he is to go in and sit upon my throne. It is he that shall be king in my place: him I designate ruler of Israel and of Judah.” 36 Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, answered the king: “So be it! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, so decree! 37 As the Lord has been with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne even greater than that of my lord, King David!”

38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and Pelethites[i] went down, and mounting Solomon on King David’s mule, escorted him to Gihon. 39 Then Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. They blew the ram’s horn and all the people shouted, “Long live King Solomon!” 40 Then all the people went up after him, playing flutes and rejoicing so much the earth split with their shouting.

Adonijah Submits to Solomon. 41 Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it, just as they ended their banquet. When Joab heard the sound of the ram’s horn, he asked, “Why this uproar in the city?” 42 As he was speaking, Jonathan, son of Abiathar the priest, arrived. Adonijah said, “Come, you are a man of worth and must bring good news.” 43 Jonathan answered Adonijah, “Hardly![j] Our lord, King David, has made Solomon king. 44 The king sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and Pelethites, and they mounted him upon the king’s own mule. 45 Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him king at Gihon, and they went up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. That is the noise you hear. 46 Moreover, Solomon has taken his seat on the royal throne, 47 and moreover the king’s servants have come to pay their respects to our lord, King David, saying, ‘May your God make Solomon’s name more famous than your name, his throne greater than your throne!’ And the king in his bed did homage. 48 This is what the king said: ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has this day provided one to sit upon my throne, so that I see it with my own eyes.’” 49 All the guests of Adonijah got up trembling, and went each their way, 50 but Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, got up and went to grasp the horns of the altar.[k]

51 It was reported to Solomon: “Adonijah, in fear of King Solomon, is clinging to the horns of the altar and saying, ‘Let King Solomon first swear that he will not kill me, his servant, with the sword.’” 52 Solomon answered, “If he proves worthy, not a hair of his shall fall to the ground. But if evil is found in him, he shall die.” 53 King Solomon sent to have him brought down from the altar, and he came and paid homage to King Solomon. Solomon then said to him, “Go to your house.”

Chapter 2

David’s Last Instructions and Death. 1 When 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 (B)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 (C)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 [l](D)“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. 6 Act with all the wisdom you possess; do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. 7 (E)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 (F)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.’ 9 But 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 (G)David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. 11 (H)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.[m] 12 Then Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingship was established.

13 Adonijah, son of Haggith, came to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon. “Do you come in peace?” she asked. “In peace,” he answered, 14 and he added, “I have something to say to you.” She replied, “Speak.” 15 So 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. 16 But now there is one favor I would ask of you. Do not refuse me.” And she said, “Speak on.” 17 [n]He said, “Please ask King Solomon, who will not refuse you, to give me Abishag the Shunamite to be my wife.” 18 Bathsheba replied, “Very well, I will speak to the king for you.”

19 Then 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. 20 She 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.” 21 So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunamite be given to your brother Adonijah to be his wife.” 22 King 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!” 23 And 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 (I)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.” 25 Then King Solomon sent Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, who struck him dead.

26 (J)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.”[o] 27 (K)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.

28 When 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. 29 King 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.” 30 Benaiah 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.” 31 The 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 (L)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. 33 Their 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.” 34 Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, went back, struck him down and killed him; he was buried in his house in the wilderness. 35 The king appointed Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, over the army in his place; Zadok the priest the king put in place of Abiathar.

36 Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him: “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and stay there. Do not go anywhere else. 37 For the day you leave, and cross the Wadi Kidron, be certain you shall surely die. Your blood shall be upon your own head.” 38 Shimei 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. 39 But 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.” 40 So Shimei rose, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish in Gath in search of his servants; and Shimei returned from Gath with his servants. 41 When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned, 42 the 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.’[p] 43 Why, then, have you not kept the oath of the Lord and the command that I gave you?” 44 (M)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. 45 But King Solomon shall be blessed, and David’s throne shall be established before the Lord forever.” 46 The 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.

Footnotes

  1. 1:1–11:43 The story of the reign of Solomon comprises twelve major units, organized concentrically. That is, the first unit (1:1–2:12a) balances the last (11:26–43), the second (2:12b–46) balances the second last (11:14–25), and so forth. (See the structural notes at the beginning of each major unit.) The center of the whole story is a diptych that narrates the construction of the Temple (6:1–7:51) and its dedication (8:1–9:10).
  2. 1:1–2:12a The first major unit of the Solomon story concludes the so-called Succession Narrative (2 Sm 9–20; 1 Kgs 1–2). This unit tells how Solomon, a younger son, came to succeed David on the throne of Israel through the intervention of the prophet Nathan. Compare the last unit of the Solomon story, 11:26–43, where the prophet Ahijah begins the process whereby Jeroboam becomes king of the northern tribes after Solomon’s death. The story of Solomon’s accession is itself concentrically arranged: David’s decline, Adonijah’s rise, Solomon’s supporters, David’s decision, Solomon’s inauguration, Adonijah’s fall, David’s death. Chronicles has no developed parallel to this story (see 1 Chr 23:1).
  3. 1:2 The fulsome use of royal titles and the elaborate etiquette in the Succession Narrative suggest the raw ambition of the contending parties and the oppressive atmosphere of the court.
  4. 1:9 En-rogel: the modern Job’s Well just southeast of Jerusalem. It marked the ancient boundary between the tribes of Benjamin and Judah (Jos 15:7; 18:16).
  5. 1:15 Entering the king’s chambers, Bathsheba confronts two realities: he is very old; and she herself, the woman for whom David once committed adultery and murder, has been replaced at the king’s side and in his bed.
  6. 1:16 Throughout 1 Kgs 1 the key question is “Who shall be king (malak)?” David’s feeble, two-syllable question to Bathsheba is an ironic echo of that key word: “What do you wish?” renders the Heb. mahlak?
  7. 1:18 Bathsheba uses a clever wordplay to conceal the rivalry between Solomon and Adonijah and imply that the real rivalry is between David and Adonijah. She repeatedly addresses David as “my lord king” (’adoni hammelek), but claims that “Adonijah has become king” (’adoniya malak). Know: the term means both “be aware of” and “recognize, acknowledge, ratify.”
  8. 1:20 There was no precedent for determining succession to the throne of Israel. Adonijah and his supporters assumed that primogeniture would assure the succession as it did in the monarchies of the surrounding nations. But Bathsheba persuades David that he is free to name anyone he chooses.
  9. 1:38 Cherethites and Pelethites: mercenaries in David’s bodyguard. They became part of his retinue after he defeated the Philistines and established himself in Jerusalem; cf. 2 Sm 8:18; 15:18; 20:23.
  10. 1:43 Hardly: Jonathan’s first word, ’abal, whose meaning (such as “indeed,” “on the contrary”) must be discerned from the context, may be ironic. This irony is deepened by an untranslatable wordplay in Hebrew: a very similar word means “to mourn,” which is an appropriate comment about the death of Adonijah’s hopes for the throne.
  11. 1:50 Horns of the altar: the protuberances on each of the four corners of the altar (Ex 27:2; 29:12). By grasping the horns of the altar Adonijah is claiming asylum (Ex 21:13–14; 1 Kgs 2:28).
  12. 2:5–9 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.
  13. 2:12–46 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.
  14. 2:17–25 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.
  15. 2:26 The narrator indulges in a subtle wordplay: Abiathar’s exile to Anathoth (‘anatot) continues the series of hardships he has endured (hit‘annita).
  16. 2:42–44 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.
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Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.