Verse 35
“ Then you shall come up after him, and he will come and sit on my throne, for he will be king in my place, and I have appointed him to be prince over Israel and over Judah.”
Once the anointing was completed they were to come up with Solomon to the throne room, and there Solomon was to sit on his throne, indicating that he was king in David’s place, i.e. acting initially as his co-regent. This would indicate to all that David had appointed him as Nagid (war-leader, prince) over Israel and Judah. Nagid was the term that had been applied to both Saul and David. It was a title that indicated that the true king (melek) was YHWH, and that they were His servants. Once this enthronement had taken place at the king’s command the matter would be settled. If Adonijah now continued with his attempt to gain the throne, what had initially been a bold but not illegal attempt to assert his position would become high treason.
‘ And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, “Amen, YHWH, the God of my lord the king, say so too. As YHWH has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David.”
Benaiah then made clear his agreement with the king, and expressed his desire that YHWH would see things in the same way as David did, and conjoin His voice with David’s, adding to it his desire that YHWH would be with Solomon as He had been with David, and would make him even greater than his father had been.
“Amen.” Compare Deuteronomy 27:15 ff. This was expressing an oath of loyalty on behalf of his men. A similar word was used by Hittite soldiers when they swore their oath of loyalty.
‘ So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride on king David’s mule, and brought him to Gihon. And Zadok the priest took the horn of oil out of the Tent, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the ram’s horn, and all the people said, “Let king Solomon live.” ’
David’s commands were carried out exactly as David had demanded. The writer repeats the details in order to indicate that this was so. The continual repetitions that will have been noted in this chapter are, however, typical of ancient literature, much of which was designed to be read out in public.
Zadok, the High Priest in Jerusalem, Nathan, the Prophet, and Benaiah and the king’s bodyguard made a powerful combination and they did precisely what David asked. They caused Solomon to ride on the king’s own mule, brought him to Gihon, arranged for Zadok as YHWH’s High Priest to anoint him with a horn of oil taken from the sacred Tent in Jerusalem, (a horn which would be reserved for anointings), and blew the ram’s horn, the indication that an important official event was taking place. Solomon’s coronation was now official and public. And at the sounding of the ram’s horn all the people cried out, “Let king Solomon live.” The indication from all this was that YHWH’s will was being done.
The ‘Cherethi and Pelethi’ may simply indicate ‘David’s men’ who had been with him in Gath, (as supplemented by their successors who may well have been their sons), and who had lived for some time in ‘the Negev of the Cherethi’ (compare 1 Samuel 30:14), thus being seen as Cherethites. Some see the terms as indicating Philistine mercenaries, but if that is so what happened to David’s own faithful men, his ‘six hundred’? Some consider that the term Cherethi may indicate those who had come from Crete (although not necessarily native Cretans) but if so the term had clearly become connected with the land of Canaan as the above indicates. The derivation of the term Pelethites is uncertain. Some have argued that the philisti were made into the pelethi in order to rhyme with cherethi, but this does not sound very convincing. However, cherethi and pelethi may in fact simply indicate the ‘executioners and runners (i.e. messengers)’ (of the king), thus emphasising two of the main functions of his bodyguard. This is the last mention of them in Kings. Under this description they appear to have had a personal loyalty to David.
“All the people.” Word would soon pass around about what was happening and the result was that the local people quickly gathered, leaving their work in order to join in with such important celebrations.
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