Verse 16
“ And now I ask one petition of you. Do not deny me.” And she said to him, “Say on.”
Having tried rather clumsily to arouse Bathsheba’s sympathy Adonijah now informed her that he had a favour to ask her, and begged her not to deny him. It says much for Bathsheba that she was happy for him to continue. Note the repeat of ‘say on’. The writer is trying to bring out the slow, careful and long-winded way in which Adonijah was putting forward his request. It makes clear that he was playing on her kindness of heart, but was uncertain as to what her response would be.
‘ And he said, “Speak, I pray you to Solomon the king (for he will not say you nay), that he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife.”
Then he put forward his request. It was that he might be given Abishag the Shunnamite to be his wife. This approach made clear that he was very uncertain that Solomon would approve of the suggestion and that he was depending on Bathsheba’s support in order to obtain his wish.
In ancient days, far more than today, marriage was seen as a means by which influence and status could be obtained, and to marry the former king’s wife would be seen by all as advancing the claim of the husband to be in line for the kingship (if not more), and especially so in the case where a new king had just been enthroned and might be thought of as vulnerable and still not secure, and where there were probably a number of areas in the land where dissatisfaction still reigned. For the harem of the old king always became the possession of the new king. Thus for Israel to learn that Abishag was Adonijah’s wife could raise significant questions in people’s minds. It was made even more significant when the husband to be had already had a lot of public and official support revealed towards his claim for kingship, was the former king’s eldest son, and where the dynastic succession was not firmly regulated. Such a step could only have fomented trouble, and might even have suggested to many that Solomon’s position was untenable. It indicated how desperate the conspirators had become that they were willing to take this huge risk in order to try to achieve their ends.
The truth, of course, is that Abishag was probably not marriageable to anyone (except Solomon). We can compare how David’s misused concubines were in a similar situation (2 Samuel 20:3). Indeed Abishag was probably already being kept ‘in ward’, for it is doubtful if Solomon would have been willing to take the risk of her being married to anyone or of anyone influencing her. She was positive dynamite. Certainly Adonijah could hardly have been ignorant about the position. His act of gross folly can only be seen as resulting from his own belief in Solomon’s naivete. Unless he himself was naive in the extreme he must have known precisely what he was about. It is an indication of his desperation to be king that he even took the risk.
While it is certain that he must have known that he was breaching convention and playing with fire, it is, however, possible that Adonijah did not consider that he was breaching the Law in what he was doing (marrying his dead father’s wife), simply because he knew that Abishag had not had sexual relations with David, for the Law forbade a son to marry his father’s wife (Leviticus 20:11). So he cannot be blamed on that score. On the other hand it may be that, like Amnon and Absalom, he simply did not care. Gross sexual sin was a mark of David’s house as a result of his sin with Bathsheba. On the other hand, to the majority of Israelites who were not in on the royal secret, Adonijah having sexual relations with his father’s wife would have been seen as little different from the action of Absalom in 2 Samuel 16:22, and therefore have been seen as a claim to kingship. And had it been seen to have been carried through with Solomon’s agreement it would have put Adonijah in a very strong position, as though Solomon was acknowledging his prior rights. It could have been taken advantage of by any disaffected persons.
‘ And Bath-sheba said, “Well, I will speak for you to the king.”
It is a sign of how little Bathsheba had become involved in politics that she did not immediately recognise the problems connected with his request, although perhaps that was due to the fact that as a woman she saw Abishag’s position as not having been strictly that of a wife. Whatever was the case she was clearly unaware that what she was handling was dynamite. So in her compassion for Adonijah (what older woman is not swayed by a handsome young man speaking of romance?) she promised him that she would see what she could do.
‘ Bath-sheba therefore went to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself to her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right hand.’
Bathsheba therefore went to king Solomon to speak with him on Adonijah’s behalf. Being his mother she would have had special access, and the good relationship that she had with her son comes out in the fact that he rose to meet her, and then arranged for a throne to be placed for her on his own right hand, the position of highest honour. The position of queen mother was clearly seen as being worthy of the highest honour in Judah, and this will come out later in that the opening descriptions of kings of Judah will mention the name of the queen mother. See for example 1Ki 14:33; 1 Kings 15:1; 1 Kings 15:9 etc.
‘ Then she said, “I ask one small petition of you, deny me not.” And the king said to her, “Ask on, my mother, for I will not deny you.”
The queen mother approached her task carefully, preparing the way delicately. Without revealing what her request would be (we should always be wary of people who try to make us commit ourselves without knowing what it is that we are being committed to) she asked the king to grant it to her, and received the assurance from Solomon that whatever it was he would not deny her. He had no perception of what was coming, and in the event would actually have to refuse her.
‘ And she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother to wife.”
She then put her request plainly. “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother to wife.” The request must have shaken Solomon to the core. For young though he was, he knew precisely what lay behind it.
‘ And king Solomon answered and said to his mother, “And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he is my elder brother, even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.”
Bathsheba was probably equally shaken by Solomon’s reply, for he had immediately seen all the implications behind the request. No doubt Solomon had already had reports about Adonijah, Joab and Abiathar getting together secretly, and now he recognised that his worst fears were being realised. There could be no doubt now that they were planning some kind of coup. So he pointed out to his mother that by asking for the hand of Abishag for Adonijah she was wanting him to grant to Adonijah the kingdom as well, both to him and his fellow-conspirators, Abiathar and Joab. Did she not realise that his status as Solomon’s eldest brother, and therefore the eldest son of David, combined with his being married to David’s newest wife, would be seen as giving him rights to the throne? It was clear to him now what the full significance of the plots that he had heard about actually was. And that being so it was clear that the kingdom would not be safe until the conspirators were permanently silenced.
‘ Then king Solomon swore by YHWH, saying, “God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life. Now therefore as YHWH lives, who has established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death this day.”
Solomon had, as we know, previously warned Adonijah what would happen if he failed to live worthily and be loyal to Solomon (1 Kings 1:52). And now wickedness had been found in him. Thus he would have to die. So Solomon swore by YHWH that the traitorous words that Adonijah had spoken would result in him losing his life. As surely as Solomon’s being established, and set on the throne of David his father, and being given a dynasty, was of YHWH and according to His promises, so was it of YHWH that such conspirators who were trying to supplant the Anointed of YHWH should die. For by it they were rebelling against YHWH.
‘ And king Solomon sent by Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he fell on him, so that he died.’
So king Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada to carry out Adonijah’s judicial execution. And accordingly Benaiah set on Adonijah and killed him. It was one of his responsibilities as commander of the king’s bodyguard. We should remember that Adonijah was on probation and had had a warning. No trial was therefore necessary.
Apart from the obvious lesson of the seriousness of going against YHWH’s will, another important lesson that comes out of the whole incident is that before doing something we should carefully consider how our actions will be interpreted. We are wise to abstain from all appearance of evil.
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