(12) The life of . . . Solomon.—The usurpation of Adonijah would, as a matter of course, be sealed by the blood of his rival Solomon. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 21:4.) Bath-sheba herself need hardly have been sacrificed; but her position of favour with David would excite jealousy, and Solomon, being still young, might well be thought only an instrument in her hands. read more
(13) Didst not thou . . . swear.—Of this oath we have no mention elsewhere. It may have belonged to the time of Solomon’s birth (2 Samuel 12:24-25). In 1 Chronicles 22:6-13, we find a designation of Solomon for succession, apparently earlier than this time—it being clearly understood (see 1 Kings 1:20), according to Oriental custom, that such designation, without strict regard to priority of birth, lay in the prerogative of the reigning king. read more
(14) While thou yet talkest.—The whole history seems to indicate a growth of royal state and Oriental reverence for the king’s person since the defeat of Absalom, contrasted with the comparative simplicity of intercourse with him in earlier days, and preparatory to the still greater development of majesty and despotism under Solomon. Bath-sheba’s entrance into the bedchamber seems to be looked upon as an intrusion, to be ventured upon only in the humble attitude of a suppliant. Nathan does not... read more
(21) Shall sleep with his fathers.—Here this phrase, so constantly used in the record of the death of the kings, occurs in these books for the first time. (It is also found in the message of promise by Nathan. 2 Samuel 7:12, relating to the succession of the son who should build the Temple.) We find corresponding expressions in Genesis 15:15; Deuteronomy 31:16. Without connecting with the use of this phrase anything like the fulness of meaning which in the New Testament attaches to “the sleep”... read more
(24) Hast thou said.—The question here and in 1 Kings 1:27 is, of course, merely intended to draw out denial; but it is singularly true to nature that it does so by the assumption (natural in court language) that nothing of such a kind could be even conceived as done without the king’s will. There is something striking in the contrast of the deference of Nathan as a counsellor on state business with the bold superiority of his tone in the discharge of his true prophetic office (as in 2 Samuel... read more
(25) God save king Adonijah.—Literally (as in 1 Samuel 10:24; 2 Samuel 16:16, &c.). “May the king live;” like the “Let the king live for ever” of 1 Kings 1:31, and of Nehemiah 2:3; Daniel 2:4; Daniel 3:9, &c. read more
(29) As the Lord liveth, that hath redeemed my soul.—A characteristic adjuration of David, found also in 2 Samuel 4:9; but now peculiarly appropriate in the old man, who was so near the haven of rest, after all the storms of life. “O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer,” is the climax of his address to God, as the Creator of all things and the ruler of all men, in Psalms 19:14. read more
(32) Call me Zadok.—This sudden flash of the old energy in David, and the clear, terse directions which he gives for carrying out all the necessary parts of the inauguration of Solomon’s royalty, striking enough in themselves, are still more striking in contrast with the timidity and despondency with which, when far younger, he had received the news of Absalom’s rebellion. For then he felt the coming of God’s threatened chastisement; now he knows that this is passed, and that God is on his side. read more
(33) Gihon (“breaking forth”) is clearly a place in the valley, under the walls of Jerusalem, mentioned as having a watercourse, or torrent, diverted by Heżekiah in his preparation of the city for siege (2 Chronicles 32:30), and as forming one end of a new wall “up to the fish gate,” built by Manasseh; but whether it is on the west of the city, near the present Jaffa gate, or (as seems more probable) on the south, at the end of the valley called the Tyropœon, running through the city, has been... read more
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Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - 1 Kings 1:11
(11) Wherefore Nathan.—The initiative taken by Nathan is especially natural, since he had been the medium both of the prophecy to David of the son who should build the Lord’s house (2 Samuel 7:12-15), and also of the blessing on Solomon, embodied in the name Jedidiah (“beloved of Jehovah,” 2 Samuel 12:25). Perhaps for this very reason the conspirators had altogether held aloof from him. read more