1 Kings 1:5

THE MESSAGE

At this time Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, puffed himself up saying, "I'm the next king!" He made quite a splash, with chariots and riders and fifty men to run ahead of him. His father had spoiled him rotten as a child, never once reprimanding him. Besides that, he was very good-looking and the next in line after Absalom.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Adonijah son of Haggith kept exalting himself, saying, “I will be king!” He prepared chariots, cavalry, and fifty men to run ahead of him.

Hebrew Names Version
Then Adoniyahu the son of Haggit exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

King James Version
Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

English Standard Version
Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I will be king." And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

New Century Version
Adonijah was the son of King David and Haggith, and he was very proud. "I will be the king," he said. So he got chariots and horses for himself and fifty men for his personal bodyguard.

New English Translation
Now Adonijah, son of David and Haggith, was promoting himself, boasting, "I will be king!" He managed to acquire chariots and horsemen, as well as fifty men to serve as his royal guard.

Amplified Bible
Then Adonijah the son of [David's wife] Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I [the eldest living son] will be king." So [following Absalom's example] he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

New American Standard Bible
Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I will be king." So he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, with fifty men to run before him.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then Adoniiah the sonne of Haggith exalted himselfe, saying, I will be King. And he gate him charets and horsemen, and fiftie men to run before him.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I will be king." So he prepared for himself a chariot and horsemen and fifty men as runners before him.

Contemporary English Version
Adonijah was the son of David and Haggith. He was Absalom's younger brother and was very handsome. One day, Adonijah started bragging, "I'm going to make myself king!" So he got some chariots and horses, and he hired fifty men as bodyguards. David did not want to hurt his feelings, so he never asked Adonijah why he was doing these things.

Complete Jewish Bible
Adoniyah the son of Haggit was beginning to claim that he would be king; to this end he organized chariots and horsemen, with fifty men to run ahead of him.

Darby Translation
And Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king; and he provided himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

Easy-to-Read Version
Adonijah was the son of King David and his wife Haggith. He was born after Absalom. Adonijah was a very handsome man. King David never corrected his son Adonijah, and he never made him explain his actions. Adonijah became very proud and decided that he would be the next king. He wanted very much to be the king, so he got himself a chariot, horses, and 50 men to run ahead of him.

George Lamsa Translation
Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king; and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

Good News Translation
Now that Absalom was dead, Adonijah, the son of David and Haggith, was the oldest surviving son. He was a very handsome man. David had never reprimanded him about anything, and he was ambitious to be king. He provided for himself chariots, horses, and an escort of fifty men.

Lexham English Bible
Now Adonijah the son of Haggith was exalting himself, saying, "I will be king," so he prepared for himself a chariot and horsemen and fifty men running before him.

Literal Translation
And Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will reign. And he prepared a chariot for himself, and horsemen, and fifty men running before his face.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Adonias ye sonne of Hagith lifte vp him selfe and sayde: I wyl be kynge. And he prepared him charettes and horsmen, and fyftie men to be renners on fote before him.

American Standard Version
Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

Bible in Basic English
Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, lifting himself up in pride, said, I will become king; and he made ready his carriages of war and his horsemen, with fifty runners to go before him.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Adonia the sonne of Haggith exalted him selfe, saying: I wilbe king. And he gat him charettes and horsemen, and fyftie men to runne before him.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying: 'I will be king'; and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

King James Version (1611)
Then Adoniiah the sonne of Haggith exalted himselfe, saying, I wil be king: And he prepared him charets and horesemen, and fiftie men to runne before him.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Adonias the son of Aggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king; and he prepared for himself chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

English Revised Version
Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

Berean Standard Bible
At that time Adonijah, David's son by Haggith, began to exalt himself, saying, "I will be king!" And he acquired chariots and horsemen and fifty men to run ahead of him.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Sotheli Adonye, sone of Agith, was reisid, and seide, Y schal regne. And he made to hym a chare, and knyytis, and fifti men, that runnen bifor hym.

Young's Literal Translation
And Adonijah son of Haggith is lifting himself up, saying, `I do reign;' and he prepareth for himself a chariot and horsemen, and fifty men running before him,

Update Bible Version
Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

World English Bible
Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

New King James Version
Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I will be king"; and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

New Living Translation
About that time David's son Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, began boasting, "I will make myself king." So he provided himself with chariots and charioteers and recruited fifty men to run in front of him.

New Life Bible
Now Haggith's son Adonijah honored himself, saying, "I will be king." So he made war-wagons and horsemen ready for himself, with fifty men to run in front of him.

New Revised Standard
Now Adonijah son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I will be king"; he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, Adonijah son of Haggith, exalted himself, saying - I, will be king. Therefore prepared he for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Adonias, the son of Haggith, exalted himself, saying: I will be king. And he made himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

Revised Standard Version
Now Adoni'jah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I will be king"; and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I will be king." So he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen with fifty men to run before him.

Contextual Overview

⁵At this time Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, puffed himself up saying, "I'm the next king!" He made quite a splash, with chariots and riders and fifty men to run ahead of him. His father had spoiled him rotten as a child, never once reprimanding him. Besides that, he was very good-looking and the next in line after Absalom. ⁷Adonijah talked with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they threw their weight on his side. But neither the priest Zadok, nor Benaiah son of Jehoiada, nor Nathan the prophet, nor Shimei and Rei, nor David's personal bodyguards supported Adonijah. ⁹Next Adonijah held a coronation feast, sacrificing sheep, cattle, and grain-fed heifers at the Stone of Zoheleth near the Rogel Spring. He invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and everyone in Judah who had position and influence—but he did not invite the prophet Nathan, Benaiah, the bodyguards, or his brother Solomon.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Adonijah: 2 Samuel 3:4, 1 Chronicles 3:2

exalted: 1 Kings 1:11, 1 Kings 2:24, Exodus 9:17, Proverbs 16:18, Proverbs 18:12, Luke 14:11, Luke 18:14

I will: Deuteronomy 17:15, Judges 9:2, 1 Chronicles 22:5-11, 1 Chronicles 28:5, 1 Chronicles 29:1

be king: Heb. reign

and he: Deuteronomy 17:16, 2 Samuel 15:1, Isaiah 2:7

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 8:11 - run 1 Samuel 22:17 - footmen 2 Samuel 23:5 - Although 1 Kings 1:18 - Adonijah 1 Kings 1:24 - reign 1 Kings 1:33 - to ride 1 Kings 2:13 - Adonijah 1 Kings 2:15 - Thou knowest 1 Kings 2:22 - the kingdom 2 Chronicles 11:23 - dispersed Proverbs 17:19 - he that Ecclesiastes 4:16 - no end

Cross-References

Genesis 1:31
God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! It was evening, it was morning— Day Six.

Genesis 8:22
For as long as Earth lasts, planting and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, day and night will never stop."

Psalms 104:20
class="poetry"> O my soul, bless God ! God , my God, how great you are! beautifully, gloriously robed, Dressed up in sunshine, and all heaven stretched out for your tent. You built your palace on the ocean deeps, made a chariot out of clouds and took off on wind-wings. You commandeered winds as messengers, appointed fire and flame as ambassadors. You set earth on a firm foundation so that nothing can shake it, ever. You blanketed earth with ocean, covered the mountains with deep waters; Then you roared and the water ran away— your thunder crash put it to flight. Mountains pushed up, valleys spread out in the places you assigned them. You set boundaries between earth and sea; never again will earth be flooded. You started the springs and rivers, sent them flowing among the hills. All the wild animals now drink their fill, wild donkeys quench their thirst. Along the riverbanks the birds build nests, ravens make their voices heard. You water the mountains from your heavenly cisterns; earth is supplied with plenty of water. You make grass grow for the livestock, hay for the animals that plow the ground. Oh yes, God brings grain from the land, wine to make people happy, Their faces glowing with health, a people well-fed and hearty. God 's trees are well-watered— the Lebanon cedars he planted. Birds build their nests in those trees; look—the stork at home in the treetop. Mountain goats climb about the cliffs; badgers burrow among the rocks. The moon keeps track of the seasons, the sun is in charge of each day. When it's dark and night takes over, all the forest creatures come out. The young lions roar for their prey, clamoring to God for their supper. When the sun comes up, they vanish, lazily stretched out in their dens. Meanwhile, men and women go out to work, busy at their jobs until evening. What a wildly wonderful world, God ! You made it all, with Wisdom at your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations. Oh, look—the deep, wide sea, brimming with fish past counting, sardines and sharks and salmon. Ships plow those waters, and Leviathan, your pet dragon, romps in them. All the creatures look expectantly to you to give them their meals on time. You come, and they gather around; you open your hand and they eat from it. If you turned your back, they'd die in a minute— Take back your Spirit and they die, revert to original mud; Send out your Spirit and they spring to life— the whole countryside in bloom and blossom. The glory of God —let it last forever! Let God enjoy his creation! He takes one look at earth and triggers an earthquake, points a finger at the mountains, and volcanoes erupt. Oh, let me sing to God all my life long, sing hymns to my God as long as I live! Oh, let my song please him; I'm so pleased to be singing to God . But clear the ground of sinners— no more godless men and women! O my soul, bless God !

1 Corinthians 3:13
But for right now, friends, I'm completely frustrated by your unspiritual dealings with each other and with God. You're acting like infants in relation to Christ, capable of nothing much more than nursing at the breast. Well, then, I'll nurse you since you don't seem capable of anything more. As long as you grab for what makes you feel good or makes you look important, are you really much different than a babe at the breast, content only when everything's going your way? When one of you says, "I'm on Paul's side," and another says, "I'm for Apollos," aren't you being totally infantile? Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us—servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God's field in which we are working. Or, to put it another way, you are God's house. Using the gift God gave me as a good architect, I designed blueprints; Apollos is putting up the walls. Let each carpenter who comes on the job take care to build on the foundation! Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you'll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won't get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn't, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won't be torn out; you'll survive—but just barely. You realize, don't you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God's temple, you can be sure of that. God's temple is sacred—and you, remember, are the temple. Don't fool yourself. Don't think that you can be wise merely by being up-to-date with the times. Be God's fool—that's the path to true wisdom. What the world calls smart, God calls stupid. It's written in Scripture, He exposes the chicanery of the chic. The Master sees through the smoke screens of the know-it-alls. I don't want to hear any of you bragging about yourself or anyone else. Everything is already yours as a gift—Paul, Apollos, Peter, the world, life, death, the present, the future—all of it is yours, and you are privileged to be in union with Christ, who is in union with God.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself,.... This was his mother's name, 2 Samuel 3:4; his father David being old and infirm, and not like to live long, notable to oppose him; and he being the eldest son, and a comely person, was inspired with ambition to set up for king:

saying, I will be king; though he knew that Solomon was appointed of God, and promised by David, and expected by the people to be king, yet he was resolved to set up himself for king, and try if he could not get himself to the throne; on this he was bent and determined:

and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him; just as Absalom had done, when he had the same thing in view, to make him respectable among the people, see 2 Samuel 15:1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The narrative concerning - Abishag, the Shunammite (see the margin reference “a”), is introduced as necessary for a proper understanding of Adonijah’s later history (see 1 Kings 2:13-25.) But even as it stands, it heightens considerably the picture drawn of the poor king’s weak and helpless condition, of which Adonijah was not ashamed to take advantage for his own aggrandizement. Adonijah was born while David reigned at Hebron, and was therefore now between thirty-three and forty years of age. He was David’s fourth son, but had probably become the eldest by the death of his three older brothers. He claimed the crown by right of primogeniture 1 Kings 2:15, and secretly to his partisans (compare 1 Kings 1:10) announced his intention of assuming the sovereignty. It was well known to him, and perhaps to the Jews generally, that David intended to make Solomon his successor 1 Kings 1:13.

To run before him - That is, he assumed the same quasi-royal state as Absalom had done, when he contemplated rebellion 2 Samuel 15:1.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 1:5. Adonijah the son of Haggith — Who this woman was we know not; Adonijah was evidently David's eldest son now living, and one of whom his father was particularly fond; see 1 Kings 1:6.

Prepared him chariots and horsemen — He copied the conduct of his brother Absalom in every respect. See 2 Samuel 15:1.