1 Kings 1:33

Contextual Overview

³²King David said, "Call in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah son of Jehoiada." When they came before the king, ³² King David said, "Call in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah son of Jehoiada." When they came before the king, ³²Then King David said, "Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada." And they came into the king's presence. ³² Then King David said, "Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada." And they came into the king's presence. ³² And king Dauid sayde: Call me Sadoc the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Banaiah the sonne of Iehoiada. And they came before the king. ³² And King David said, Call Zadok the priest for me and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came in before the king. ³² Then King David said, "Tell Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada to come in here." So the three men came in to meet with the king. ³² King David said, "Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benai'ah the son of Jehoi'ada." So they came before the king. ³² King David said, Call to me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. They came before the king. ³² And king Dauid said, Call me Zadok the Priest, and Nathan the Prophet, and Benaiah the sonne of Iehoiada. And they came before the king.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Take: 2 Samuel 20:6

and cause: Maimonides informs us, that it was a capital offence for any one to ride on the king's mule, to sit on his throne, or to handle his sceptre, without permission; and as David ordered Solomon to ride on his own mule, etc., it was ample evidence that he had appointed him his successor.

to ride: 1 Kings 1:5, 1 Kings 1:38, 1 Kings 1:44, Genesis 41:43, Esther 6:6-11

mine own mule: Heb. the mule which belongeth to me, Leviticus 19:19

Gihon: 1 Kings 1:38, 1 Kings 1:45, 2 Chronicles 32:30

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 13:29 - mule 2 Samuel 15:1 - Absalom 1 Kings 10:25 - and mules 1 Chronicles 23:1 - he made 2 Chronicles 33:14 - Gihon Esther 6:8 - the horse Esther 6:9 - proclaim Matthew 21:5 - sitting John 12:15 - sitting

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the king said unto them, take ye the servants of your lord,.... Meaning his own servants, his bodyguards, the Cherethites and Pelethites, as appears from 1 Kings 1:38; the Jews a from hence gather, that a king is superior to an high priest, since David calls himself the lord of Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet:

and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule; for it seems on such a creature David used to ride, as did his sons; horses not being so common in Judea as they were afterwards. Some of the Jews b say it was not lawful to ride upon a mule, and that this case of David is to be excepted; for they pretend that this was a peculiar mule; and if the instance of his son urged, they reply, an argument from what kings and their sons used to do is of no force. Now this was one way of testifying that it was his will that Solomon should reign in his stead; for no private person might ride upon the beast the king was wont to ride on; this is now one of the Jewish canons c,

"no one may ride on the king's horse, nor sit on his throne, nor use his sceptre:''

and bring him down to Gihon; a fountain near Jerusalem, on the west side of it, which flowed from Mount Gihon, 2 Chronicles 32:30; the same with Siloah according to the Targum, of which mention is made, John 9:7. The reason for this order is not easily given; whether it was to denote the peaceableness and gentleness of Solomon's government, the waters of Shiloah moving softly, Isaiah 8:6, or the spread, constancy, firmness, and perpetuity of it, as the Jews say d, since the water of a fountain is ever running; or because there might be a concourse of people there, and so he would be anointed and proclaimed king in a public manner, and be attended to the city with great pomp and solemnity.

a Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 6. fol. 186. 3. b Vid. Bartenoram in Misn. Celaim, c. 8. sect. 1. c Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 5. d T. Bab. Horayot, fol. 12. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Mules and horses seem to have been first employed by the Israelites in the reign of David, and the use of the former was at first confined to great personages 2 Samuel 13:29; 2 Samuel 18:9. The rabbis tell us that it was death to ride on the king’s mule without his permission; and thus it would be the more evident to all that the proceedings with respect to Solomon had David’s sanction.

Gihon - Probably the ancient name of the valley called afterward the Tyropoeum, which ran from the present Damascus Gate, by Siloam, into the Kedron vale, having the temple hill, or true Zion, on the left, and on the right the modern Zion or ancient city of the Jebusites. The upper “source” of the “waters of Gihon,” which Hezekiah stopped (see the margin reference), was probably in the neighborhood of the Damascus Gate.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 1:33. Take with you the servants of your lord — By these we may understand the kings guards, the guards of the city, the Cherethites and Pelethites, who were under the command of Benaiah; and in short, all the disposable force that was at hand.

Solomon - to ride upon mine own mule — No subject could use any thing that belonged to the prince, without forfeiting his life. As David offered Solomon to ride on his own mule, this was full evidence that he had appointed him his successor.