1 Kings 2:22

Contextual Overview

¹² And Solomon sat on the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly. ¹² Solomon became king and sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established. ¹² And Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly. ¹² Solomon became king after David, his father, and he was in firm control of his kingdom. ¹² Solomon sat on his father David's throne, and his royal authority was firmly solidified. ¹² Then Solomon was seated upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly. ¹² Solomon sat on the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly. ¹²Then Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established. ¹² So Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established. ¹² Forsothe Salomon sat on the trone of Dauid, his fadir, and his rewme was maad stidfast greetli.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

why dost: Matthew 20:22, Mark 10:38, James 4:3

the kingdom: 1 Kings 1:5-7, 1 Kings 1:11, 1 Kings 1:24, 1 Kings 1:25

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 18:8 - and what 2 Samuel 3:7 - gone in 2 Samuel 12:8 - thy master's wives 2 Samuel 16:21 - unto thy 1 Kings 1:7 - following Adonijah helped him 1 Kings 1:21 - offenders Mark 2:26 - Abiathar

Cross-References

Genesis 2:8
And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Genesis 2:8
And Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Genesis 2:8
Then the Lord God planted a garden in the east, in a place called Eden, and put the man he had formed into it.

Genesis 2:8
The Lord God planted an orchard in the east, in Eden; and there he placed the man he had formed.

Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Genesis 2:8
Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden (oasis) in the east, in Eden (delight, land of happiness); and He put the man whom He had formed (created) there.

Genesis 2:8
Forsothe the Lord God plauntide at the bigynnyng paradis of likyng, wherynne he settide man whom he hadde formed.

Genesis 2:8
And Jehovah God planteth a garden in Eden, at the east, and He setteth there the man whom He hath formed;

Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And King Solomon answered and said unto his mother,.... With as much gentleness and mildness as he could, but inwardly fired at her request, and amazed at it, and could not forbear using some degree of tartness and resentment:

and why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? is this a small petition? is this a fit and lawful one?

ask for him the kingdom also; for this is what he means by it, that by marrying the king's widow he may step into the throne whenever any opportunity offers, as any uneasiness, or insurrection in the kingdom, or the death of Solomon; for none but a king, the Jews say b, might marry a king's widow, not any private man; and therefore for Adonijah to ask this was interpreted affecting the kingdom, and aspiring to it, and taking his measures to obtain it; yea, it is said c, that none but another king, the successor, might make use of his servants, handmaids, and ministers; and it is observed, that Abishag was free to Solomon, but not to Adonijah:

for he [is] mine elder brother; and has that to plead in his favour, and if he could obtain this, it would strengthen his title, or at least be a plausible pretence, which he might make use of, when opportunity served, to gain the people to his interest:

even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah; she might as well ask for them as for him; whose interest it was, and therefore desirous it might be that he should be king, that so the one might be continued in the office of high priest, and the other as general of the army; who, Solomon knew, bore him no good will, but were secretly his enemies; and he suspected that this was a scheme of theirs, and that it was by their advice Adonijah made this request; so the Targum,

"are not he, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the son of Zeruiah, in the counsel?''

in this counsel; it is what they had consulted among themselves as a preparation to bring about a design they are contriving; probably Solomon had private notice that they were plotting against him, and this confirmed him in the truth of it; and therefore all of them were upon this punished with deprivation of office, or loss of life.

b Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 2. c Maimon. Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ask for him the kingdom also - Bath-sheba had not seen anything dangerous or suspicious in Adonijah’s request. Solomon, on the contrary, takes alarm at once. To ask for Abishag was to ask for the kingdom. To the Oriental mind a monarch was so sacred, that whatever was brought near to him was thenceforth separate from common use. This sacred and separate character attached especially to the Royal harem. The inmates either remained widows for the rest of their lives, or became the wives of the deceased king’s successor. When a monarch was murdered, or dethroned, or succeeded by one whose title was doubtful, the latter alternative was almost always adopted (compare 2 Samuel 12:8; 2 Samuel 16:22). Public opinion so closely connected the title to the crown and the possession of the deceased monarch’s wives, that to have granted Adonijah’s request would have been the strongest encouragement to his pretensions. Solomon, seeing this, assumes that Adonijah cherishes a guilty purpose, that there has been a fresh plot, that Abiathar and Joab - Adonijah’s counselors in the former conspiracy 1 Kings 1:7 - are privy to it, and that the severest measures are necessary to crush the new treason.