1 Kings 1:9

Contextual Overview

⁵Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, "I will be king." So he got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. ⁵ Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, "I will be king." So he got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. ⁵Now 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. ⁵ 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. ⁵ 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. ⁵ 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. ⁵Adonijah 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. ⁵ 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. ⁵ 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. ⁵ 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.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Adonijah: The Oriental banquet, in consequence of the intense heat, is often spread upon the verdant turf, beneath the shade of a tree, where the streaming rivulet supplies the company with wholesome water, and excites a gentle breeze to cool their burning temples.

slew: 2 Samuel 15:12, Proverbs 15:8

Enrogel: or, the well Rogel, 2 Samuel 17:17

called: 2 Samuel 13:23-27, 2 Samuel 15:11

Reciprocal: Joshua 15:7 - Enrogel Joshua 18:16 - Enrogel 1 Kings 1:25 - slain 2 Chronicles 18:2 - Ahab

Cross-References

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1
In the beginnyng GOD created ye heauen and the earth.

Genesis 1:1
God created the sky and the earth. At first,

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1
In the bigynnyng God made of nouyt heuene and erthe.

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the Heauen, and the Earth.

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle,.... To make a feast of for those that were of his party, which was numerous, and some of them persons of the first rank, and therefore a large and elegant entertainment was provided for them:

by the stone of Zoheleth, which [is] by Enrogel; or the fullers' fountain, as the Targum, where the fullers washed their clothes, using their feet in doing it, from whence it had its name; and which they laid upon this stone for the water to drain out of them, "Zoheleth" signifying a slow motion of waters, or on which they beat them to get out the spots; the Targum calls it the stone of a watchtower, on which they could stand and look to a great distance; or, as Jarchi and Ben Gersom suggest, it was a large smooth stone, which young men used to come to, and cast to and fro to try and exercise their strength; it was, as Josephus e says, in or near the king's gardens:

and called all his brethren the king's sons: which David by his wives and concubines had in Hebron and Jerusalem; who were all younger than he, and so had not the pretension he had, and who might be displeased at the appointment of Solomon as well as he; see 1 Chronicles 3:4;

and all the men of Judah the king's servants; excepting those in 1 Kings 1:8.

e Antiqu. l. 7. c. 14. sect. 4.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Adonijah’s feast was probably of a sacrificial character, and intended to inaugurate him as king. Compare the “sacrifices” of Absalom 2 Samuel 15:12.

Zoheleth - No satisfactory explanation has been given of this name. Large blocks of stone always attract attention in the East, and receive names which are often drawn from some trivial circumstance. Sinai and Palestine are full of such “Hajars,” which correspond to the “Ebens” or “stones” of Holy Scripture. (Compare Genesis 28:22; Jos 4:9; 1 Samuel 6:14.) For En-Rogel, see the margin reference.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 1:9. Slew sheep and oven — Making a royal feast, in reference to his inauguration. As he had Abiathar the priest with him, no doubt these animals were offered sacrificially, and then the guests fed on the flesh of the victims. He had not only a splendid feast, but a great sacrifice; and he gave by this a popular colour to his pretensions, by affecting to receive his authority from God.