1 Kings 2:23

23 Then King Solomon made a vow before the LORD : “May God strike me and even kill me if Adonijah has not sealed his fate with this request.

1 Kings 2:23 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 2:23

Then King Solomon sware by the Lord
To prevent his mother pressing him to have her petition granted:

saying, God do so to me, and more also;
lay such and such evils upon me, and more than I care to express:

if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life;
to his own prejudice, and even to the loss of his life; in which Solomon suggests it would issue, being a fresh overt act of treason; he knew, from what Bathsheba said, that this was his petition, and that he had spoken of this to her, and put her upon making it for him; and who no doubt related to Solomon the whole of the conversation that passed between them, and to which he seems to have some respect in his answer.

1 Kings 2:23 In-Context

21 “Then let your brother Adonijah marry Abishag, the girl from Shunem,” she replied.
22 “How can you possibly ask me to give Abishag to Adonijah?” King Solomon demanded. “You might as well ask me to give him the kingdom! You know that he is my older brother, and that he has Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah on his side.”
23 Then King Solomon made a vow before the LORD : “May God strike me and even kill me if Adonijah has not sealed his fate with this request.
24 The LORD has confirmed me and placed me on the throne of my father, David; he has established my dynasty as he promised. So as surely as the LORD lives, Adonijah will die this very day!”
25 So King Solomon ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada to execute him, and Adonijah was put to death.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.