1 Kings 1:40

40 All the people followed him, playing flutes and rejoicing with such a great joy that the earth was split by the sound.

1 Kings 1:40 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 1:40

And all the people came up after him
Following him from the fountain to the city, with their loud acclamations:

and the people piped with pipes;
which were hollow instruments, and full of holes which they blew with their mouths, and upon with their fingers; Jarchi says they were and very probably:

and rejoiced with great joy;
which they expressed by such loud shouts:

so that the earth rent with the sound thereof;
an hyperbolical expression, showing the great numbers gathered together on this occasion, and the sonorous acclamations they made.

1 Kings 1:40 In-Context

38 Then Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, along with the Cherethites and Pelethites, went down and set Solomon on King David’s mule, and they escorted him to Gihon.

39 Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the ram’s horn, and all the people proclaimed, “Long live King Solomon!”

40 All the people followed him, playing flutes and rejoicing with such a great joy that the earth was split by the sound.

41 Now Adonijah and all his guests were finishing their feast when they heard the sound of the ram’s horn. “Why is the city in such a loud uproar?” asked Joab.

42 As he was speaking, suddenly Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest arrived. “Come in,” said Adonijah, “for you are a man of valor. You must be bringing good news.”