1 Kings 2

Solomon’s Throne Established (2:13–46)

13–18 According to verse 12, after David’s death Solomon’s rule was firmly established. But Adonijah and his allies were still alive and they constituted a potential threat to Solomon’s rule. The first threat came from Adonijah himself.

Adonijah went to Solomon’s mother Bathsheba with a seemingly innocent request: he asked Bathsheba to get Solomon’s permission for him to marry Abishag, David’s concubine¹¹ (1 Kings 1:1–4). Adonijah went to Bathsheba because he thought Solomon wouldn’t be able to say “No” to his mother. Since Abishag was still a virgin, Bathsheba apparently saw nothing wrong with Adonijah’s request (verse 18). And perhaps she sympathized with Adonijah: he had just lost a kingdom (verse 15) and thus Abishag would provide him some consolation.

19–22 However, Solomon did see something wrong with Adonijah’s request. To marry (or sleep with) a king’s concubine was, in effect, to claim that king’s throne (see 2 Samuel 16:21–22). Solomon realized that Adonijah was still trying to claim David’s throne for himself. In doing so, Adonijah was proving that he was not a worthy man; instead he was worthy of death (1 Kings 1:52). Solomon gently rebuked his mother: "You might as well request the kingdom for him—not only for him but for his coconspirators Abiathar and Joab as well!” (verse 22).

23–25 Since Solomon had said that Adonijah would die if evil was found in him (1 Kings 1:52), he carried out his word; he ordered Benaiah to put Adonijah to death that same day (verse 25).

26–27 Solomon then removed Abiathar from his position as priest and banished him to his home. Solomon didn’t put him to death because he had shared in David’s hardships and had carried the ark (see 2 Samuel 15:24,29). Zadok was made high priest in his place (verse 35). With the banishment of Abiathar, the PROPHECY that Eli’s priestly line would come to an end was finally fulfilled (1 Samuel 2:27–36).

28–35 When Joab heard the news that Adonijah had been killed and Abiathar banished, he knew he’d be next to face Solomon’s judgment. So, as Adonijah had done earlier (1 Kings 1:50), Joab fled to take hold of the horns of the altar (verse 28). Solomon then sent Benaiah to put him to death. Benaiah hesitated to kill a man holding on to the altar, but Solomon repeated his order and Benaiah went back a second time and killed him.

Solomon’s action was justified. Joab had been under David’s authority when he murdered Abner and Amasa (see verse 5). Therefore, to clear David’s house of the guilt of innocent blood, it was necessary for Solomon to execute the murderer; to leave such a crime unpunished would bring guilt on David’s house (verses 3133). The LAW demanded that murderers be put to death (Exodus 21:12); only for unintentional killing (manslaughter) could someone claim refuge at the altar (Exodus 21:13–14). Thus Joab was not entitled to the protection afforded by the altar; his killings had been intentional—that is, he had committed murder. By ordering Joab’s execution, Solomon fulfilled his father’s instructions (verse 6). Furthermore, Solomon now had in place his two most important officials: Benaiah as commander of the army, and Zadok as high priest (verse 35). The appointment of Zadok partly fulfilled an earlier prophecy in which God said He would raise up a faithful priest who would minister always (1 Samuel 2:35); that prophecy was ultimately fulfilled with the coming of Jesus Christ.

36–46 The fate of Shimei was the third personal matter that David had asked Solomon to deal with (see verses 8–9). So Solomon sent for Shimei and told him that he had to stay in Jerusalem for the rest of his life, and that if he so much as crossed the Kidron Valley, which ran along the eastern side of the city, he would be put to death (verse 37).

Shimei agreed to Solomon’s terms, but after three years he left Jerusalem to search for two missing slaves (verses 39–40). When Solomon heard about it, he called Shimei and reminded him that he had agreed to the death penalty if he ever left Jerusalem (verse 42). Furthermore, he told Shimei that in cursing King David he had committed a crime worthy of death and that only by God’s mercy had he been pardoned so far. Now, however, God would repay Shimei for his wrongdoing against David (verse 44); by leaving Jerusalem Shimei had signed his own death warrant.

With the execution of Shimei, the fulfilling of David’s final instructions was complete, and the kingdom was firmly established in Solomon’s hands (verse 46).