1 Kings 2

13-18. Adonijah . . . came to Bath-sheba--Her question to him betrays an apprehension which his recent conduct might well warrant; but his pious acknowledgment of the divine will seemed apparently to indicate so entire an acquiescence in the settlement of the succession ( 1 Kings 2:15 ), that, in her womanly simplicity, she perceived not the deep cunning and evil design that was concealed under his request and readily undertook to promote his wishes.

19, 20. Bath-sheba . . . went unto King Solomon--The filial reverence and the particular act of respect, which Solomon rendered, were quite in accordance with the sentiments and customs of the East. The right hand is the place of honor; and as it expressly said to have been assigned to "the king's mother," it is necessary to remark that, when a husband dies, his widow acquires a higher dignity and power, as a mother over her son, than she ever possessed before. Besides, the dignity of "king's mother" is a state office, to which certain revenues are attached. The holder has a separate palace or court, as well as possesses great influence in public affairs; and as the dignity is held for life, it sometimes happens, in consequence of deaths, that the person enjoying it may not be related to the reigning sovereign by natural maternity. Bath-sheba had evidently been invested with this honorable office.

22. why dost thou ask Abishag . . . ask for him the kingdom moment penetrated the artful scheme, and from his associating the names of Abiathar and Joab, he seems to have suspected or known that those deep schemers had been the prompters of Adonijah.

23-25. God do so to me, and more also--the common form of introducing a solemn oath.
if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life--Whether there was a treasonable design to conceal under this request or not, the act, according to Eastern notions, was criminal, and of dangerous consequence to the state. There is no ground of censure upon Solomon for cruelty or precipitation in this instance. He had pardoned Adonijah's former conspiracy; but this new attempt was rebellion against the viceroy appointed by the divine King and called for condign punishment. The office of executioner was among the Hebrews, as in other ancient countries of the East, performed unceremoniously and privately--often without any previous warning--by the captain of the guard, or one of his officers ( Matthew 14:10 ).

26, 27. unto Abiathar the priest said the king--This functionary, as the counsellor or accomplice of Adonijah, had deserved to share his fate. But partly from regard to his priestly dignity, and partly from his long associations with the late king, Solomon pronounced on him the mitigated sentence of banishment to his country estate at Anathoth, and thereby, as God's vicegerent, deprived him of his office and its emoluments. The sacred writer notices the remarkable fulfilment. Abiathar's degradation from the high priesthood of the doom denounced against the house of Eli ( 1 Samuel 2:30 ).

1 Kings 2:28-45 . JOAB SLAIN.

28. Then tidings came to Joab--The execution of these sentences respectively on Adonijah and Abiathar prepared Joab for his fate. Death, due to his great crimes ( Numbers 35:33 ), would long ago have been inflicted, had not his power and popularity with the army been too formidable for the old king. He now fled to the altar, which, though a recognized asylum, afforded no sanctuary to the rebel and murderer ( Exodus 21:14 ). And, as he refused to leave it, he seems to have cherished some faint hope that a religious scruple would have been felt at the thought of violating the sanctity of the place by bloodshed. Benaiah, not liking to assume any responsibility, referred the matter to Solomon, who determined that the law should take its course ( Deuteronomy 19:13 ).

33. Their blood shall . . . return upon the head of Joab, &c.--A reference is here made to the curse publicly and solemnly pronounced by King David ( 2 Samuel 3:28 2 Samuel 3:29 ).

1 Kings 2:34-46 . SHIMEI PUT TO DEATH.

34. Benaiah . . . went up, and fell upon him--According to the terms of the statute ( Exodus 21:14 ), and the practice in similar cases ( 2 Kings 11:15 ), the criminal was to be dragged from the altar and slain elsewhere. But the truth is, that the sanctity of the altar was violated as much by the violence used in forcing the criminal from the place as in shedding his blood there; the express command of God authorized the former and therefore by implication permitted the latter.
was buried in his own house--or family vault, at his property in the wilderness of Judah. His interment was included in the king's order, as enjoined in the divine law ( Deuteronomy 21:23 ).

36. the king sent and called for Shimei--He was probably residing at Bahurim, his native place. But, as he was a suspicious character, Solomon condemned him henceforth to live in Jerusalem, on the penalty of death, for going without the gates. He submitted to this confinement for three years, when, violating his oath, he was arrested and put to death by Solomon for perjury, aggravated by his former crime of high treason against David [ 1 Kings 2:42-44 ].

46. the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon--Now, by the death of Shimei, all the leaders of the rival factions had been cut off.