1 Kings 2:20

20 Then she said, "I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me." And the king said to her, "Make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you."

1 Kings 2:20 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 2:20

Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee
It was but one, and a little one, and therefore she hoped it would be granted:

[I pray thee], say me not nay;
do not refuse it, or deny it me, or turn away my thee with shame and disappointment:

and the king said, ask on, my mother, for I will not say thee nay;
since it is a small one, as thou sayest, and provided it is fit and lawful to be granted.

1 Kings 2:20 In-Context

18 Bathsheba said, "Very well; I will speak for you to the king."

19 So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king's mother, and she sat on his right.

20 Then she said, "I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me." And the king said to her, "Make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you."

21 She said, "Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as his wife."

22 King Solomon answered his mother, "And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he is my older brother, and on his side are Abiathar the priest and Joab the son of Zeruiah."