1 Kings 2:1

1 Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he charged Shlomo his son, saying,

1 Kings 2:1 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 2:1

Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die
The number of his days fixed and determined by the Lord, ( Job 14:5 ) ; and which might be perceived as drawing nigh, both by himself and others, through the growing infirmities of old age, decline of nature, and various symptoms of an approaching dissolution which were upon him; see ( Genesis 47:29 ) . Abarbinel observes, that he is called only David, not King David; because Solomon his son was now anointed king, and reigned in his stead; so in ( 1 Kings 1:10 1 Kings 1:11 ) ; but there is another reason given by some Jews ^F14, that no man, even a king, has power in the day of death; he is no king then, he has no rule over that, but that rules over him:

and he charged Solomon his son;
gave him his last and dying charge:

saying;
as follows.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 Bereshit Rabba, sect. 96. fol. 83. 3.

1 Kings 2:1 In-Context

1 Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he charged Shlomo his son, saying,

2 I am going the way of all the eretz: be you strong therefore, and show yourself a man;

3 and keep the charge of the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, [and] his mitzvot, and his ordinances, and his testimonies, according to that which is written in the law of Moshe, that you may prosper in all that you do, and wherever you turn yourself.

4 That the LORD may establish his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, If your children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you (said he) a man on the throne of Yisra'el.

5 Moreover you know also what Yo'av the son of Tzeru'yah did to me, even what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Yisra'el, to Aviner the son of Ner, and to `Amasa the son of Yeter, whom he killed, and shed the blood of war in shalom, and put the blood of war on his sash that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.