1 Kings 1:33

33 the king said to them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and put ye my son Solomon upon my mule, and lead ye him into Gihon.

1 Kings 1:33 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 1:33

And the king said unto them, take ye the servants of your
lord
Meaning his own servants, his bodyguards, the Cherethites and Pelethites, as appears from ( 1 Kings 1:38 ) ; the Jews ^F1 from hence gather, that a king is superior to an high priest, since David calls himself the lord of Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet:

and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule;
for it seems on such a creature David used to ride, as did his sons; horses not being so common in Judea as they were afterwards. Some of the Jews ^F2 say it was not lawful to ride upon a mule, and that this case of David is to be excepted; for they pretend that this was a peculiar mule; and if the instance of his son urged, they reply, an argument from what kings and their sons used to do is of no force. Now this was one way of testifying that it was his will that Solomon should reign in his stead; for no private person might ride upon the beast the king was wont to ride on; this is now one of the Jewish canons ^F3,

``no one may ride on the king's horse, nor sit on his throne, nor use his sceptre:''

and bring him down to Gihon;
a fountain near Jerusalem, on the west side of it, which flowed from Mount Gihon, ( 2 Chronicles 32:30 ) ( 33:14 ) ; the same with Siloah according to the Targum, of which mention is made, ( John 9:7 ) . The reason for this order is not easily given; whether it was to denote the peaceableness and gentleness of Solomon's government, the waters of Shiloah moving softly, ( Isaiah 8:6 ) , or the spread, constancy, firmness, and perpetuity of it, as the Jews say ^F4, since the water of a fountain is ever running; or because there might be a concourse of people there, and so he would be anointed and proclaimed king in a public manner, and be attended to the city with great pomp and solemnity.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 6. fol. 186. 3.
F2 Vid. Bartenoram in Misn. Celaim, c. 8. sect. 1.
F3 Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 5.
F4 T. Bab. Horayot, fol. 12. 1.

1 Kings 1:33 In-Context

31 And Bathsheba, with her cheer bowed down into the earth, worshipped the king, and said, My lord king David live without end. (And Bathsheba, with her face bowed down to the ground, honoured the king, and said, My lord King David, may thou live forever!)

32 And king David said, Call ye Zadok, the priest, to me, and Nathan, the prophet, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada. And when they had entered before the king,

33 the king said to them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and put ye my son Solomon upon my mule, and lead ye him into Gihon.

34 And [there] Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, anoint him into king upon Israel and Judah; and ye shall sing with a trump, and ye shall say, Live king Solomon! (And there Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, anoint him king upon Israel; and ye shall sing with a trumpet, and ye shall say, Long live King Solomon!)

35 (Then) Ye shall go up after him, and ye shall come to Jerusalem; and he shall sit upon my throne, and he shall reign for me; and I shall command to him, that he be duke on Israel and on Judah (and I shall command to him, to be the ruler of Israel and of Judah).