Then Adonijah the son of [David’s wife] Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I [the eldest living son] will be king.” So [following Absalom’s example] he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. [2 Sam 15:1] His father [David] had never rebuked him at any time by asking, “Why have you done this?” Adonijah was also a very handsome man, and he was born after Absalom. He had conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah [David’s half sister] and with Abiathar the priest; and they followed Adonijah and helped him. But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David’s most formidable warriors did not side with Adonijah [in his desire to become king].
Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fattened steers by the Stone of Zoheleth, which is beside [the well] En-rogel; and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants [to this feast]. [2 Sam 15:7-12] But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the most formidable warriors, or his brother Solomon.
Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know about it? Come now, please let me advise you and save your life and the life of your son Solomon. [2 Sam 12:24, 25] Go at once to King David and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord, O king, swear to your maidservant, saying, “Solomon your son shall certainly be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’ Behold, while you are still there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.”
So Bathsheba went to the king in his bedroom. Now the king was very old and weak, and Abishag the Shunammite was attending the king. So Bathsheba bowed down and paid respect to the king. And the king said, “What do you wish?” She said to him, “My lord, you swore by the LORD your God to your maidservant, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall certainly be king after me and he shall sit on my throne.’ But now, behold, Adonijah is [acting as] king; and now [as things stand], my lord the king, you do not know it. He has sacrificed oxen and fattened steers and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons and Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army [to a feast], but he did not invite your servant Solomon. Now as for you, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you [waiting for you] to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. Otherwise it will come about when my lord the king lies down [in death] with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered political enemies.”
While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. The king was told, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came before the king, he bowed before the king with his face to the ground. Then Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? Because he has gone down today [to En-Rogel] and has sacrificed oxen and fattened steers and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons, the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest [to this feast]; and [right now] they are eating and drinking in his presence; and they say, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ But he has not invited me, your servant, nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon. If this thing has been done by my lord the king, why have you not shown your servants who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”
Bible App
Bible App for Kids
