Adonijah's attempt to seize the throne -- anointing of Solomon -- great assembly of the chiefs of the

people -- dying charge of David -- Adonijah's second attempt and punishment -- execution of Joab and of

1 KINGS 1, 2; 1 CHRONICLES 23:1, 28-29

THE history of David, as told in the Book of Chronicles, closes with an account of what, in its bearing on

the theocracy, was of greatest importance, the public charge to Solomon in regard to the building of the

Temple and the preparations for the work. On the other hand, the Book of Kings  69 takes up the thread of

prophetic his tory where the previous writers had dropped it. The birth of Solomon had been the beginning

of the fulfillment of that glorious promise (2 Samuel 7:12-16), which gave its spiritual meaning and import to

the institution of royalty in Israel. And the promises and the warnings embodied in that prediction form, so

to speak, the background of the whole later history of the people of God.

Naturally, the first event recorded in this history is the formal installation of Solomon as the God-appointed

successor of David (2 Samuel 7:12; 12:25; 1 Kings 8:20; 1 Chronicles 28:5-7). It was somewhat hastened by

an incident which, like so many others that caused trouble in Israel, must ultimately be traced to the

weakness of David himself. It has already been noticed, in the history of Amnon and in that of Absalom, to

what length David carried his indulgence towards his children, and what terrible consequences resulted

from it. Both Amnon and Absalom had died violent deaths. A third son of David, Chileab, whose mother

was A bigail, seems also to have died. At least, so we infer from the silence of Scripture concerning him.

These were the three eldest sons of David. The next in point of age was Adonijah the son of Haggith (2

Samuel 3:2-4). Like his elder brother, Amnon, he had been born in Hebron;70 like Absalom, he was

distinguished by personal attractions. But he also, as Amnon and Absalom, had all his life been fatally

indulged by David. In the expressive language of Holy Scripture, "his father had not made him sorry all his

days, saying, Why hast thou done so?" (1 Kings 1:6.)

The consequence may be easily guessed. By right of primogeniture the succession to the throne seemed

his. Why, then, should he not attempt to seize upon a prize so covered? His father had, indeed, sworn to

Bathsheba that Solomon should be his successor (1 Kings 1:13, 30), and that on the ground of express

Divine appointment; and the prophet Nathan (ver. 11), as well as the leading men in Church and State, not

only knew (as did most people in the land), but heartily concurred in it. But what mattered this to one who

had never learned to subject his personal desires to a higher will? This supposed Divine appointment of his

younger brother might, after all, have been only a matter of inference to David, and Nathan and Bathsheba

have turned it to account, the one because of the influence which he possessed over Solomon, the other

from maternal fondness and ambition. At any rate, the prospect of gaining a crown was worth making an

effort; and the more quickly and boldly, the more likely of success.

It must be admitted that circumstances seemed specially to favor Adonijah's scheme. David was indeed only

seventy years old; but premature decay, the consequence of a life of exposure and fatigue, had confined him

not only to his room (ver. 15), but to his bed (ver. 47). Such was his weakness, that the body had lost its

natural heat, which could not be restored even by artificial means; so that the physicians, according to the

medical views of those times, had advis ed bodily contact with a young, healthy subject.71 For this purpose

Abishag,72 a fair maiden from Shunem, had been brought into the king's harem. In David's utter physical

prostration, Adonijah might reckon on being able to carry on his scheme without interference from the king.

Indeed, unless David had been specially informed, tidings of the attempt would not even have reached his

sick chamber until it was too late. The rebellion of Absalom had failed because David was in full vigor at the

time, and so ably supported by Abiathar the priest and Joab the captain of the host. But Adonijah had

attached these two to his interests. It is not difficult to understand the motives of Joab in trying to secure