Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has become king, and our lord David does not know it?

“Adonijah, in common with the people generally, expected that this natural arrangement should be followed in the Hebrew kingdom as in all others.”

Then King David said, “Call in Bathsheba for me.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before him.

“Then king David answered and said, Call me Bath-sheba--He renews to her the solemn pledge he had given, in terms of solemnity and impressiveness which show that the aged monarch had roused himself to the duty the emergency called for.”

Then you shall go up with him, and he is to come and sit on my throne and reign in my place.

“Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne--The public recognition of the successor to the throne, during the old king's lifetime, is accordant with the customs of the East.”

But Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, got up and went to take hold of the horns of the altar.

“The horns or projections at the four corners of the altar, to which the sacrifices were bound, and which were tipped with the blood of the victim, were symbols of grace and salvation to the sinner.”

As the time drew near for David to die, he charged his son Solomon,

“David . . . charged Solomon his son--The charge recorded here was given to Solomon just before his death and is different from the farewell address delivered in public some time before (1Ch 28:2-9). It is introduced with great solemnity.”

“I am about to go the way of all the earth. So be strong and prove yourself a man.

“I go the way of all the earth--a beautiful and impressive periphrasis for death. be thou strong, . . .”

Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.

“The interval was spent in developing his ideas and plans for the future glory of the kingdom and providing for the permanent worship of God (see on 1Ch 22:1, and following).”

So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was firmly established.

“Having been born after his father became monarch of the whole kingdom, his claim, according to the notions of Oriental people, was preferable to that of all, even his elder brothers.”

Now Adonijah son of Haggith went to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, and she asked, “Do you come in peace?” “Yes, in peace,” he replied.

“The right hand is the place of honor; and as it expressly said to have been assigned to "the king's mother," it is necessary to remark that, when a husband dies, his widow acquires a higher dignity and power, as a mother over her son…”

Then King Solomon swore by the LORD: “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if Adonijah has not made this request at the expense of his life.

“God do so to me, and more also--the common form of introducing a solemn oath. if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life--Whether there was a treasonable design to conceal under this request or not, the act, according to Eastern notions, was…”

When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah but not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the LORD and took hold of the horns of the…

“He now fled to the altar, which, though a recognized asylum, afforded no sanctuary to the rebel and murderer (Ex 21:14).”

Their blood will come back upon the heads of Joab and his descendants forever; but for David, his descendants, his house, and his throne, there shall be peace from the…

“Their blood shall . . . return upon the head of Joab, &c.--A reference is here made to the curse publicly and solemnly pronounced by King David (2Sa 3:28, 29).”

So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck down Joab, and killed him. He was buried at his own home in the wilderness.

“But the truth is, that the sanctity of the altar was violated as much by the violence used in forcing the criminal from the place as in shedding his blood there; the express command of God authorized the former and therefore by implication permitted the…”

Later, Solomon formed an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying his daughter.

“Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh--This was a royal title, equivalent to "sultan," and the personal name of this monarch is said to have been Vaphres.”

Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for it was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar there.

“The royal progress was of public importance. It was a season of national devotion. The king was accompanied by his principal nobility (2Ch 1:2); and, as the occasion was most probably one of the great annual festivals which lasted seven days, the rank of the…”

One night at Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “Ask, and I will give it to you!”

“In sleep his thoughts ran upon the subject of his prayer, and he dreamed that God appeared to him and gave him the option of every thing in the world--that he asked wisdom, and that God granted his request (1Ki 3:9-12).”

And now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in my father David’s place.

“I am but a little child--not in age, for he had reached manhood (1Ki 2:9) and must have been at least twenty years old; but he was raw and inexperienced in matters of government.”

Then Solomon awoke, and indeed it had been a dream. So he returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and…

“The wisdom, however, that was asked and obtained was not so much of the heart as of the head--it was wisdom not for himself personally, but for his office, such as would qualify him for the administration of justice, the government of a kingdom, and…”

At that time two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.

“Then came there two women--Eastern monarchs, who generally administer justice in person, at least in all cases of difficulty, often appeal to the principles of human nature when they are at a loss otherwise to find a clue to the truth or see clearly their…”

Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.

“Ahishar was over the household--steward or chamberlain of the palace. Adoniram--or Adoram (2Sa 20:24; 1Ki 12:18), or Hadoram (2Ch 10:18), was over the tribute--not the collection of money or goods, but the levy of compulsory laborers (compare 1Ki 5:13, 14).”

Each one also brought to the required place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and other horses.

“Barley . . . and straw--Straw is not used for litter, but barley mixed with chopped straw is the usual fodder of horses. dromedaries--one-humped camels, distinguished for their great fleetness.”

Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.

“Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country--that is, the Arabians, Chaldeans, and Persians (Ge 25:6).”

He was wiser than all men—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and wiser than Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread throughout the surrounding nations.

“Heman-- (1Ch 15:17-19) --the chief of the temple musicians and the king's seers (1Ch 25:5); the other two are not known.”

When Hiram received Solomon’s message, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the LORD this day! He has given David a wise son over this great people!”

“Blessed be the Lord--This language is no decisive evidence that Hiram was a worshipper of the true God, as he might use it only on the polytheistic principle of acknowledging Jehovah as the God of the Hebrews (see on 2Ch 2:11).”

So Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders, along with the Gebalites, quarried the stone and prepared the timber and stone for the construction of the temple.

“These great bevelled or grooved stones, measuring some twenty, others thirty feet in length, and from five to six feet in breadth, are still seen in the substructures about the ancient site of the temple; and, in the judgment of the most competent observers, were…”