7 And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest; and they helped Adonijah and followed [him].
And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. And Abiathar informed David that Saul had slain Jehovah's priests. And David said to Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would certainly tell Saul: I am accountable for all the lives of thy father's house. Abide with me, fear not; for he that seeks my life seeks thy life; for with me thou art in safe keeping.
And behold, Zadok also, and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God; and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people had passed completely out of the city. And the king said to Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city. If I shall find favour in the eyes of Jehovah, he will bring me again, and shew me it, and its habitation. But if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, [here am] I, let him do to me as seemeth good to him. And the king said to Zadok the priest, Thou art the seer: return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. See, I will stop in the plains of the desert, until there come word from you to inform me. And Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem; and they abode there.
And the king said to Abiathar the priest, Go to Anathoth, to thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death; but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou didst bear the ark of Adonai Jehovah before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted. And Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest to Jehovah, to fulfil the word of Jehovah, which he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. And the report came to Joab (for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he had not turned after Absalom); and Joab fled to the tent of Jehovah, and caught hold of the horns of the altar. And it was told king Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of Jehovah; and behold, he is by the altar. And Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall on him. And Benaiah came to the tent of Jehovah and said to him, Thus saith the king: Come forth. And he said, No; for I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me. And the king said to him, Do as he has said, and fall upon him, and bury him; and take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me and from the house of my father. And Jehovah shall requite the blood which he shed upon his own head, because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, without my father David's knowledge: Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah. And their blood shall be requited upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever; but upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house, and upon his throne, shall there be peace for ever from Jehovah. And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell upon him, and put him to death; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his stead over the host; and Zadok the priest the king put in the stead of Abiathar.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 1 Kings 1
Commentary on 1 Kings 1 Matthew Henry Commentary
An Exposition, With Practical Observations, of
The First Book of Kings
Chapter 1
In this chapter we have,
1Ki 1:1-4
David, as recorded in the foregoing chapter, had, by the great mercy of God, escaped the sword of the destroying angel. But our deliverances from or through diseases and dangers are but reprieves; if the candle be not blown out, it will burn out of itself. We have David here sinking under the infirmities of old age, and brought by them to the gates of the grave. He that cometh up out of the pit shall fall into the snare; and, one way or other, we must needs die.
1Ki 1:5-10
David had much affliction in his children. Amnon and Absalom had both been his grief; the one his first-born, the other his third, 2 Sa. 3:2, 3. His second, whom he had by Abigail, we will suppose he had comfort in; his fourth was Adonijah (2 Sa. 3:4); he was one of those that were born in Hebron; we have heard nothing of him till now, and here we are told that he was a comely person, and that he was next in age, and (as it proved) next in temper to Absalom, v. 6. And, further, that in his father's eyes he had been a jewel, but was now a thorn.
1Ki 1:11-31
We have here the effectual endeavours that were used by Nathan and Bathsheba to obtain from David a ratification of Solomon's succession, for the crushing of Adonijah's usurpation.
1Ki 1:32-40
We have here the effectual care David took both to secure Solomon's right and to preserve the public peace, by crushing Adonijah's project in the bud. Observe,
1Ki 1:41-53
We have here,