16 and Bath-Sheba boweth and doth obeisance to the king, and the king saith, `What -- to thee?'
The youth hath gone, and David hath risen from Ezel, at the south, and falleth on his face to the earth, and boweth himself three times, and they kiss one another, and they weep one with another, till David exerted himself;
and David riseth afterwards, and goeth out from the cave, and calleth after Saul, saying, `My lord, O king!' And Saul looketh attentively behind him, and David boweth -- face to the earth -- and doth obeisance.
and they declare to the king, saying, `Lo, Nathan the prophet;' and he cometh in before the king, and boweth himself to the king, on his face to the earth.
And she saith, `One small petition I ask of thee, turn not back my face;' and the king saith to her, `Ask, my mother, for I do not turn back thy face.'
and he said to her, `What wilt thou?' She saith to him, `Say, that they may sit -- these my two sons -- one on thy right hand, and one on the left, in thy reign.'
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,