1 Raja-raja 1:11-45

1:11 Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Has it been reported to you ¹  that Haggith’s son Adonijah has become king behind our master David’s back? ²  1:12 Now ³  let me give you some advice as to how ⁴  you can save your life and your son Solomon’s life. 1:13 Visit ⁵  King David and say to him, ‘My master, O king, did you not solemnly promise ⁶  your servant, “Surely your son Solomon will be king after me; he will sit on my throne”? So why has Adonijah become king?’ 1:14 While ⁷  you are still there speaking to the king, I will arrive ⁸  and verify your report.” ⁹ 

1:15 So Bathsheba visited the king in his private quarters. ¹⁰  (The king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king.) 1:16 Bathsheba bowed down on the floor before ¹¹  the king. The king said, “What do you want?” 1:17 She replied to him, “My master, you swore an oath to your servant by the Lord your God, ‘Solomon your son will be king after me and he will sit on my throne.’ 1:18 But now, look, Adonijah has become king! But you, ¹²  my master the king, are not even aware of it! ¹³  1:19 He has sacrificed many cattle, steers, and sheep and has invited all the king’s sons, Abiathar the priest, and Joab, the commander of the army, but he has not invited your servant Solomon. 1:20 Now, ¹⁴  my master, O king, all Israel is watching anxiously to see who is named to succeed my master the king on the throne. ¹⁵  1:21 If a decision is not made, ¹⁶  when my master the king is buried with his ancestors, ¹⁷  my son Solomon and I ¹⁸  will be considered state criminals.” ¹⁹ 

1:22 Just then, ²⁰  while she was still speaking to the king, Nathan the prophet arrived. 1:23 The king was told, “Nathan the prophet is here.” Nathan entered and bowed before the king with his face to the floor. ²¹  1:24 Nathan said, “My master, O king, did you announce, ‘Adonijah will be king after me; he will sit on my throne’? 1:25 For today he has gone down and sacrificed many cattle, steers, and sheep and has invited all the king’s sons, the army commanders, and Abiathar the priest. At this moment ²²  they are having a feast ²³  in his presence, and they have declared, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ ²⁴  1:26 But he did not invite me – your servant – or Zadok the priest, or Benaiah son of Jehoiada, or your servant Solomon. 1:27 Has my master the king authorized this without informing your servants ²⁵  who should succeed my master the king on his throne?” ²⁶ 

David Picks Solomon as His Successor

1:28 King David responded, ²⁷  “Summon Bathsheba!” ²⁸  She came and stood before the king. ²⁹  1:29 The king swore an oath: “As certainly as the Lord lives (he who has rescued me ³⁰  from every danger), 1:30 I will keep ³¹  today the oath I swore to you by the Lord God of Israel: ‘Surely Solomon your son will be king after me; he will sit in my place on my throne.’” 1:31 Bathsheba bowed down to the king with her face to the floor ³²  and said, “May my master, King David, live forever!”

1:32 King David said, “Summon Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, ³³  and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” They came before the king, 1:33 and he ³⁴  told them, “Take your master’s ³⁵  servants with you, put my son Solomon on my mule, and lead him down to Gihon. ³⁶  1:34 There Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet will anoint ³⁷  him king over Israel; then blow the trumpet and declare, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ 1:35 Then follow him up as he comes and sits on my throne. He will be king in my place; I have decreed ³⁸  that he will be ruler over Israel and Judah.” 1:36 Benaiah son of Jehoiada responded ³⁹  to the king: “So be it! ⁴⁰  May the Lord God of my master the king confirm it! ⁴¹  1:37 As the Lord is with my master the king, so may he be with Solomon, and may he make him an even greater king than my master King David!” ⁴² 

1:38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites ⁴³  went down, put Solomon on King David’s mule, and led him to Gihon. 1:39 Zadok the priest took a horn filled with olive oil ⁴⁴  from the tent and poured it on ⁴⁵  Solomon; the trumpet was blown and all the people declared, “Long live King Solomon!” 1:40 All the people followed him up, playing flutes and celebrating so loudly they made the ground shake. ⁴⁶ 

1:41 Now Adonijah and all his guests heard the commotion just as they had finished eating. ⁴⁷  When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he asked, “Why is there such a noisy commotion in the city?” ⁴⁸  1:42 As he was still speaking, Jonathan ⁴⁹  son of Abiathar the priest arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in, for ⁵⁰  an important man like you must be bringing good news.” ⁵¹  1:43 Jonathan replied ⁵²  to Adonijah: “No! ⁵³  Our master ⁵⁴  King David has made Solomon king. 1:44 The king sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites and they put him on the king’s mule. 1:45 Then Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed ⁵⁵  him king in Gihon. They went up from there rejoicing, and the city is in an uproar. That is the sound you hear.

[1:11]  ¹ tn Heb “Have you not heard?”

[1:11]  ² tn Heb “and our master David does not know.”

[1:12]  ³ tn Heb “now, come.” The imperative of הָלַךְ (halakh) is here used as an introductory interjection. See BDB 234 s.v. חָלַךְ.

[1:12]  ⁴ tn Or “so that.”

[1:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “come, go to.” The imperative of הָלַךְ (halakh) is here used as an introductory interjection. See BDB 234 s.v. חָלַךְ.

[1:13]  ⁶ tn Or “swear an oath to.”

[1:14]  ⁷ tn In the Hebrew text the sentence is introduced by the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), which here draws attention to Nathan’s concluding word of assurance and support. For this use of the word, see HALOT 252 s.v. הִנֵּה.

[1:14]  ⁸ tc The Hebrew text reads, “I will come after you.”

[1:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “fill up [i.e., confirm] your words.”

[1:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “bedroom.”

[1:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “bowed low and bowed down to.”

[1:18]  ¹² tc Instead of עַתָּה (’attah, “now”) many Hebrew mss, along with the Old Greek, Syriac Peshitta, and Latin Vulgate, have the similar sounding independent pronoun אַתָּה (’attah, “you”). This reading is followed in the present translation.

[1:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “you do not know [about it].”

[1:20]  ¹⁴ tc Many Hebrew mss have עַתָּה (’attah, “now”) rather than the similar sounding independent pronoun אַתָּה (’attah, “you”).

[1:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the eyes of all Israel are upon you to declare to them who will sit on the throne of my master the king after him.”

[1:21]  ¹⁶ tn The words “if a decision is not made” are added for clarification.

[1:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “lies down with his fathers.”

[1:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I and my son Solomon.” The order has been reversed in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “will be guilty”; NASB “considered offenders”; TEV “treated as traitors.”

[1:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) here draws attention to Nathan’s arrival and invites the audience to view the scene through the eyes of the participants.

[1:23]  ²¹ tn Heb “ground.” Since this was indoors, “floor” is more appropriate than “ground.”

[1:25]  ²² tn Heb “look.”

[1:25]  ²³ tn Heb “eating and drinking.”

[1:25]  ²⁴ tn Heb “let the king, Adonijah, live!”

[1:27]  ²⁵ tc Many Hebrew mss and ancient textual witnesses agree with the Qere in reading this as singular, “your servant.”

[1:27]  ²⁶ tn Heb “From my master the king is this thing done, and you did not make known to your servants who will sit on the throne of my master the king after him?”

[1:28]  ²⁷ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[1:28]  ²⁸ sn Summon Bathsheba. Bathsheba must have left the room when Nathan arrived (see 1:22).

[1:28]  ²⁹ tn Heb “she came before the king and stood before the king.”

[1:29]  ³⁰ tn Or “ransomed my life.”

[1:30]  ³¹ tn Or “carry out, perform.”

[1:31]  ³² tn Heb “bowed low, face [to] the ground, and bowed down to the king.”

[1:32]  ³³ sn Summon…Nathan. Nathan must have left the room when Bathsheba reentered.

[1:33]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the king.”

[1:33]  ³⁵ tn The plural form is used in the Hebrew text to indicate honor and authority.

[1:33]  ³⁶ tn Heb “mount Solomon my son on the mule that belongs to me and take him down to Gihon.”

[1:34]  ³⁷ tn Or “designate” (i.e., by anointing with oil).

[1:35]  ³⁸ tn Or “commanded.”

[1:36]  ³⁹ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[1:36]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “Amen.”

[1:36]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “So may the Lord God of my master the king say.”

[1:37]  ⁴² tn Heb “and may he make his throne greater than the throne of my master King David.”

[1:38]  ⁴³ sn The Kerethites and Pelethites were members of David’s royal guard (see 2 Sam 8:18). The Kerethites may have been descendants of an ethnic group originating in Crete.

[1:39]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “the horn of oil.” This has been specified as olive oil in the translation for clarity.

[1:39]  sn A horn filled with oil. An animal’s horn was used as an oil flask in the anointing ceremony.

[1:39]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “anointed.”

[1:40]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and all the people went up after him, and the people were playing flutes and rejoicing with great joy and the ground split open at the sound of them.” The verb בָּקַע (baqa’, “to split open”), which elsewhere describes the effects of an earthquake, is obviously here an exaggeration for the sake of emphasis.

[1:41]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “And Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard, now they had finished eating.”

[1:41]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “Why is the city’s sound noisy?”

[1:42]  ⁴⁹ tn The Hebrew text has “look” at this point. The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh), “look draws attention to Jonathan’s arrival and invites the audience to view the scene through the eyes of the participants.

[1:42]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “surely.”

[1:42]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “you are a man of strength [or “ability”] and you bring a message [that is] good.” Another option is to understand the phrase אִישׁ חַיִל (’ish khayil) in the sense of “a worthy man,” that is “loyal.” See also 1 Kgs 1:52 and HALOT 311 s.v. חַיִל.

[1:43]  ⁵² tn Heb “answered and said.”

[1:43]  ⁵³ tn For a similar use of אֲבָל (’aval), see Gen 17:19, where God rejects Abraham’s proposal and offers an alternative.

[1:43]  ⁵⁴ tn The plural form is used in the Hebrew text to indicate honor and authority.

[1:45]  ⁵⁵ tn I.e., designated by anointing with oil.