I Kings 2, Solomon Takes Charge

David, on his deathbed, has arranged for Solomon to be anointed king.  This is a coregency that allows Solomon to act as king while David is still living. There will be other coregencies in the future line of kings of Israel and Judah.

1 Kings 2: 1-4, "Follow YHWH"

When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son. "I am about to go the way of all the earth," he said. "So be strong, show yourself a man, and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go, and that the LORD may keep his promise to me: `If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.'

David admonishes Solomon to follow YHWH at all times, thus preserving an eternal line of descendants on the throne.

1 Kings 2: 5-6, "Kill Joab"

"Now you yourself know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me--what he did to the two commanders of Israel's armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He killed them, shedding their blood in peacetime as if in battle, and with that blood stained the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet. Deal with him according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace.

Joab, whose violence has preserved David's kingdom -- but also killed a number of good men -- is not to continue living. Joab murdered Abner and Amasa in cold blood. (Joab also arranged the killing of Absalom but that is not mentioned, presumably because it occurred during warfare.)  Solomon is to make sure that this bloodstained murderer meets the penalty he has imposed on others, dying a bloody death.

1 Kings 2: 7, Barzillai remembered

"But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead and let them be among those who eat at your table. They stood by me when I fled from your brother Absalom.

Barzillai was an old man when David defeated Solomon.  Barzillai may have now passed on but David wants his sons remembered.

1 Kings 2: 8-9, Shimei remembered also

"And remember, you have with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, who called down bitter curses on me the day I went to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD: `I will not put you to death by the sword.' But now, do not consider him innocent. You are a man of wisdom; you will know what to do to him. Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood."
 

And Shimei, who cursed David as David fled Absalom (II Samuel 16: 5-13), is also to be killed. Shimei had sought reconciliation after David's victory and David had given it to him, temporarily. But upon David's death, Solomon is free to act.

David's last words here mix vendetta with a legitimate concern that these powerful but treacherous men be removed.

1 Kings 2: 10-11, Death of David

Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. He had reigned forty years over Israel--seven years in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem.

David "rests with his fathers", a euphemism for entering the grave.

Historians believe David's death occurred about 970 BC. (See this Wikipedia page on the Kings of Israel and Judah.) The scroll of Samuel (1 & 2 Samuel) then covers about a century (1070-970 BC) in the history of the young nation of Israel. We will now spend about nine chapters on the forty years of the kingdom of Solomon before hurrying through another century.

1 Kings 2: 12-18, Adonijah's request

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

Now Adonijah, the son of Haggith, went to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. Bathsheba asked him, "Do you come peacefully?" 

He answered, "Yes, peacefully." Then he added, "I have something to say to you." 

"You may say it," she replied.

"As you know," he said, "the kingdom was mine. All Israel looked to me as their king. But things changed, and the kingdom has gone to my brother; for it has come to him from the LORD. Now I have one request to make of you. Do not refuse me." 

"You may make it," she said.

So he continued, "Please ask King Solomon--he will not refuse you--to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife."

"Very well," Bathsheba replied, "I will speak to the king for you."
 

Adonijah has noticed the beautiful woman who had been attending David.  Not only is she beautiful, but she may represent now some type of symbol of power.  Adonijah, in his desire for Abishag, may be asking too much. (See 2 Samuel 3: 6-12, where Ish-bosheth loses his throne by getting angry about Abner sleeping with his father's concubine.) Adonijah does not help his case by whining that "the kingdom was mine." That comments suggests that Adonijah might still try to overthrow Solomon.

1 Kings 2: 19-21, Bathsheba enters the throne room

When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for the king's mother, and she sat down at his right hand. "I have one small request to make of you," she said. "Do not refuse me." 

The king replied, "Make it, my mother; I will not refuse you."

So she said, "Let Abishag the Shunammite be given in marriage to your brother Adonijah."
 

When the queen mother enters the throne room, a throne is brought for her to sit on.  She has a request and Solomon says that he won't refuse it. That seems to be a merely formal reply by the king, as he will indeed refuse this request!

1 Kings 2: 22-25, Solomon's response

King Solomon answered his mother, "Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? You might as well request the kingdom for him--after all, he is my older brother--yes, for him and for Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah!"

Then King Solomon swore by the LORD: "May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if Adonijah does not pay with his life for this request! And now, as surely as the LORD lives--he who has established me securely on the throne of my father David and has founded a dynasty for me as he promised--Adonijah shall be put to death today!"

So King Solomon gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he struck down Adonijah and he died.

Adonijah's request for a member of David harem is apparently an attempt to regain some power or royal prestige. From Solomon's viewpoint, this is a form of treachery. Solomon responds in anger and orders that Adonijah be executed. David's former bodyguard obeys and kills Adonijah.

1 Kings 2: 26-27, Abiathar removed

To Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go back to your fields in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but I will not put you to death now, because you carried the ark of the Sovereign Lord before my father David and shared all my father’s hardships.” 

So Solomon removed Abiathar from the priesthood of the Lord, fulfilling the word the Lord had spoken at Shiloh about the house of Eli.

Abiathar, who had supported Adonijah, is not killed but exiled. He goes home to Anithoth, the future birthplace of the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:1.) 

The last sentence alludes to the prophecy in 1 Samuel 2: 27-36.

1 Kings 2: 28-34, Assassination of Joab

When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah though not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar.

King Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the tent of the LORD and was beside the altar. Then Solomon ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, "Go, strike him down!"

So Benaiah entered the tent of the LORD and said to Joab, "The king says, `Come out!'" 

But he answered, "No, I will die here." 

Benaiah reported to the king, "This is how Joab answered me."

Then the king commanded Benaiah, "Do as he says. Strike him down and bury him, and so clear me and my father's house of the guilt of the innocent blood that Joab shed. The LORD will repay him for the blood he shed, because without the knowledge of my father David he attacked two men and killed them with the sword. Both of them--Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah's army--were better men and more upright than he. May the guilt of their blood rest on the head of Joab and his descendants forever. But on David and his descendants, his house and his throne, may there be the LORD's peace forever."

So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and struck down Joab and killed him, and he was buried on his own land in the desert.

Joab flees to the tent of God and, like earlier individuals, grabs "the horn of the altar", seeking sanctuary. However, ancient Mosaic Law allowed the execution of a murderer, even when they claimed sanctuary. Joab murdered Abner (2 Samuel 3: 27) and Amasa (2 Samuel 20: 9-10) in cold blood and so Solomon orders his death. (Joab also played a part in the killing of Absalom but that occurred during warfare and might not have been viewed as murder.)

1 Kings 2: 35, Benaiah elevated

The king put Benaiah son of Jehoiada over the army in Joab's position and replaced Abiathar with Zadok the priest.

Benaiah, former bodyguard to David, is elevated to leader of Solomon's army.

1 Kings 2: 36-40, House arrest

Then the king sent for Shimei and said to him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else. The day you leave and cross the Kidron Valley, you can be sure you will die; your blood will be on your own head."

Shimei answered the king, "What you say is good. Your servant will do as my lord the king has said." And Shimei stayed in Jerusalem for a long time.

But three years later, two of Shimei's slaves ran off to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath, and Shimei was told, "Your slaves are in Gath." At this, he saddled his donkey and went to Achish at Gath in search of his slaves. So Shimei went away and brought the slaves back from Gath.

One more of David's instructions is still to be carried out -- the assassination of Shimei. Solomon gives Shimei an opportunity for "house arrest" and Shimei agrees.  But eventually, chasing runaway slaves, Shimei violates the agreement.

What does this passage tell us about slaves in Israel?  Are we still following the decrees of Deuteronomy?

1 Kings 2: 41-46, Execution of Shimei

 When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned, the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "Did I not make you swear by the LORD and warn you, `On the day you leave to go anywhere else, you can be sure you will die'? At that time you said to me, `What you say is good. I will obey.' Why then did you not keep your oath to the LORD and obey the command I gave you?"

The king also said to Shimei, "You know in your heart all the wrong you did to my father David. Now the LORD will repay you for your wrongdoing. But King Solomon will be blessed, and David's throne will remain secure before the LORD forever."

Then the king gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down and killed him. The kingdom was now firmly established in Solomon's hands.

Solomon has gotten rid of the last individual to oppose David. The chapter ends with a summary that Solomon now has firmly established rule in all Israel.