Solomon Establishes his Throne (1 Kings 2)

David was on his deathbed when Solomon became the king of Israel. However, before handing the reins over to Solomon, David had a few words of advice and caution that he wanted to pass on to his son. He asked Solomon to “observe what the LORD requires” and to walk in His ways keeping His decrees and commands as written in the Law of Moses. Words, that any father would pass on to his son regardless of the immense weight of responsibility that was about to be trust upon Solomon’s shoulders. However, the next part is unique to David and shows his harbouring anger and resentment towards members of his own inner circle.

…Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood.

1 Kings 2:9 (NIV)

These are the last recorded words of David, the author of some of the most eloquently written Psalms that capture his relationship with Yahweh. Yet, in his later years, we see him drifting away from God and following the desires of his heart. On the surface, while David had seemingly forgiven his foes in his heart of hearts he prayed for their downfall. He asks Solomon to kill Joab, David’s nephew and commander of his armies and Shimei the Benjamite who cursed David when he was on the run from his son Absalom. Unsurprisingly there are no instructions from David to Solomon to deal with his brother Adonijah who started the coup.

While David is attributing the deaths of Abner and Amasa as the reason for wanting Joab executed, there seems to be something more to his hatred for his nephew. David himself hated Abner when he called him out for embittering Saul against him (1 Samuel 26). Later it was Abner who used Saul’s son as a surrogate king to take control of the northern tribes (2 Samuel 3). If David held Joab accountable for the murders of the former commanders of Israel, then he should have done something about it when those incidents occurred. He did not punish Joab fearing that he would lose the confidence of the tribe of Judah and ended up alienating the tribe of Benjamin who would have felt that the king was weak and not in control of the actions of his commander. So what changed that David, on his deathbed decided to suddenly enforce justice for Joab’s victims?

David would not have forgotten that it was Joab who killed his son Absalom when the latter had tried to stage a coup. At that time he did not want to stir up another revolt by having Joab executed but now he is passing on that burden to his son and letting Solomon deal with the ripple effects of his actions. David never could come around to kill any of his opposers but he had no problem with others doing his dirty work for him. He even used Joab to secretly kill the man with whose wife he was having an affair. Joab was also part of the (not-so-secret) plan to install Adonijah as king over Solomon, so it would have been easy to convince his son of the need to execute Joab.

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

1 Kings 2:10-11 (NIV)

Adonijah’s Request

One day, Adonijah reached out to Bathsheba, asking her to oblige and grant him one simple favour. He wanted to marry Abishag, the woman in whose care David spent his final years. Bathsheba did not find the request alarming and perhaps even thought that this would turn the tide of public perception in Solomon’s favour if she granted Adonijah’s request. Everyone would be in awe at the compassionate heart of Solomon who is not holding what Adonijah did against him. She approaches Solomon with Adonijah’s request but unsurprisingly Solomon was furious at the proposition.

Why does Adonijah want to marry his father’s concubine and why does Bathsheba accept his request?

Solomon knows this tactic very well as his elder brother Absalom did the same when he took over David’s harem and slept with his wives in broad daylight. Abner slept with Saul’s wives in a bid to dethrone Ish-Bosheth, Saul’s natural heir. Even Jacob shunned his eldest, Ruben for this disgraceful act. In those days, whenever a new king would come to power, he would amass power and influence over his predecessor’s regions by marrying his wives. Wives were verbal contracts of treaty between two kingdoms and it was crucial that an incoming king maintain the relationships built by his predecessor to ensure a smooth transition. However, Solomon did not fall for his brother’s ploy and ensured that another insurgency did not occur during his reign.

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

1 Kings 2:25

Solomon Takes His Revenge

Solomon installed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada as the new commander of Israel’s troops. He also removed Abiathar, David’s chief priest who had conspired with Adonijah, from all his priestly duties and sent him to his hometown for an enforced early retirement. In his place, Solomon appointed Zadok as the chief priest of Israel. As soon as news spread of Adonijah’s execution and the sweeping administrative changes that Solomon was making, Joab knew that his days were numbered too. He immediately ran to the tent of the LORD and grabbed onto the horns of the altar demanding mercy from the king.

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!”

1 Kings 2:29 (NIV)

There doesn’t seem to be a specific reason for killing Joab now unless Solomon thought that Adonijah got the idea to marry Abishag from David’s commander Joab. It could simply be that Solomon used Adonijah’s act of treason to oust his opposers. Perhaps Solomon was simply acting on his father’s instruction which was to not let Joab see out his golden years on earth in peace. Although, he doesn’t kill Abithar the priest and surprisingly even spares Shimei the Benjaminte, at least for the time being.

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.

1 Kings 2:36-38 (NIV)

Solomon acts wisely when he confines Shimei to the boundaries of Jerusalem. Killing him would have resulted in a backlash from the tribe of Benjamin who had a long-standing feud with the tribe of Judah. Allowing Shimei to go back to his homeland would have allowed him to stir up further chaos amongst the tribe of Benjamin. So Solomon kept Shimei close to him and waited for an opportune moment to defuse the threat he posed.

But three years later, two of Shimei’s slaves ran off to Achish son of Maakah, 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.

1 Kings 2:39-40 (NIV)

To be fair to Shimei, he abided by the king’s clause for three years. Moreover, the city of Gath was towards the west, so technically neither did Shimei cross the Kidron valley nor did he return to his hometown. However, Solomon had already made up his mind to use this opportunity as a direct disobedience of his orders and had Shimei executed at the hands of his commander Benaiah. Thus Solomon eradicated all of his enemies and firmly established his grip on the throne of Israel.

Solomon waited to build an airtight case against his rivals so that the people wouldn’t get upset when he had them executed. Oftentimes we too we too harbor hatred towards our enemies whom we claim to have forgiven. We should not be forgiving someone just with our words as our mind continuously seeks out opportunities for revenge. This happens when we forgive someone for the sake of the people around us and the resultant opinions they would form about us if we don’t depict a forgiving nature. It can be peer pressure or tensions within one’s family or even intervention from the pastoral representatives of the church that causes someone to forgive their enemies albeit at a superficial level.

We must learn to practice what Jesus preached when he asked us to not only forgive our enemies but pray for their well-being. If we continue to harbour anger towards our own kind we will never understand the sacrifice Jesus made when he came down from heaven to this sinful earth to die for those who hate Him.

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)

Discussion Questions

1. What does David have against Joab his long-time ally and nephew?
2. Was David Harbouring a vendetta against his enemies?
3. Why does Adonijah want to marry his father’s concubine and why does Bathsheba accept his request?
4. Why does Solomon have Joab killed when it was Adonijah, who supposedly violated the treaty?
5. Why does Solomon put Shimei under house arrest?
6. Solomon waited to build an airtight case against his rivals so that the people wouldn’t get upset when he had them executed. Like Solomon do we harbor hatred towards our enemies whom we have verbally forgiven?