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I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. (I Kings 3:13) |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Today's Passage : Today's Passage: The Story of Solomon (5) Bible Verse:1 Kings 2:13-25 (ESV) "Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. He said, “You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel fully expected me to reign. However, the kingdom has turned about and become my brother's, for it was his from the Lord. Please ask King Solomon — he will not refuse you — to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.” Bathsheba said, “Very well; I will speak for you to the king.” So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king's mother, and she sat on his right. Then she said, “I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you.” She said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as his wife.” King Solomon answered his mother, “And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he is my older brother, and on his side are Abiathar the priest and Joab the son of Zeruiah.” Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, “God do so to me and more also if this word does not cost Adonijah his life! Now therefore as the Lord lives, who has established me and placed me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today.” So King Solomon sent Benaiah, and he struck him down, and he died." Message:
What in the world is going on here? Did Solomon not promise that Adonijah might live? It seems here that he has done three serious wrongs in a single, rather Machiavellian, act: First, he promised to allow Adonijah to live and then killed him (almost immediately); second, he broke his promise to Bathsheba to do whatever she might ask; and third, he committed murder.
Susan Hayward as Bathsheba
Susan Hayward as Bathsheba
David & Bathsheba, 1951
Our first problem in answering these questions is that we have run smack into the difficulties of Old Testament translation and interpretation. Often motivations are not fully given, details omitted, or meaning has become fuzzy (or been lost completely) over time. We might compare it to a photograph from the mid- to late-1800s. When you see such a photograph, the people look, well, weird. Their eyes bug out, they almost always look severe and stern and stiff as a board, their mouths are always closed, etc. There are reasons for this. They had to sit still for a long time without blinking, for example, which is why their eyes look buggy.
So it is, sometimes, trying to translate ancient Hebrew. Think of a written language as a technology, like photography. Ancient Hebrew was primitive. They had not discovered, for example, vowels; their vocabulary was tiny; their grammar, crude; their punctuation, next to non-existent. (See an example.) By the times of Christ, it was already an ancient dead language, used only for religious purposes. (Indeed, about 10% of the words in the Pentateuch are translated by guesswork, if at all.) Biblical Greek, although it was much advanced compared to Hebrew, was itself fairly rudimentary compared to modern languages. (See an example.)
That said, in this instance we do get good guidance from the text and we can make a very good conjecture at Solomon's justification for killing Adonijah. Israel was decidedly Oriental; the accepted policies regarding royal succession were closer to those of Persia (where a new king might slaughter dozens of brothers) than Germany or France.
Xerxes the god-king
The god-king Xerxes.
Western Europe was still barbaric in 1000 B.C.; but still, its nations did not have and would never develop royalty with the godlike supremacy of an Egyptian Pharaoh or Persian king. To marry the concubine of a former king was forbidden, an outrage; the only person who might do so was a successor king. Adonijah's request to be “given” the famous last concubine of David amounted to a resumption of his campaign to usurp the throne. It could only be seen as a preliminary to civil war.
Solomon's promise was: “If he will show himself a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the earth, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.” (1 Kings 1:52) We are not making excuses for Solomon; he and David did terrible things. Here, though, he is justified in killing Adonijah. It is not a breach of his promise, and it is not murder, for Adonijah's attempt to unseat the anointed king of Yahweh is a sacrilege.
As to why he would tell Bathsheba he would grant her request, and then immediately refuse it, the best explanation was that the Hebrews were “men of their word” but only if they took a solemn vow. Solomon's words were not a promise, but a pleasantry and an indication of Bathsheba's high status, both officially and from personal affection. Notice that he bows to her and seats her to his right — very, very high honors from a king.
Meditation : Prayer : Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. |
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