Why did Solomon have Adonijah killed?

[Tucker1985]

1 Kings 2:13-25 describes Adonijah going to Bathsheba (queen mother of Solomon) who in turn presents his petition to her son king Solomon. Solomon said he woud not refuse his mother’s request, yet he had Adonijah killed. Could you please explain his reaction - was this a refusal of her request? Thanks!

 

[Rocks_91]

This Adonijah had previously declared himself king. David wanted his son Solomon to be king, as he had promised his wife that it would be so, and had Solomon anointed and crowned.

When Adonijah made the request to Bathsheba to take one of Solomon’s servants as his wife, of course Solomon must have thought that the guy had some nerve. Solomon saw him as a very dangerous person and a potential threat to his kingdom, and thus had him killed.

 

[midori]

Don’t forget-- Solomon was actually a younger son of David’s than Adonijah was. (Solomon’s mother was Bathsheba; Adonijah’s mother was Haggith.) So because Adonijah was an elder son, it was presumed that he would be ahead of Solomon in line for the throne, but Bathsheba and the prophet Nathan both convinced David to declare Solomon his heir instead.

Also don’t forget who Abishag the Shunammite was: she was basically King David’s hot water bottle. She would snuggle up with him in bed to keep him warm in his old age. Even though Kings says that “he knew her not”, and she neither married him nor had any relations with him, sleeping with the King’s concubines was one way of declaring yourself king. (Remember older brother Absalom?)

So here you have a guy who, in ch 1, declared himself King when his father was dying, but Solomon was crowned instead. All that gets forgiven and put in the past, even though it must have been tremendously humiliating, but Solomon was very magnanimous and said that as long as he shows himself worthy, he’ll live, but if he shows himself evil, he’ll die next time. So what does he do in ch 2, but try to pull this stunt? Whether it was innocent or part of a scheme, it doesn’t matter— it was a Really Bad Idea, and his lack of prudence and judgment caused things to end badly for him.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

1 Kings 2:13-25 describes Adonijah going to Bathsheba (queen mother of Solomon) who in turn presents his petition to her son king Solomon. Solomon said he woud not refuse his mother’s request, yet he had Adonijah killed. Could you please explain his reaction - was this a refusal of her request? Thanks!

It appears that Solomon felt bound to his promise to his mother, but could not do it because it would cost him the kingship. As the wisest of men he fulfilled the promise, but insured that Adonijah did not profit by it. [Clever enough to have been a Jesuit. ]

From this we know that Jesus, the eternal successor to Solomon, will always honor His Mother’s requests. Bathsheba is the type for the King’s mother as the Great Lady of the Judaic Court. However, being quite a bit brighter than Bathsheba, and having a will that is always in synch with God’s Will, she will not ask for things that are harmful.