21 So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife.”
22 And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “Now why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also—for he is my aolder brother—for him, and for bAbiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.”
23 Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, a“May God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life!
24 Now therefore, as the Lord lives, who has confirmed me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has established a1 house for me, as He apromised, Adonijah shall be put to death today!”
25 So King Solomon sent by the hand of aBenaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he struck him down, and he died.
Abiathar Exiled, Joab Executed
26 And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to aAnathoth, to your own fields, for1 you are deserving of death; but I will not put you to death at this time, bbecause you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and because you were afflicted every time my father was afflicted.”
27 So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, that he might afulfill the word of the Lord which He spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh.
28 Then news came to Joab, for Joab ahad defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and btook hold of the horns of the altar.
29 And King Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the Lord; there he is, by the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, astrike him down.”
30 So Benaiah went to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him, “Thus says the king, a‘Come out!’ ” And he said, “No, but I will die here.” And Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.”
31 Then the king said to him, a“Do as he has said, and strike him down and bury him, bthat you may take away from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab shed.
32 So the Lord awill return his blood on his head, because he struck down two men more righteous band better than he, and killed them with the sword—cAbner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and dAmasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah—though my father David did not know it.
33 Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and aupon the head of his descendants forever. bBut upon David and his descendants, upon his house and his throne, there shall be peace forever from the Lord.”
34 So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
35 The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and the king put aZadok the priest in the place of bAbiathar.
Shimei Executed
36 Then the king sent and called for aShimei, and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there anywhere.
37 For it shall be, on the day you go out and cross athe Brook Kidron, know for certain you shall surely die; byour blood shall be on your own head.”
38 And Shimei said to the king, “The saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so your servant will do.” So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.
39 Now it happened at the end of three years, that two slaves of Shimei ran away to aAchish the son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, “Look, your slaves are in Gath!”
40 So Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to seek his slaves. And Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath.
41 And Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back.
42 Then the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord, and warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and travel anywhere, you shall surely die’? And you said to me, ‘The word I have heard is good.’
43 Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord and the commandment that I gave you?”
44 The king said moreover to Shimei, “You know, as your heart acknowledges, aall the wickedness that you did to my father David; therefore the Lord will breturn your wickedness on your own head.
45 But King Solomon shall be blessed, and athe throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.”
46 So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out and struck him down, and he died. Thus the akingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Book Notes:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Book Notes
I & II Kings
I & II Kings
THE FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF KINGS, in the ancient copies of the Hebrew Bible, constitute one book. Various titles have been given them; in the Septuagint and the Vulgate they are called the Third and Fourth Books of Kings. The authorship of these books is unknown; but the prevailing opinion is that they were compiled by Ezra, or one of the later prophets, from the ancient documents that are so frequently referred to in the course of the history as of public and established authority. Their inspired character was acknowledged by the Jewish Church, which ranked them in the sacred canon; and, besides, it is attested by our Lord, who frequently quotes from them (compare I Kings 17:9; II Kings 5:14 with Luke 4:24-27; I Kings 10:1 with Matthew 12:42).
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