Adonijah replied, “Please speak to King Solomon, since he will not turn you down. Let him give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.”
Solomon's throne was not won by the sword like David's but settled at once; and when Adonijah could not rest easy under mercy, he ruined himself by his own restless ambition. Some men know not when they are well treated and so treasure up judgment for themselves by presuming on God's patience.
AI summary
Commenting on 1 Kings 2:12-25
Adonijah claims ignorance of the law forbidding a man to take his father's wife, and so does Bathsheba; otherwise neither would have dared such a request. Yet they both knew she was David's concubine and solely at Solomon's disposal, which is why Adonijah went to his mother rather than to the woman herself or her kin. His real aim was to secure what belonged to the king.
AI summary
Solomon seized on this request as his pretext for murder, though Adonijah seems to have wanted only the woman and made no claim to the throne. It is an easy thing to find a staff to beat a dog. Whoever tries to cloak Solomon's killing of his brother in state necessity or Divine command does injury to truth itself.
AI summary