And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me to day that he will not slay his servant with the sword.
A man stuffing himself at table while his rival is crowned, there is the picture of the godless everywhere. They gorge and grow confident while their house burns; the old world ate and drank secure until judgment fell. Adonijah's long feast shows how little he feared what was coming, yet fear should have gripped him the moment the trumpet sounded.
AI summary
Commenting on 1 Kings 1:41-53
And it was told Solomon,.... By some of his courtiers: saying, behold, Adonijah feareth King Solomon; lest he should take away his life: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar; which was the last resort of the guilty when they despaired of mercy otherwise: saying, let King Solomon swear unto me this day that he will not slay his servant...
1Ki 1:51-52 When this was reported to Solomon, together with the prayer of Adonijah that the king would swear to him that he would not put him to death with the sword (אם before ימית, a particle used in an oath), he promised him conditional impunity: “If he shall be brave (בּן־חיל, vir probus), none of his hair shall fall to the earth,” equivalent to...
Commenting on 1 Kings 1:51-52