And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.
Abiathar and Joab were equally guilty of treason, yet Solomon rightly made a difference: Abiathar is only degraded and confined to Anathoth, spared because he had borne the ark before David and suffered all his afflictions. Kindness to God's people shall be remembered to their advantage.
AI summary
Commenting on 1 Kings 2:26-34
Solomon deposed Abiathar from the high priesthood by his own royal authority, fulfilling the word of the Lord spoken against the house of Eli in Shiloh, that the priesthood would be removed from Ithamar's line and given to Eleazar's.
AI summary
Abiathar deserved death as Adonijah's accomplice, yet Solomon, respecting both his priestly office and his long service to David, banished him to Anathoth instead. His degradation remarkably fulfilled the doom pronounced against the house of Eli.
AI summary