1 Kings 1 coup d'etat

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
1 Kings 1:5 Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, “I will be king.” So he got chariots and horses[a] ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. 6 (His father had never rebuked him by asking, “Why do you behave as you do?” He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom.)

7 Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they gave him their support. 8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei and Rei and David’s special guard did not join Adonijah.

9 Adonijah then sacrificed sheep, cattle and fattened calves at the Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel. He invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah, 10 but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the special guard or his brother Solomon.​

This is from Bibletrack.org.

Adonijah was David's son...and older than Solomon. Of course he felt that he should be the new successor to Israel's throne. As a matter of fact, the Army Chief of Staff, Joab supported him, and so did Abiathar, the Speaker of the House (actually he was the High Priest of Israel, co-serving with Zadok). However, Zadok (the other high priest), Benaiah (chief counselor to David and one of his mighty men of II Samuel 23, see notes) and Nathan just couldn't say King Adonijah; they were in a position to put a stop to it despite Adonijah's self crowning and royal sacrifice.

I suppose Adonijah felt the throne was legitimately his. According to II Samuel 3:2-4, Adonijah was the oldest living son of David (assuming Chaleab, son #2 must have died). Son #1, Amnon, had been killed by son #3, Absalom (who died in the attempted overthrow) leaving Adonijah, who was born way before Solomon...with several other sons born to David in between. You will recall that Solomon was actually conceived as a consolation prize for Bathsheba (II Samuel 12:24, after the death of their baby son who was conceived in adultery. And with the support of some influential people like General Joab and High Priest Abiathar, Adonijah thought he could successfully do what his full-blooded brother, Absalom, had failed to do - hijack the throne of Israel back in II Samuel 15.

By the way, David had gone to great extremes in I Chronicles 22 (see notes) to make certain that his successor would be Solomon. He even made a public declaration to the leadership of Israel at that time. Adonijah's attempt here is very devious.

This is from the blueletterbible.org site.

He prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him: Adonijah had a good marketing campaign, and he knew how to present himself as king. He hoped that if he put forth the image of a king, he would become king in reality.

"In effect this was a personal military force designed to anticipate Solomon's claim by a coup d'etat. (Out) runners were part of a close royal bodyguard." (Wiseman)

Adonijah was the brother of Absalom, and a look at 2 Samuel 15:1 shows that "He copied the conduct of his brother Absalom in every respect." (Clarke)​

Well... I guess Adonijah figured he was next. In the other kingdoms, the king's sons by order of birth, take the throne. In Judah, and Israel, though.... God picks. They keep forgetting... Judah and Israel are not really kingdoms... they are really theocracies with a token king. Since they are really theocracies... God picks the next token. Adonijah may be handsome, wealthy, and come from a good family, just like Saul... and Saul wasn't a very good token. In reality.... it's God's pick.

:coffee:
 

littlelady

God bless the USA
Thank you for your posts everyday, Becky. It is much easier than reading my Bible. Wish I had more time for that, but life is very busy right now. And, even though Railroad doesn’t post much here, anymore, I receive his daily devotionals, too. Y’all rock! I hope all is well with you. :huggy:

And, don’t think that no one reads your posts. You got 143 views today. :smile:
 
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seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
Thank you for your posts everyday, Becky. It is much easier than reading my Bible. Wish I had more time for that, but life is very busy right now. And, even though Railroad doesn’t post much here, anymore, I receive his daily devotionals, too. Y’all rock! I hope all is well with you. :huggy:

And, don’t think that no one reads your posts. You got 143 views today. :smile:

Thank you for your kind words. I've shared this site with some friends but they can't pull it up on their phones because it's not secure anymore. So I'm glad there are still people reading... I am surprised it's gone on this long... I enjoy doing it.

Becky
 

littlelady

God bless the USA
Thank you for your kind words. I've shared this site with some friends but they can't pull it up on their phones because it's not secure anymore. So I'm glad there are still people reading... I am surprised it's gone on this long... I enjoy doing it.

Becky

You are very welcome. :huggy:

And, according to a post by David, today, he indicated that there is no issue with this site being unsecure.
 

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
You are very welcome. :huggy:

And, according to a post by David, today, he indicated that there is no issue with this site being unsecure.

I am so happy that I figured out [for myself at least] that there was a GNA in the room with David, Bathsheba, and Nathan... I decided to do a search yesterday afternoon.... Apparently there is a King David Retirement Home in Pikesville... and others around the country but I found this one first. I also told my daughter [who use to be in the children's Sunday School class that I was lucky enough to teach] and she will be talking about it. I can just hear it now.... they're working with a resident and talking and my daughter says "so, my mom says that there was a GNA in the Bible." and her friend answers.... "yeah right", and my daughter replies... "yeah she was in charge of taking care of King David in his palace....and get this the requirement for the job.... you have to be honest, beautiful, and a virgin".... to which her friend replies... "well that leaves us out".... lol

:coffee:

:coffee:
 
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