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Friday, December 19th, 2025
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Complete Jewish Bible

1 Kings 1:20

As for you, my lord the king, all Isra'el is watching you; they are waiting for you to tell them who is to sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Bath-Sheba (Bathsheba);   Civil Service;   Intercession;   Petition;   Politics;   Solomon;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Nathan;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Adonijah;   Bathsheba;   Solomon;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Bath-Sheba;   David;   Solomon;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Bathsheba;   Nathan;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Adonijah;   Benaiah;   Nathan;   Queen;   Wheel;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Adonijah;   Bathsheba;   Firstborn;   Israel;   Nathan;   Solomon;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Bathsheba ;   Benaiah ;   Jehoiada ;   Nathan ;   Zadok ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Adonijah;   Bath-sheba;   David;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Da'vid;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Hebrew Monarchy, the;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you to tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
Hebrew Names Version
You, my lord the king, the eyes of all Yisra'el are on you, that you should tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
King James Version
And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
English Standard Version
And now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
New Century Version
My master and king, all the Israelites are watching you, waiting for you to decide who will be king after you.
New English Translation
Now, my master, O king, all Israel is watching anxiously to see who is named to succeed my master the king on the throne.
Amplified Bible
"Now as for you, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you [waiting for you] to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
New American Standard Bible
"And as for you, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon you, to announce to them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And thou, my lorde, O King, knowest that the eyes of all Israel are on thee, that thou shouldest tell them, who shoulde sit on the throne of my lord the King after him.
Legacy Standard Bible
As for you now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
Contemporary English Version
Your Majesty, everyone in Israel is waiting for you to announce who will be the next king.
Darby Translation
And thou, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
Easy-to-Read Version
Now, my lord and king, all the Israelites are watching you. They are waiting for you to decide who will be the next king after you.
George Lamsa Translation
And you, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon you, that you should tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
Good News Translation
Your Majesty, all the people of Israel are looking to you to tell them who is to succeed you as king.
Lexham English Bible
But as for you, my lord the king, the eyes of all of Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
Literal Translation
And you, my lord O king, the eyes of Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Neuertheles thou my lorde art kynge, the eyes of all Israel loke vnto the., that thou shuldest shewe them who shall syt vpon the seate of my lorde the kynge after the.
American Standard Version
And thou, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
Bible in Basic English
And now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, waiting for you to say who is to take the place of my lord the king after him.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And nowe my lorde O king, the eyes of all Israel wayte on thee, that thou shouldest tell them who ought to sit on the seate of my lord the king after him:
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And thou, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
King James Version (1611)
And thou, my lord O king, the eyes of all Israel are vpon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And thou, my lord, O king, —the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, to tell them who shall sit upon the throne of my lord the king after him.
English Revised Version
And thou, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
Berean Standard Bible
And as for you, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon you to tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Netheles, my lord the kyng, the iyen of al Israel biholden in to thee, that thou schewe to hem, who owith to sitte in thi trone, my lord the kyng, aftir thee;
Young's Literal Translation
And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel [are] on thee, to declare to them who doth sit on the throne of my lord the king after him;
Update Bible Version
And you, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you should tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
Webster's Bible Translation
And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel [are] upon thee, that thou shouldst tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
World English Bible
You, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you should tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
New King James Version
And as for you, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you should tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
New Living Translation
And now, my lord the king, all Israel is waiting for you to announce who will become king after you.
New Life Bible
Now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you. They are waiting for you to tell them who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
New Revised Standard
But you, my lord the king—the eyes of all Israel are on you to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Thou, therefore, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel, are upon thee, - to tell them, who shall sit upon the throne of my lord the king, after him.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And now, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldst tell them, who shall sit on thy throne, my lord the king, after thee.
Revised Standard Version
And now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"As for you now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

Contextual Overview

11 Natan went to Bat-Sheva the mother of Shlomo and said, "Haven't you heard that Adoniyah the son of Haggit has become king without the knowledge of David our lord? 12 Now, come, please let me give you advice, so that you can save both your own life and that of your son Shlomo. 13 Go, get in to see King David, and say to him, ‘My lord, king, didn't you swear to your servant, "Your son Shlomo will be king after me; he will sit on my throne"? So why is Adoniyah king?' 14 Right then, while you are still talking with the king, I will also come in after you and confirm what you are saying." 15 Bat-Sheva went in to the king in his room. (The king was very old; Avishag the Shunamit was in attendance on the king.) 16 Bat-Sheva bowed, prostrating herself to the king. The king asked, "What do you want?" 17 She answered him, "My lord, you swore by Adonai your God to your servant, ‘Your son Shlomo will be king after me; he will sit on my throne.' 18 But now, here is Adoniyah ruling as king; and you, my lord the king, don't know anything about it. 19 He has killed oxen, fattened calves and sheep in great numbers; and he has summoned all the sons of the king, Evyatar the cohen and Yo'av the commander of the army; but he didn't summon Shlomo your servant. 20 As for you, my lord the king, all Isra'el is watching you; they are waiting for you to tell them who is to sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the eyes: 2 Chronicles 20:12, Psalms 25:15, Psalms 123:2, Zechariah 3:9

that thou: At this time the monarchy of Israel was unsettled; no man knew who was to succeed to the crown; and the minds of the people were as unsettled as the succession. It was neither hereditary nor elective: the king, as was anciently the case in most countries, named his successor; but in this instance, God had already assigned the throne to Solomon. 2 Samuel 23:2, 1 Chronicles 22:8-10, 1 Chronicles 28:5, 1 Chronicles 28:6, 1 Chronicles 28:10, 1 Chronicles 29:1

Cross-References

Genesis 1:7
God made the dome and divided the water under the dome from the water above the dome; that is how it was,
Genesis 1:14
(A: ii) God said, "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to divide the day from the night; let them be for signs, seasons, days and years;
Genesis 1:22
Then God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful, multiply and fill the water of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."
Genesis 1:24
(A: iii) God said, "Let the earth bring forth each kind of living creature — each kind of livestock, crawling animal and wild beast"; and that is how it was.
Genesis 1:25
God made each kind of wild beast, each kind of livestock and every kind of animal that crawls along the ground; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:30
And to every wild animal, bird in the air and creature crawling on the earth, in which there is a living soul, I am giving as food every kind of green plant." And that is how it was.
Genesis 2:19
So from the ground Adonai , God, formed every wild animal and every bird that flies in the air, and he brought them to the person to see what he would call them. Whatever the person would call each living creature, that was to be its name.
Genesis 8:17
Bring out with you every living thing you have with you — birds, livestock and every animal that creeps on the earth — so that they can swarm on the earth, be fruitful and multiply on the earth."
1 Kings 4:33
King Shlomo was king over all Isra'el, and these were his high officials: ‘Azaryah the son of Tzadok, the cohen; Elichoref and Achiyah the sons of Shisha, secretaries; Y'hoshafat the son of Achilud, secretary of state; B'nayah the son of Y'hoyada, commander of the army; Tzadok and Evyatar, cohanim; ‘Azaryah the son of Natan, chief administrator; Zavud the son of Natan, the king's trusted counselor; Achishar, in charge of the palace; Adoniram the son of ‘Avda, in charge of forced labor. Shlomo had twelve officers over all Isra'el who were in charge of providing food and supplies for the king and his household; each one was in charge of provisions for one month out of the year. They were: the son of Hur, in the hills of Efrayim; the son of Deker, in Makatz, Sha‘albim, Beit-Shemesh and Eilon-Beit-Hanan; the son of Hesed, in Arubot; he also had charge of Sokhoh and all the territory of Hefer; the son of Avinadav, in all the area of Dor; he had Tafat the daughter of Shlomo as his wife; Ba‘ana the son of Achilud, in Ta‘anakh, Megiddo, and all Beit-Sh'an by Tzartan below Yizre‘el, from Beit-Sh'an to Avel-M'cholah, as far as beyond Yokme‘am; the son of Gever, in Ramot-Gil‘ad; he was in charge of the villages of Ya'ir the son of M'nasheh in Gil‘ad and in charge of the region of Argov in Bashan, sixty large cities with walls and bronze bars; Achinadav the son of ‘Iddo, in Machanayim; Achima‘atz, in Naftali; he also took Basmat the daughter of Shlomo as his wife; Ba‘ana the son of Hushai, in Asher and in Alot; Y'hoshafat the son of Paruach, in Yissakhar; Shim‘i the son of Ela, in Binyamin; and Gever the son of Uri, in the land of Gil‘ad, the country of Sichon king of the Emori and ‘Og king of Bashan. Over all these, there was one administrator in the land. Y'hudah and Isra'el were as numerous as sand grains on the seashore; they ate, drank and enjoyed themselves.
Psalms 148:10
wild animals and all livestock, creeping reptiles, flying birds,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And thou, my lord, O king,.... As for thee, or what concerns thee, or is incumbent on thee, will appear from the expectations of the people:

the eyes of all Israel [are] upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him; this she said, to dissipate any fears that might possess his mind on hearing what Adonijah had done, that the people in general had assented to it, and encouraged him to it; whereas the body of the people were waiting to hear what was the will and determination of David: for they not only considered him as having a power to name a successor, as was afterwards done by Rehoboam, but as one that had the mind of God revealed to him who should be his successor, to which they should pay a regard.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Tell them who shall sit on the throne - Side by side with what may be called the natural right of hereditary succession, there existed in the old world, and especially in the East, a right, if not of absolutely designating a successor, yet at any rate of choosing one among several sons. Thus, Cyrus designated Cambyses; and Darius designated Xerxes; and a still more absolute right of nomination was exercised by some of the Roman emperors.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 1:20. That thou shouldest tell - who shall sit on the throne — This was a monarchy neither hereditary nor elective; the king simply named his successor. This obtained less or more, anciently, in most countries.


 
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