1 Kings 1:50

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

⁴¹Now Adonijah and all his guests were finishing their feast when they heard the sound of the trumpet. "Why is the city in such a loud uproar?" asked Joab. ⁴²As he was speaking, suddenly Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest arrived. "Come in," said Adonijah, "for you are a man of valor. You must be bringing good news." ⁴³"Not at all," Jonathan replied. "Our lord King David has made Solomon king. ⁴⁴And with Solomon, the king has sent Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, along with Cherethites and Pelethites, and they have set him on the king's mule. ⁴⁵Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon, and they have gone up from there with rejoicing that rings out in the city. That is the noise you hear. ⁴⁶Moreover, Solomon has taken his seat on the royal throne. ⁴⁷The king's servants have also gone to congratulate our lord King David, saying, 'May your God make the name of Solomon more famous than your own name, and may He make his throne greater than your throne.' And the king has bowed in worship on his bed, ⁴⁸saying, 'May the LORD God of Israel be praised! Today He has provided one to sit on my throne, and my eyes have seen it.'" ⁴⁹At this, all the guests of Adonijah arose in terror and scattered. ⁵⁰But Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, got up and went to take hold of the horns of the altar.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

caught: 1 Kings 2:28, Exodus 21:14, Exodus 38:2, Psalms 118:27

Reciprocal: Exodus 27:2 - horns of it upon the four corners thereof 1 Kings 2:13 - Adonijah 1 Chronicles 29:24 - all the sons Ecclesiastes 8:3 - stand

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Adonijah feared because of Solomon,.... Lest he should seize him as an usurper and traitor, and put him to death:

and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar; either that which was at Gibeon, where the tabernacle now was; see 1 Kings 3:4; so Jarchi; or rather that which was nearest, the altar that David had built in the threshingfloor of Araunah, 2 Samuel 24:25; the altar was a sort of asylum, or refuge, for such who had committed any crime worthy of death; not by divine appointment, but by custom, it being supposed that none would presume to defile with blood that which was sacred to the Lord; or shed the blood of men where the blood of beasts was poured; or use severity and strict justice, but mercy, where sacrifices were offered to atone for sin, and mercy was shown on account of them; these were notions, and this a custom, which obtained very early, and even among the Jews; see Exodus 21:14; as well as among Gentiles; with whom it was usual, as to flee to the statues of their emperors, and to the temples of their deities, so likewise to their altars; this was customary among the Molossians, Samothracians, Crotoniatae, and Messenians; and particularly the altar of Jupiter Servator was an asylum, or place of refuge, to the Ithacians l. Cornelius Nepos m has given us an instance of one that fled to a temple of Neptune, and sat upon the altar for his security, as here Adonijah laid hold on the horns of this, that none might force him from it.

l Alexander ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 3. c. 20. m Vit. Pausan l. 4. c. 4.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

On the “horns” of the altar, see Exodus 27:2 note. The altar to which Adonijah fled was probably in the “tabernacle” already referred to 1 Kings 1:39.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 1:50. Adonijah feared — He knew he had usurped the kingdom, and had not his father's consent; and, as he finds now that Solomon is appointed by David, he knows well that the people will immediately respect that appointment, and that his case is hopeless; he therefore took sanctuary, and, fleeing to the tabernacle, laid hold on one of the horns of the altar, as if appealing to the protection of God against the violence of men. The altar was a privileged place, and it was deemed sacrilege to molest a man who had taken refuge there. See 1 Kings 2:28.