CHAPTER 2

(1014 B.C.)

DAVIDS CHARGE TO SOLOMON

¹Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying (how long David lived after making Solomon king is not stated, but it was probably only a few months),

²I go the way of all the Earth: be thou strong therefore, and show yourself a man (Davids charge was not that of a revengeful private person, but rather the judicial act of a Chief Magistrate conscious of his responsibility when handing over his office to his successor);

³And keep the charge of the LORD your God, to walk in His Ways, to keep His Statutes, and His Commandments, and His Judgments, and His Testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do, and whithersoever you turn yourself (David points out to Solomon that success lay only in close adherence and full subjection to the written Word of God; it has not changed from then until now):

⁴That the LORD may continue His Word which He spoke concerning me, saying, If your children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said He) a man on the throne of Israel (in effect, David is saying that whoever sits on the throne of Israel must adhere strictly to the Word of God, hence, him giving this great charge in the previous Verse).

⁵Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet (David is proclaiming the fact that Joab is a murderer, meaning that he was stained with innocent blood, blood which cried to Heaven for vengeance [Gen. 4:10]).

⁶Do therefore according to your wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace (the Lord had no doubt told David what was to be done, as it regards Joab).

⁷But show kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those who eat at your table: for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom your brother (as the Holy Spirit gave directions of Judgment concerning Joab, as well, He gives directions of Blessing concerning the sons of Barzillai; the old man had helped David when David was in dire straits; David never forgot it, telling us that the Holy Spirit never forgets anything, good or bad, with the exception of sins that are washed by the Blood of the Lamb).

⁸And, behold, you have with you Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, which cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I swore to him by the LORD, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword.

⁹Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for you are a wise man, and know what you ought to do unto him; but his hoar head you bring down to the grave with blood (Davids words were not inspired by malice or cruelty, but rather for the sake of the Kingdom of God; these men so named in judgment had no regard for God, or the Ways of the Lord; so they had to be dealt with, or they would cause grievous problems shortly!).

THE DEATH OF DAVID

¹⁰So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. (And so died one of the greatest men of God who ever lived. David wrote over half of the Psalms. In some ways, he filled the Offices of Prophet, Priest, and King. He was a Type of Christ, and his successor would ultimately be called The Son of David, and then King of kings and Lord of lords. Despite the sins, faults, and failures, his heart was ever after God.

His name is the first human name in the New Testament [Mat. 1:1] and the last human name in the New Testament [Rev. 22:16]. During the great Kingdom Age to come under the Lord Jesus Christ, David will once again rule Israel in all her glory, fulfilling the great Prophecies that were given to him by Nathan the Prophet.)

¹¹And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem (in the coming Kingdom Age, under Christ, he will reign in Jerusalem for a thousand years).

¹²Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly. (As David was a Type of Christ Who brought Salvation to Israel and the world, likewise, Solomon is a Type of Christ Who will reign over an established kingdom, with all enemies defeated, in what is known as the Kingdom Age, or the Millennial Reign. However, it must ever be remembered that David and Solomon were but Types, and poor, frail, human Types at that, who ultimately always fail; nevertheless, the One to Whom they pointed, the Lord Jesus Christ, has never failed and, in fact, will never fail.

Solomon was perhaps about 20 years of age when he took the throne.)

ADONIJAH IS EXECUTED

¹³And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, Do you come peaceably? And he said, Peaceably (foiled in his purpose to mount the throne by direct means, Adonijah and his advisors had recourse to intrigue and subtlety; by the aid of Abishag, he hopes to accomplish what his chariots and horsemen had failed to effect).

¹⁴He said moreover, I have somewhat to say unto you. And she said, Say on.

¹⁵And he said, You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: howbeit the kingdom is turned about, and is become my brothers: for it was his from the LORD (the me is emphatic by its position; so is the mine used just before; in fact, these statements were not correct; anyway, this Verse shows that Adonijah had not renounced his pretensions to the throne; if he couldnt get it one way, he will try another; his stating that the throne was Solomons, from the LORD, was stated only to placate Bath-sheba; in fact, he believed no such thing).

¹⁶And now I ask one petition of you, deny me not. And she said unto him, Say on.

¹⁷And he said, Speak, I pray you, unto Solomon the king, (for he will not say you nay,) that he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife (as husband of the late Monarchs widow, Abishag, and as the older brother, Adonijah could dispute the throne with Solomon; his asking for Abishag revealed his purpose and manifested his treason; it is amazing that Bath-sheba did not seem to be aware of these implications!).

¹⁸And Bath-sheba said, Well; I will speak for you unto the king.

¹⁹Bath-sheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the kings mother; and she sat on his right hand.

²⁰Then she said, I desire one small petition of you; I pray you, say me not nay. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother: for I will not say no to you.

²¹And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother to wife (possibly she thought that she held the threads of a love story in her hands, that it would be a small thing for Solomon to make these handsome lovers happy; she seemed to be ignorant of Adonijahs real motives).

²²And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the Priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah. (Immediately, Solomon saw through the scheme, and that Abiathar and Joab were complices in this high treason for thats what it was! For one to marry the wife of a former king gave such a person a claim to the throne, and this is exactly what Adonijah was attempting to do.)

²³Then king Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life.

²⁴Now therefore, as the LORD lives, which has established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and Who has made me an house, as He promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day.

²⁵And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died (this was right and just in the Eyes of God; had Adonijah had his way, which incidentally was inspired by Satan, he would have taken over the throne, killed Solomon, who was Gods choice and, as well, would have killed Bath-sheba and all others around the throne; Israel would have quickly become a Hell).

ABIATHAR IS REMOVED FROM THE PRIESTHOOD

²⁶And unto Abiathar the Priest said the king, You get to Anathoth, unto your own fields; for you are worthy of death: but I will not at this time put you to death, because you did bear the Ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because you have been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.

²⁷So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being Priest unto the LORD; that he might fulfill the Word of the LORD, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh (this removal of Abiathar from the Priesthood was a definite fulfillment of the cutting off of the house of Eli; here we have the fulfillment of Gods rejection of the house of Ithamar [I Chron. 24:3], to which Eli belonged, and the reestablishment of the High Priesthood in the line of Eleazar, which had long before been predicted [I Sam. 2:31-35]).

JOAB IS EXECUTED

²⁸Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the Tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the Altar (his action is almost certain evidence of his guilt; it is thought that Joab had suggested to Adonijah the plan of marriage with Abishag).

²⁹And it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled unto the Tabernacle of the LORD; and, behold, he is by the Altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.

³⁰And Benaiah came to the Tabernacle of the LORD, and said unto him, Thus says the king, Come forth. And he said, No; but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me. (Joab had had the privilege of being associated, and very closely, with the greatest man of God in the world of that day, David. In a sense, he was in the Church, but not of the Church, exactly as are millions presently. He knew of Davids God, but he did not really know Davids God. He knew the way, but he didnt want to walk in the way. So, at the last moment, he seems to have put his hope in the Altar, i.e., the Cross. Whether it was superstition or sincerity, the Judgment Day alone will tell. I pray that it was sincerity.)

³¹And the king said unto him, Do as he has said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that you may take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father (Solomon evidently believed that the guilt of blood regarding Joab was upon him and his house so long as Abners and Amasas blood remained unavenged; the truth is, Jewish Law imperatively demanded the death of Joab, and to spare him was to violate all law and to imperil the throne and the people).

³²And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing thereof, to wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah (Solomon thinks of the unjust suspicions which these crimes cast upon his father).

³³Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever: but upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house, and upon his throne, shall there be peace for ever from the LORD (had there been true Repentance on the part of Joab those years earlier, Mercy would have been shown to him, exactly as it had been shown to David regarding his murder of Uriah; however, there was no Repentance on the part of Joab, so the Law must take its course).

³⁴So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and killed him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness (and so died Joab, not in battle fighting the enemies of the Lord, but as a traitor to his king and his Lord).

³⁵And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host: and Zadok the Priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar.

SHIMEI IS EXECUTED

³⁶And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Build thee an house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not forth thence any whither (where he could be under surveillance and where his sinister influence with the men of Benjamin would be neutralized).

³⁷For it shall be, that on the day you go out, and pass over the brook Kidron, you shall know for certain that you shall surely die: your blood shall be upon your own head (Shimei could not say that he had not been sufficiently warned).

³⁸And Shimei said unto the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king has said, so will your servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.

³⁹And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away unto Achish son of Maachah king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, your servants be in Gath.

⁴⁰And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants: and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath (he went to Gath with his eyes open, and nothing but a great provocation, such as mockery and defiance, will account for his going).

⁴¹And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and was come again (evidently, Solomon had Shimei under surveillance).

⁴²And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Did I not make you to swear by the LORD, and protested unto you, saying, Know for a certain, on the day you go out, and walk abroad any whither, that you shall surely die? and you said unto me, The word that I have heard is good.

⁴³Why then have you not kept the oath of the LORD, and the commandment that I have charged you with? (It would seem, concerning what had happened to Adonijah and Joab, that Shimei should have reckoned that Solomon meant what he said; but evidently his arrogance caused him to think otherwise.)

⁴⁴The king said moreover to Shimei, You knew all the wickedness which your heart is privy to, that you did to David my father: therefore the LORD shall return your wickedness upon your own head (according to these words, Solomon is carrying out the Word of the Lord in pronouncing death upon Shimei);

⁴⁵And king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD for ever (it is inconceivable that Solomon could have spoken thus if he had been conscious either of sharp practice, spite, or cruelty; the words are those of one who is sure that he is doing God service Spence).

⁴⁶So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; which went out, and fell upon him, that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon. (This Verse proclaims the approval by the Holy Spirit of Solomons actions regarding Joab, Abiathar, and Shimei, for it says, And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.)