David Instructs Solomon
(Psalms 37:1–40)
As the time drew near for David to die, he charged his son Solomon, Gen 47:29Deu 31:141Ti 1:181Ti 6:132Pe 1:13-152Ti 4:12Ti 4:6Act 20:28-31 “I am about to go the way of all the earth. So be strong and prove yourself a man. Jos 1:6-7Eph 6:10Jos 23:141Co 16:13Deu 31:23Heb 9:271Ch 28:201Ti 4:12 And keep the charge of the LORD your God to walk in His ways and to keep His statutes, commandments, ordinances, and decrees, as is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you turn, Deu 29:9Pro 3:1-4Deu 17:18-20Psa 119:21Ch 22:12-13Psa 1:2-31Ch 29:192Ch 31:20-21 and so that the LORD may fulfill His promise to me: ‘If your descendants take heed to walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’ 2Ki 20:32Sa 7:251Ki 8:25Mat 22:37Psa 132:11-12Jhn 15:9-10Psa 89:29-371Ch 17:11-15
Moreover, you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, 1 the two commanders of the armies of Israel. He killed them in peacetime to avenge the blood of war. He stained with the blood of war the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet. 2 2Sa 3:272Sa 20:102Sa 18:122Sa 18:52Sa 18:142Sa 3:391Ki 1:18-191Ki 1:7 So act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. 1Ki 2:9Ecc 8:11Isa 48:22Isa 57:21Pro 20:26Pro 28:17Psa 37:371Ki 2:28-34
But show loving devotion 3to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, because they stood by me when I fled from your brother Absalom. 2Sa 17:27-292Sa 9:72Sa 19:31-402Sa 9:102Sa 15:13-152Sa 19:28Luk 12:37Luk 22:28-30
Keep an eye on Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim who is with you. He called down bitter curses against me on the day I went to Mahanaim, but when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD: ‘I will never put you to the sword.’ 2Sa 16:5-81Ki 2:36-46Jer 4:22Sa 19:16-23 Now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You know what you ought to do to him to bring his gray head down to Sheol in blood.” 1Ki 2:6Gen 42:38Gen 44:311Ki 3:121Ki 3:28Exo 20:7Exo 22:28Job 9:28
David’s Reign and Death
(1 Chronicles 29:26–30)
Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. Act 2:29Act 13:361Ch 29:281Ki 1:211Ki 11:431Ki 3:12Sa 5:71Ch 11:7 The length of David’s reign over Israel was forty years—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 2Sa 5:4-51Ch 29:26-27
So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was firmly established. 2Ch 1:11Ch 29:23-251Ki 1:462Sa 7:12-132Sa 7:29Psa 132:12Psa 72:8-20Psa 89:36-37
The Execution of Adonijah
Now Adonijah son of Haggith went to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, and she asked, “Do you come in peace?” 1Ch 12:17-181Ki 1:5-101Ki 1:50-531Sa 16:4-52Ki 9:18-22Luk 10:5-6
“Yes, in peace,” he replied. Then he said, “I have something to tell you.” 2Sa 14:12Luk 7:40
“Say it,” she answered.
“You know that the kingship was mine,” he said. “All Israel expected that I should reign, but the kingship has turned to my brother, for it has come to him from the LORD. 1Ch 22:9-101Ch 28:5-71Ki 1:251Ki 1:52Sa 16:182Sa 7:12Dan 2:22Jer 27:5-8 So now I have just one request of you; do not deny me.” Pro 30:7Psa 132:10
“State your request,” she told him.
Adonijah replied, “Please speak to King Solomon, since he will not turn you down. Let him give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.” 1Ki 1:2-42Sa 12:82Sa 3:7
“Very well,” Bathsheba replied. “I will speak to the king for you.” Pro 14:15
So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. The king stood up to greet her, bowed to her, and sat down on his throne. Then the king had a throne brought for his mother, who sat down at his right hand. Psa 45:91Ki 15:13Exo 20:12Lev 19:3Lev 19:32Psa 110:1Mat 25:33
“I have just one small request of you,” she said. “Do not deny me.” Jhn 14:13-14Jhn 15:16Jhn 2:3-4Luk 11:9-10Mat 10:35-36Mat 11:24Mat 18:19Mat 20:20-21
“Make your request, my mother,” the king replied, “for I will not deny you.”
So Bathsheba said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah as his wife.” 1Ki 1:32Sa 16:21-22
King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Since he is my older brother, you might as well request the kingdom for him and for Abiathar the priest and for Joab son of Zeruiah!” 1Ch 3:21Ch 3:51Ki 1:111Ki 1:24-251Ki 1:5-72Sa 12:8Jas 4:3Mat 20:22
Then King Solomon swore by the LORD: “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if Adonijah has not made this request at the expense of his life. Rut 1:17Psa 140:9Psa 64:81Ki 20:101Sa 14:442Ki 6:312Sa 19:132Sa 3:35 And now, as surely as the LORD lives—the One who established me, who set me on the throne of my father David, and who founded for me a dynasty as He promised—surely Adonijah shall be put to death today!” 1Ch 22:101Ch 17:101Ch 17:171Ch 17:231Ch 29:231Ki 1:291Ki 1:521Ki 10:9
So King Solomon sent the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who struck down Adonijah, and he died. 2Sa 8:181Ki 2:311Ki 2:341Ki 2:461Sa 15:332Sa 1:152Sa 4:12Jdg 8:20-21
Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death at this time, since you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David, and you suffered through all that my father suffered.” Jos 21:181Sa 22:20-231Sa 26:162Sa 15:24-29Jer 1:1Mat 10:421Ch 15:11-121Ki 1:25 So Solomon banished Abiathar from the priesthood of the LORD and thus fulfilled the word that the LORD had spoken at Shiloh against the house of Eli. 1Sa 2:27-361Sa 3:12-14Jer 7:12-14Jos 18:1Psa 78:60Jhn 12:38Jhn 19:24Jhn 19:28
The Execution of Joab
When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah but not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the LORD and took hold of the horns of the altar. 1Ki 1:501Ki 1:72Sa 18:22Sa 17:252Sa 18:14-15Deu 32:35Exo 27:2
It was reported to King Solomon: “Joab has fled to the tent of the LORD and is now beside the altar.” 1Ki 2:25Exo 21:141Ki 2:311Ki 2:461Pe 4:17Ezk 9:6
So Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down!”
And Benaiah entered the tent of the LORD and said to Joab, “The king says, ‘Come out!’”
But Joab replied, “No, I will die here.”
So Benaiah relayed the message to the king, saying, “This is how Joab answered me.”
And the king replied, “Do just as he says. Strike him down and bury him, and so remove from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood that Joab shed. Deu 21:8-9Num 35:33Exo 21:142Sa 3:28Pro 28:172Ki 9:26Act 28:4Deu 19:12-13 The LORD will bring his bloodshed back upon his own head, for without the knowledge of my father David he struck down two men more righteous and better than he when he put to the sword Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army. Jdg 9:242Ch 21:13Jdg 9:57Psa 7:161Ki 2:52Sa 20:9-102Sa 3:26-271Ki 2:44 Their blood will come back upon the heads of Joab and his descendants forever; but for David, his descendants, his house, and his throne, there shall be peace from the LORD forever.” 1Ki 2:32Mat 27:252Ki 5:272Sa 3:28-29Isa 11:1-9Isa 9:6-7Luk 1:31-33Luk 2:14
So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck down Joab, and killed him. He was buried at his own home in the wilderness. 1Ki 2:25Jos 15:61Mat 3:11Ki 2:311Ki 2:462Ch 33:202Ki 21:18 And the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in Joab’s place over the army, and he appointed Zadok the priest in Abiathar’s place. 1Ki 2:271Ch 24:31Ch 29:221Ki 4:41Ch 6:4-151Ch 6:50-531Sa 2:35Act 1:20
The Execution of Shimei
Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else. 1Ki 2:8-92Sa 16:5-91Ki 1:532Sa 14:242Sa 14:28Pro 20:26Pro 20:8 On the day you go out and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will die; your blood will be on your own head.” 2Sa 1:162Sa 15:23Jos 2:192Ki 23:6Ezk 18:13Jhn 18:1Lev 20:91Ki 15:13
“The sentence is fair,” Shimei replied. “Your servant will do as my lord the king has spoken.” And Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. 1Ki 20:42Ki 20:19
After three years, however, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to Achish son of Maacah, 4 king of Gath. And Shimei was told, “Look, your slaves are in Gath.” 1Sa 21:101Sa 27:2-3
So Shimei saddled his donkey and set out to Achish at Gath in search of his slaves, and he brought them back from Gath. Luk 12:15Pro 15:271Ti 6:10
When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned, the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the LORD and warn you, ‘On the day you leave and go elsewhere, know for sure that you will die’? And you told me, ‘The sentence is fair; I will comply.’ 1Ki 2:36-38Luk 15:22Luk 19:22Psa 15:4 So why have you not kept your oath to the LORD and the command that I gave you?” 2Ch 30:122Sa 21:2Ecc 8:2Ezk 17:18-19Rom 13:5
The king also said, “You know in your heart all the evil that you did to my father David. Therefore the LORD will bring your evil back upon your head. 2Sa 16:5-131Sa 25:39Ezk 17:19Psa 7:161Jn 3:201Ki 2:32-33Hos 4:9Jhn 8:9 But King Solomon will be blessed and David’s throne will remain secure before the LORD forever.” Pro 25:51Ki 2:241Ki 2:33-342Sa 7:13Isa 9:6-7Psa 21:6Psa 72:17
Then the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down, and he died. Thus the kingdom was firmly established in the hand of Solomon. 1Ki 2:122Ch 1:11Ki 2:45Pro 29:4