^1:38So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites⁶⁷ went down, put Solomon on King David’s mule, and led him to Gihon. ^1:39Zadok the priest took a horn filled with olive oil⁶⁸ from the tent and poured it on⁶⁹ Solomon; the trumpet was blown and all the people declared, “Long live King Solomon!” ^1:40All the people followed him up, playing flutes and celebrating so loudly they made the ground shake.⁷⁰

^1:41Now Adonijah and all his guests heard the commotion just as they had finished eating.⁷¹ When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he asked, “Why is there such a noisy commotion in the city?”⁷²^1:42As he was still speaking, Jonathan⁷³ son of Abiathar the priest arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in, for⁷⁴ an important man like you must be bringing good news.”⁷⁵^1:43Jonathan replied⁷⁶ to Adonijah: “No!⁷⁷ Our master⁷⁸ King David has made Solomon king. ^1:44The king sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites and they put him on the king’s mule. ^1:45Then Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed⁷⁹ him king in Gihon. They went up from there rejoicing, and the city is in an uproar. That is the sound you hear. ^1:46Furthermore, Solomon has assumed the royal throne.⁸⁰^1:47The king’s servants have even come to congratulate⁸¹ our master⁸² King David, saying, ‘May your God⁸³ make Solomon more famous than you and make him an even greater king than you!’⁸⁴ Then the king leaned⁸⁵ on the bed ^1:48and said⁸⁶ this: ‘The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because⁸⁷ today he has placed a successor on my throne and allowed me to see it.’ ”⁸⁸

^1:49All of Adonijah’s guests panicked;⁸⁹ they jumped up and rushed off their separate ways. ^1:50Adonijah feared Solomon, so he got up and went and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar.⁹⁰

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Footnotes

67 The Kerethites and Pelethites were members of David’s royal guard (see 2 Sam 8:18). The Kerethites may have been descendants of an ethnic group originating in Crete.
68 Heb “the horn of oil.” This has been specified as olive oil in the translation for clarity. A horn filled with oil. An animal’s horn was used as an oil flask in the anointing ceremony.
69 Or “anointed.”
70 Heb “and all the people went up after him, and the people were playing flutes and rejoicing with great joy and the ground split open at the sound of them.” The verb בָּקַע (baqa’, “to split open”), which elsewhere describes the effects of an earthquake, is obviously here an exaggeration for the sake of emphasis.
71 Heb “And Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard, now they had finished eating.”
72 Heb “Why is the city’s sound noisy?”
73 The Hebrew text has “look” at this point. The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh), “look draws attention to Jonathan’s arrival and invites the audience to view the scene through the eyes of the participants.
74 Or “surely.”
75 Heb “you are a man of strength [or “ability”] and you bring a message [that is] good.” Another option is to understand the phrase אִישׁ חַיִל (’ish khayil) in the sense of “a worthy man,” that is “loyal.” See also 1 Kgs 1:52 and חַיִל.
76 Heb “answered and said.”
77 For a similar use of אֲבָל (’aval), see Gen 17:19, where God rejects Abraham’s proposal and offers an alternative.
78 The plural form is used in the Hebrew text to indicate honor and authority.
79 I.e., designated by anointing with oil.
80 Heb “And also Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom.”
81 Heb “to bless.”
82 The plural form is used in the Hebrew text to indicate honor and authority.
83 Many Hebrew agree with the Qere in reading simply “God.”
84 Heb “make the name of Solomon better than your name, and make his throne greater than your throne.” The term שֵׁם (shem, “name”) is used here of one’s fame and reputation.
85 Or “bowed down; worshiped.”
86 The Hebrew text reads, “and the king said.”
87 Or “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who.…” In this blessing formula אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “who; because”) introduces the reason why the one being blessed deserves the honor.
88 Heb “and my eyes are seeing.”
89 Or “were afraid, trembled.”
90 Grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. The “horns” of the altar were the horn-shaped projections on the four corners of the altar (see Exod 27:2). By going to the holy place and grabbing hold of the horns of the altar, Adonijah was seeking asylum from Solomon.