Go at once to King David and say, ‘My lord the king, did you not swear to your maidservant, “Surely your son Solomon will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’
Parallel translations
- WEB Go in to king David, and tell him, ‘Didn’t you, my lord, king, swear to your servant, saying, “Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne?” Why then does Adonijah reign?’
- KJV Go and get thee in unto king David, and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? why then doth Adonijah reign?
- NKJV Go immediately to King David and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord, O king, swear to your maidservant, saying, “Assuredly your son Solomon shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’
- NASB Go at once to King David and say to him, ‘Have you not, my lord the king, sworn to your servant, saying, “Solomon your son certainly shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’
- NLT Go at once to King David and say to him, ‘My lord the king, didn’t you make a vow and say to me, “Your son Solomon will surely be the next king and will sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Nathan tells Bathsheba to remind David of his oath that Solomon would reign. The appeal rests on David's own sworn promise.
Overview
Nathan instructs Bathsheba to invoke David's prior vow that Solomon would succeed him. Though that oath is not recorded earlier in Scripture, the narrative treats it as genuine and binding. The strategy rightly grounds Solomon's claim in David's solemn word rather than in mere ambition.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 1 Kgs 1:30I will carry out this very day exactly what I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel: Surely your son Solomon will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place.”
- 1 Kgs 1:17“My lord,” she replied, “you yourself swore to your maidservant by the LORD your God: ‘Surely your son Solomon will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne.’
- 1 Kgs 2:12So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was firmly established.
- Luke 1:32–33He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,
- Ps 132:11–12The LORD swore an oath to David, a promise He will not revoke: “One of your descendants I will place on your throne.
- 1 Chr 22:6–13Then David called for his son Solomon and instructed him to build a house for the LORD, the God of Israel.
- 1 Kgs 1:48saying, ‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel! Today He has provided one to sit on my throne, and my eyes have seen it.’”
- 1 Kgs 1:11Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has become king, and our lord David does not know it?
- 1 Kgs 1:24“My lord the king,” said Nathan, “did you say, ‘Adonijah will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne’?
- Isa 9:7Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
- Jer 33:21then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant and with My ministers the Levites who are priests, so that David will not have a son to reign on his throne.
- 1 Chr 29:23So Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king in place of his father David. He prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.
- 1 Kgs 1:35Then you shall go up with him, and he is to come and sit on my throne and reign in my place. For I have appointed him ruler over Israel and Judah.”
- Deut 17:18When he is seated on his royal throne, he must write for himself a copy of this instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 1:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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