Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders.
Parallel translations
- WEB Otherwise it will happen, when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered criminals.”
- BSB Otherwise, when my lord the king rests with his fathers, I and my son Solomon will be counted as criminals.”
- NKJV Otherwise it will happen, when my lord the king rests with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted as offenders.”
- NASB Otherwise it will come about, as soon as my lord the king lies down with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered offenders.”
- NLT If you do not act, my son Solomon and I will be treated as criminals as soon as my lord the king has died.”
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
Bathsheba warns that if David dies without acting, she and Solomon will be treated as criminals. She names the deadly consequence of inaction.
Overview
Bathsheba spells out the likely outcome: once David is gone, a triumphant Adonijah would regard her and Solomon as rivals to be eliminated. Her plea blends genuine danger with a call for justice. The verse heightens the urgency and prepares for David's resolve.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Deut 31:16And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
- 1 Kgs 2:10So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.
- 1 Kgs 2:15And he said, Thou knowest 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 brother’s: for it was his from the LORD.
- 2 Sam 7:12And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
- Gen 15:15And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
- 1 Kgs 2:22–24And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.
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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 1:21 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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