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So Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, who supported him.
1 Kings 1:7 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest; and they followed Adonijah and helped him.
  • KJV And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him.
  • NKJV Then he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they followed and helped Adonijah.
  • NASB Now he had conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest; and they allied themselves with Adonijah.
  • NLT Adonijah took Joab son of Zeruiah and Abiathar the priest into his confidence, and they agreed to help him 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

Adonijah secures the support of Joab the commander and Abiathar the priest. With military and priestly backing, his coup gains weight.

Overview

Adonijah gathers powerful allies: Joab, David's longtime general, and Abiathar, a senior priest. Their defection shows how serious the threat is and divides the leadership of Israel. This alignment sets up the contrasting loyalties of the next verse and the eventual judgment these men face under Solomon.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • 2 Sam 20:25Sheva was the scribe; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
  • 1 Kgs 2:22King 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!”
  • 2 Sam 20:23Now Joab was over the whole army of Israel; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites;
  • Ps 2:2The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together, against the LORD and against His Anointed One:
  • 1 Chr 11:6Now David had said, “Whoever is the first to strike down a Jebusite will become chief commander.” And Joab son of Zeruiah went up first, and he became the chief.
  • 1 Sam 22:20–23But one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped. His name was Abiathar, and he fled to David.
  • 2 Sam 8:16Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;
  • 2 Sam 15:35Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you? Report to them everything you hear from the king’s palace.
  • 2 Sam 15:24–29Zadok was also there, and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until the people had passed out of the city.
  • 1 Kgs 2:26–35Then 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.”
  • 2 Sam 15:12While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from his hometown of Giloh. So the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept increasing.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 1 Kings videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 1 Kings 1:7YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 1 KingsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 1:7 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.