1 Kings 2:13-25
The Book of 1 Kings tells us that near the beginning of his reign, King Solomon had his own brother Adonijah executed (1 Kings 2:13-25). Solomon is praised for his godliness at this point of his life (1 Kings 3:3). Why would he do such a thing?
Adonijah was the fourth son of King David and an elder brother to Solomon, who inherited David’s throne according to his father’s wishes. But after the death of his own elder brothers, Amnon and Absalom, Adonijah considered himself the heir to the throne (1 Kings 1:5).
When David was near death, Adonijah invited his younger brothers (except Solomon) and many of the chief officials of the kingdom to a sacrificial feast to announce his intention to take the throne. But the prophet Nathan warned David through Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, and David gave orders that Solomon immediately be proclaimed king.
At this point Adonijah asked for mercy from Solomon – who pardoned him on condition that he showed himself worthy in his behavior (1 Kings 1:50-53). But not long after this, Solomon executed Adonijah over an incident that might seem difficult to understand. Adonijah went to Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba, and persuaded her to ask the king on his behalf for permission to marry a young woman named Abishag. Bathsheba agreed and asked Solomon, who reacted strongly and ordered Adonijah’s death.
But there is more to the story than meets the eye. Abishag was not just any young woman. She was the virgin who had been selected from David’s harem to sleep alongside the aged king (without any sexual intimacy) to help keep him warm at night due to his poor circulation (1 Kings 1:1-4). But in the cultures of the ancient Near East, a king’s wives and concubines were considered part of the royal household inherited by the next king (2 Samuel 12:8).
The Greek historian Herodotus records this fact in saying that among the Persians a new king inherited the previous king's harem and that to possess a king’s wife was as good as having title to the throne. In Israel, this had in fact been one of Adonijah’s older brother Absalom’s tactics when he attempted to take the throne of David (2 Samuel 16:22). So Adonijah knew that since the young woman Abishag was part of David’s harem, if he were to marry her it would strengthen his claim to the throne considerably.
That is why Solomon reacted so strongly – and why he told his mother Bathsheba “…Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? You might as well request the kingdom for him …” (1 Kings 2:22). Solomon knew that this was no simple request, and that the devious Adonijah was clearly continuing his attempts to take over the throne. The Book of 1 Kings also shows that Solomon was aware that Adonijah was being supported by one of the military commanders, Joab, and by one of the chief priests, Abiathar – which is why the king also told his mother: “You might as well request the kingdom for him [Adonijah] and for Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah!” (1 Kings 2:22).
Solomon's mother, Bathsheba, was used as an unwitting accomplice in Adonijah's scheming, but the Scriptures record that Solomon saw through the plot and acted decisively when it became apparent that his brother continued his plotting to take the throne.
Sadly, this incident may have brought to a final fulfillment the curse King David had called down upon himself years earlier when he responded to the prophet Nathan's story of a man who stole his neighbor’s lamb. That story was actually a parable representing David’s stealing of the wife of the faithful soldier Uriah, and the king (not realizing he spoke of himself) had replied that the guilty man must pay fourfold for his sin (2 Samuel 12:1-6). It is perhaps not coincidence that David’s four eldest sons, ending with Adonijah, met untimely deaths. But in any event, it is clear that although he was granted mercy by Solomon, Adonijah continued to scheme to build power to take over the throne for himself – and in this way caused his own demise.