Question 1

According to the narrator, what did Solomon’s removal of Abiathar from priestly service fulfill (1 Kings 2:27)?

Accepted Answer

The narrator says plainly that when Solomon removed Abiathar from serving as the LORD’s priest, he fulfilled what the LORD had declared at Shiloh concerning Eli’s family (2:27). Generations earlier a man of God had warned Eli that the LORD would cut off the strength of his family line because of the sins tolerated in his house (1 Samuel 2:31), and the LORD told the boy Samuel that He would carry out everything He had said against Eli’s house (1 Samuel 3:12). Abiathar belonged to that family: his father was Ahimelech, whose father was Ahitub (1 Samuel 22:20), and Ahitub was a grandson of Eli through Phinehas (1 Samuel 14:3). Solomon acted for his own stated reasons, yet the LORD’s word was being fulfilled through it. God’s word does not fail, even across many years.

Question 2

What earlier word of the LORD does the narrator say was fulfilled when Solomon removed Abiathar (1 Kings 2:27)?

Accepted Answer

The narrator explicitly interprets Abiathar’s removal as the fulfillment of the LORD’s word declared at Shiloh concerning Eli’s house (2:27). The man of God had announced that the LORD would cut off the strength of Eli’s line (1 Samuel 2:31), and the LORD confirmed to Samuel that He would carry out the whole judgment (1 Samuel 3:12). Abiathar, Ahimelech’s son and Ahitub’s grandson (1 Samuel 22:20), descended from Eli through Phinehas (1 Samuel 14:3). Solomon acts on his own stated grounds, and through that same act God’s word reaches its appointed fulfillment, generations after it was spoken: a clear instance of God’s sovereign providence working through human decisions.

Question 3

What did Adonijah ask Bathsheba to request from Solomon for him (1 Kings 2:17)?

Accepted Answer

Adonijah asked Bathsheba to speak to Solomon, since the king would not refuse her, and to ask that he be allowed to marry Abishag from Shunem (2:16-17). Abishag was the young woman who had cared for King David in his old age (1:3-4). Bathsheba agreed and went to Solomon. The king rose to meet her, bowed before her, and had a throne set for her on his right, honoring his mother as God’s law commanded (2:19; Exodus 20:12). She called it a small request and asked that Abishag be given to Adonijah (2:20-21).

Question 4

What request did Adonijah ask Bathsheba to carry to Solomon (1 Kings 2:17)?

Accepted Answer

Counting on Solomon’s regard for his mother, Adonijah asks Bathsheba to secure Abishag from Shunem as his wife (2:16-17), the woman who had attended David in his last days (1:3-4). Solomon receives Bathsheba with conspicuous honor, rising, bowing and seating her on a throne beside him (2:19), in keeping with the command to honor one’s mother (Exodus 20:12). Bathsheba presents it as a small matter and asks that Abishag be given to Adonijah (2:20-21).

Question 5

When he came to Bathsheba, how did Adonijah explain Solomon becoming king (1 Kings 2:15)?

Accepted Answer

Adonijah came to Bathsheba saying he came in peace (2:13-14). He told her that the kingship had been his, and that all Israel had expected him to reign, but it had passed to his brother, since it came to Solomon from the LORD (2:15). Even the rival admits that God gave Solomon the throne. This matches David’s own testimony that the LORD chose Solomon from among all his sons (1 Chronicles 28:5). Scripture teaches that God removes kings and sets them up (Daniel 2:21), and that whatever plans people make, the LORD’s purpose is what stands (Proverbs 19:21).

Question 6

How did Adonijah account for Solomon’s accession when he spoke to Bathsheba (1 Kings 2:15)?

Accepted Answer

Approaching Bathsheba and assuring her that he came in peace (2:13-14), Adonijah concedes that although the kingship had seemed his and all Israel had looked to him, it had turned to Solomon because the LORD had given it to him (2:15). The defeated claimant himself confesses the divine origin of Solomon’s kingship, in agreement with David’s testimony to the LORD’s choice (1 Chronicles 28:5). God sovereignly removes and establishes kings (Daniel 2:21), and human schemes, Adonijah’s included, cannot overturn His purpose (Proverbs 19:21).

Question 7

What deeds of Joab did David cite in his charge to Solomon (1 Kings 2:5)?

Accepted Answer

David reminded Solomon of what Joab had done: he had killed Abner, Ner’s son, and Amasa, Jether’s son, two commanders of Israel’s armies, in a time of peace, avenging blood that had been shed in war (2:5). Joab had killed Abner to avenge his brother Asahel, whom Abner had killed in battle (2 Samuel 3:30), and had greeted Amasa as a friend before striking him down (2 Samuel 20:9). At Abner’s death David had declared himself and his kingdom guiltless of that blood (2 Samuel 3:28). David now told Solomon to act according to his wisdom and not let Joab go down to the grave in peace (2:6).

Question 8

On what grounds did David’s charge single out Joab (1 Kings 2:5)?

Accepted Answer

David recalls that Joab killed Abner and Amasa, commanders of Israel’s forces, in peacetime, avenging wartime blood and staining himself with it (2:5). Abner’s death was revenge for Asahel (2 Samuel 3:30); Amasa was struck down under the guise of a friendly greeting (2 Samuel 20:9). David had at the time disclaimed all guilt for Abner’s blood (2 Samuel 3:28). He now leaves Joab to Solomon’s wisdom, instructing that Joab not die in peace (2:6).

Question 9

What had David sworn to Shimei, as he recalls in his charge to Solomon (1 Kings 2:8)?

Accepted Answer

David reminded Solomon about Shimei, Gera’s son, a Benjamite from the town of Bahurim, who had cursed him bitterly on the day David fled to Mahanaim (2:8; 2 Samuel 16:5). When Shimei later met David at the Jordan, David had sworn by the LORD not to put him to death (2 Samuel 19:23). The law forbade cursing the ruler of God’s people (Exodus 22:28). David now told Solomon not to treat Shimei as innocent, but to act as the wise man he was (2:9). Later in the chapter Solomon deals with Shimei on terms of his own (2:36-46).

Question 10

What oath to Shimei does David recall in his final charge (1 Kings 2:8)?

Accepted Answer

David recalls Gera’s son Shimei, who cursed him grievously on his flight to Mahanaim (2:8; 2 Samuel 16:5), and the oath David took in the LORD’s name at the Jordan not to put him to the sword (2 Samuel 19:23). Cursing the ruler of God’s people was a breach of the law (Exodus 22:28). David now instructs Solomon not to hold Shimei guiltless but to act in wisdom (2:9).

Question 11

In his final charge, what did David tell Solomon would lead to his success (1 Kings 2:3)?

Accepted Answer

As his death approached, David told Solomon that he was about to die, using the same phrase Joshua had used at the end of his life (2:2; Joshua 23:14). He urged Solomon to be strong and act like a man, and above all to follow the LORD’s ways and obey everything He commanded in Moses’ law, so that he would succeed in all he undertook (2:3). The charge echoes the LORD’s words to Joshua, who was to be strong and carefully obey all of Moses’ law so that he would succeed (Joshua 1:7). The law itself required Israel’s king to read God’s instruction all his life and obey it (Deuteronomy 17:19). The first thing David passes on is not strategy but obedience to God’s word.

Question 12

According to David’s deathbed charge, on what did Solomon’s prosperity depend (1 Kings 2:3)?

Accepted Answer

Facing death, David uses Joshua’s phrase for dying (2:2; Joshua 23:14) and commissions Solomon in Joshua’s terms: be strong, show himself a man, then do what the LORD requires, following His paths and obeying all that Moses’ law commands, that he might succeed (2:3; compare Joshua 1:7). This is the law of the king in action: Israel’s ruler was to read and obey God’s law all his days (Deuteronomy 17:19). The kingship is placed under God’s word before any matter of state is raised.

Question 13

What does the narrator say about Solomon’s kingdom once David had died (1 Kings 2:12)?

Accepted Answer

David’s death and burial in Jerusalem, David’s city, came after a forty-year reign, first at Hebron and then at Jerusalem (2:10-11). Solomon then took his father’s throne, and his rule was made secure (2:12). This is exactly what God had promised: after David’s death, God would raise up his descendant and establish his kingdom (2 Samuel 7:12). Chronicles likewise records Solomon taking David’s place and prospering (1 Chronicles 29:23). Centuries later Peter could still point out that David had died and been buried and that his tomb was known in Jerusalem (Acts 2:29).

Question 14

What summary statement does the narrator make about Solomon’s reign after David’s death (1 Kings 2:12)?

Accepted Answer

David dies and is laid to rest in his own city after forty years of rule (2:10-11), and Solomon sits on his father’s throne with his kingdom firmly established (2:12). The transition fulfills the terms of 2 Samuel 7:12, which promised that God would raise up David’s offspring after his death and establish his kingdom; Chronicles records the same succession (1 Chronicles 29:23). Peter later appeals to the plain fact of David’s death, burial and still-known tomb (Acts 2:29). The phrase about the kingdom being established recurs at the end of the chapter (2:46).

Question 15

True or False: The narrator says that Joab had joined Adonijah’s plot but had not joined Absalom’s.

Accepted Answer

This is true. When word came to Joab, he ran to the LORD’s tent and gripped the altar’s horns. The narrator explains that Joab had taken part in Adonijah’s plot, though he had stayed out of Absalom’s (2:28). Joab had indeed backed Adonijah’s bid for the throne (1:7), while during Absalom’s revolt he had led a third of David’s army against the rebels (2 Samuel 18:2). His loyalty to David in that earlier crisis did not cancel his part in this later one.

Question 16

True or False: According to 1 Kings 2:28, Joab had sided with Adonijah’s plot but not with Absalom’s.

Accepted Answer

This is true. On hearing the news, Joab flees to the LORD’s tent and seizes the altar’s horns, and the narrator notes that he had joined Adonijah’s plot but not Absalom’s (2:28). He had backed Adonijah from the start (1:7), whereas in Absalom’s rebellion he commanded a third of David’s forces against the rebels (2 Samuel 18:2). Faithfulness in one crisis did not excuse his part in the other.

Question 17

Why did David tell Solomon to show kindness to Barzillai’s sons (1 Kings 2:7)?

Accepted Answer

David asked Solomon to show loving devotion, faithful covenant kindness, to the family of Barzillai from Gilead, and to give them a place among those who ate at the king’s table, since they had been loyal to David when he fled from Absalom (2:7). When David reached Mahanaim, Barzillai was among those who brought food and supplies for him and his weary people (2 Samuel 17:27-29). After the revolt David offered to provide for Barzillai in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 19:33), and the old man asked that Chimham go in his place (2 Samuel 19:37). David’s charge is not only about settling wrongs; it also asks that faithful kindness be repaid.

Question 18

For what reason did David commend Barzillai’s sons to Solomon’s favor (1 Kings 2:7)?

Accepted Answer

Alongside the charges of judgment, David instructs Solomon to extend loving devotion to Barzillai’s family from Gilead and give them a place at the royal table, since they had been loyal to David in his flight from Absalom (2:7). Barzillai had supplied David’s exhausted company at Mahanaim (2 Samuel 17:27-29), was offered provision at the king’s side in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 19:33), and asked that Chimham go in his stead (2 Samuel 19:37). Loyalty shown in the king’s distress is to be honored by the next king.

Question 19

True or False: David reminds Solomon that God’s promise of a man on Israel’s throne was tied to David’s descendants walking faithfully before God.

Accepted Answer

This is true. David tells Solomon to obey in order for the LORD to keep His promise to David: if his descendants walked faithfully before God wholeheartedly, a son of David would always occupy Israel’s throne (2:4). In 2 Samuel 7 the LORD had promised, through Nathan, that David’s house and throne would endure forever (2 Samuel 7:16). Psalm 132 sets the two sides together: the LORD’s sworn oath to place David’s descendant on the throne, and the call for his sons to keep God’s covenant, His binding agreement with David’s line (Psalm 132:11-12). God’s commitment to David’s house was sure, while each king was still called to obey. The New Testament shows the promise reaching its goal in Jesus, to whom God gives David’s throne in a kingdom that will never end (Luke 1:32-33).

Question 20

True or False: In 1 Kings 2:4 David cites God’s promise of an unbroken line on Israel’s throne as conditioned on his descendants walking faithfully before God.

Accepted Answer

This is true. David grounds his charge in the dynastic promise, which he cites in conditional form: if his sons walk faithfully before God wholeheartedly, David will never lack a successor on Israel’s throne (2:4). The Davidic covenant of 2 Samuel 7 promised an everlasting house, kingdom and throne (2 Samuel 7:16), and Psalm 132 holds together the LORD’s irrevocable oath and the obligation laid on David’s sons (Psalm 132:11-12). The LORD’s covenant faithfulness to David’s house is certain, while each king remains accountable to obey. The promise finds its fulfillment in Christ, who receives David’s throne and reigns over an unending kingdom (Luke 1:32-33).

Question 21

What reason did Solomon give for ordering Joab’s death even at the altar (1 Kings 2:31-32)?

Accepted Answer

When Joab refused to leave the altar, Solomon ordered Benaiah to kill and bury him, so as to remove from David’s house the guilt of the innocent blood Joab had shed (2:29-31). Solomon explained that Joab had killed Abner and Amasa, two men who were better and more upright than Joab, without David’s knowledge, and that the LORD would bring their blood back on Joab’s head (2:32-33). God’s law said the altar could not shelter a man who had willfully murdered his neighbor (Exodus 21:14), and that bloodshed defiles the land until the killer’s own life answers for it (Numbers 35:33). At Abner’s death David had declared himself guiltless and wished that blood upon Joab’s head and house (2 Samuel 3:28-29). Benaiah carried out the order and then replaced Joab over the army, while Zadok replaced Abiathar as priest (2:34-35).

Question 22

On what grounds did Solomon order Joab struck down at the altar (1 Kings 2:31-32)?

Accepted Answer

Solomon commands Benaiah to execute Joab and bury him, in order to remove the guilt of innocent blood from himself and David’s house (2:29-31): Joab, without David’s knowledge, killed Abner and Amasa, men more righteous than he, and the LORD will return their blood on his head, while David’s house and throne receive the LORD’s lasting peace (2:32-33). The Mosaic law denied the altar’s protection to a deliberate murderer (Exodus 21:14) and permitted atonement for the land only by the slayer’s own blood (Numbers 35:33); at Abner’s death David had disclaimed guilt and laid that blood on Joab’s head and house (2 Samuel 3:28-29). Benaiah then takes Joab’s command of the army, and Zadok succeeds Abiathar (2:34-35).

Question 23

After Shimei went to Gath to bring back his runaway slaves, what charge did Solomon bring against him (1 Kings 2:43)?

Accepted Answer

Three years later two of Shimei’s servants escaped to Achish, Gath’s king, and Shimei rode off to Gath and brought them back (2:39-40). When Solomon heard, he summoned Shimei and asked why he had broken the oath sworn in the LORD’s name and disobeyed the king’s command, since Shimei had taken that oath and called the terms fair (2:42-43; Numbers 30:2). Solomon added that Shimei knew all the evil he had done to David, and that the LORD would turn that evil back upon him, as the psalmist says wrongdoing returns on the wrongdoer (2:44; Psalm 7:16). Benaiah carried out the sentence (2:46). The chapter closes by saying Solomon’s hold on the kingdom was now secure, and Solomon declares that David’s throne will stand firm before the LORD for all time, in line with God’s promise (2:45-46; 2 Samuel 7:16).

Question 24

On Shimei’s return from Gath, what violation did Solomon charge him with (1 Kings 2:43)?

Accepted Answer

After three years Shimei leaves Jerusalem to recover two runaway slaves from Achish of Gath (2:39-40). Solomon arraigns him for breaking the oath taken in the LORD’s name and the royal command he had accepted as fair (2:42-43), an oath the law required him to keep (Numbers 30:2). Solomon adds that Shimei knows the evil he did to David, which the LORD now returns on his head (2:44), the retributive pattern the psalmist describes (Psalm 7:16). Benaiah executes the sentence, and the chapter ends with the kingdom firmly established in Solomon’s hand (2:46), while Solomon affirms that David’s throne will stand firm before the LORD for all time (2:45), echoing the covenant promise (2 Samuel 7:16).

Question 25

True or False: Solomon told Shimei he would die if he left Jerusalem by crossing the Kidron Valley, and Shimei called the terms fair.

Accepted Answer

This is true. Solomon summoned Shimei and ordered him to make his home in Jerusalem and stay inside the city. If he ever left and crossed the Kidron Valley, he would certainly die, and the blame for his death would be his alone (2:36-37). Shimei answered that the sentence was fair and promised to do as the king said, and he stayed in the city a long time (2:38). Solomon later reminds Shimei that he had bound him with an oath in the LORD’s name to these terms (2:42), and the law said that anyone who bound himself by an oath had to keep his word (Numbers 30:2). Behind the arrangement lay Shimei’s earlier cursing of David (2 Samuel 16:5; 1 Kings 2:44).

Question 26

True or False: Solomon confined Shimei to Jerusalem on pain of death if he crossed the Kidron, and Shimei accepted the terms as fair.

Accepted Answer

This is true. Solomon requires Shimei to settle in Jerusalem and go nowhere else, warning that the day he crosses the Kidron Valley he will die and bear the blame for it himself (2:36-37). Shimei acknowledges the sentence as fair and keeps to the terms for an extended period (2:38). The arrangement was ratified by an oath sworn by the LORD (2:42), binding under the law’s demand that oaths be kept (Numbers 30:2). It arose from Shimei’s curses against David (2 Samuel 16:5; 1 Kings 2:44).

Question 27

How did Solomon understand the request that Abishag be given to Adonijah (1 Kings 2:22)?

Accepted Answer

Solomon asked his mother why she was requesting Abishag for Adonijah, and said she might as well ask for the throne itself on his behalf, since he was Solomon’s older brother, and for his backers, the priest Abiathar and Joab (2:22). Adonijah was David’s fourth son, born at Hebron (2 Samuel 3:4-5), and he had already tried to make himself king once (1:5). Solomon took an oath in the LORD’s name, the One who had set him on David’s throne and given him a dynasty as promised, that Adonijah had asked this at the cost of his life (2:23-24). Solomon had earlier warned that Adonijah would die if evil were found in him (1:52). He now sent Benaiah, who put Adonijah to death (2:25).

Question 28

How did Solomon regard the request for Abishag (1 Kings 2:22)?

Accepted Answer

Solomon interprets the petition politically: requesting Abishag for his older brother is tantamount to requesting the kingdom for Adonijah, and for Abiathar and Joab with him (2:22). Adonijah was David’s fourth son, born at Hebron (2 Samuel 3:4-5), and had already exalted himself once (1:5). Solomon swears by the LORD who established him on David’s throne and built him a house as promised that the request has forfeited Adonijah’s life (2:23-24); his earlier clemency had carried the warning that evil found in Adonijah would cost his life (1:52). Benaiah carries out the sentence (2:25).

Question 29

Why did Solomon not put Abiathar to death (1 Kings 2:26)?

Accepted Answer

Solomon told Abiathar the priest that he deserved to die, but that he would not be executed for now. He gave two reasons: Abiathar had carried the ark, the sacred chest of God’s covenant, in David’s service, and he had shared in all of David’s hardships (2:26). Abiathar had been with David since he escaped Saul’s slaughter of the priests and fled to him (1 Samuel 22:20), when David told him to stay, because they faced the same danger (1 Samuel 22:23). During Absalom’s revolt he and Zadok had cared for the ark (2 Samuel 15:29). Solomon sent him home to his fields in Anathoth instead.

Question 30

What reasons did Solomon give for sparing Abiathar’s life (1 Kings 2:26)?

Accepted Answer

Solomon pronounces Abiathar worthy of death but spares him for two stated reasons: he carried God’s ark in David’s presence, and he shared all of David’s afflictions (2:26). Abiathar’s loyalty went back to his escape from Saul’s massacre at Nob and his flight to David (1 Samuel 22:20), where David received him as a companion in danger (1 Samuel 22:23); during Absalom’s rebellion he and Zadok had charge of the ark (2 Samuel 15:29). He is banished to his fields at Anathoth.

1 Kings 2 Study Notes: David’s Charge and Solomon’s Throne Secured

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