1 Kings 1
A dying king is cold, a beautiful girl is brought to warm him, and his son Adonijah moves to seize the throne before the old man dies.
Summary
David's physical decline is rendered in stark domestic terms: he cannot get warm. His servants bring Abishag the Shunammite to lie with him and minister to him, and the narrator notes that the king knew her not — she is warmth, not desire. Into this household scene enters the political crisis that has been building since the end of 2 Samuel. Adonijah, David's son by Haggith and now the eldest survivor after Amnon and Absalom, prepares chariots and horsemen and calls a feast at the stone of Zoheleth by En-rogel, inviting Joab the commander and Abiathar the priest but not Nathan, Benaiah, the mighty men, or Solomon.
Nathan the prophet, learning of the feast, moves quickly. He instructs Bathsheba to remind David of his oath to make Solomon king. She enters the king's chamber; Adonijah is feasting as she speaks. Nathan follows her in and confirms her words. David rouses himself and issues precise orders: Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet and Benaiah son of Jehoiada are to anoint Solomon and set him on David's own mule and bring him to Gihon. It is done within hours. The anointing, the trumpet, the shout of the people — sound carries to Adonijah's feast. Jonathan son of Abiathar arrives with the news. The guests scatter. Adonijah seizes the horns of the altar. Solomon spares him on condition he shows himself worthy.
- 1 Kings 1The chapter opens with David aged, unable to keep warm despite blankets; his servants find a young woman named Abishag to lie beside him.
- 1 Kings 2David's deathbed charge to Solomon is double: keep the law of Moses, and also settle the accounts from the past — Joab who shed innocent blood, Shimei who cursed the king during Absalom's revolt, and Barzillai's sons who are to be honoured.
- 1 Kings 3Solomon makes a marriage alliance with Pharaoh of Egypt and brings his daughter to Jerusalem while the temple is still unbuilt.
- 1 Kings 4The chapter catalogs Solomon's government.
- 1 Kings 5Solomon sends word to Hiram king of Tyre, who had been a friend of David, explaining his intention to build the house of the Lord that David could not build because of surrounding wars.
- 1 Kings 6The chapter opens with the precise date: the four hundred and eightieth year after the Exodus, the fourth year of Solomon's reign, the second month.
- 1 Kings 7Solomon builds his own palace — the House of the Forest of Lebanon, the Hall of Pillars, the Hall of the Throne — over thirteen years, a detail the narrator places immediately after the temple's seven-year construction, inviting comparison.
- 1 Kings 8Solomon assembles all Israel at Jerusalem and has the priests bring the ark of the covenant — containing only the two stone tablets Moses placed in it at Horeb — to the Holy of Holies beneath the cherubim's wings.
- 1 Kings 9After the dedication, the Lord appears to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared at Gibeon.
- 1 Kings 10The Queen of Sheba, hearing of Solomon's fame concerning the name of the Lord, comes to test him with hard questions.
- 1 Kings 11The narrative delivers its verdict on Solomon: he loved many foreign women, from the nations the Lord had said the children of Israel shall not mix with, for they will surely turn away your heart.
- 1 Kings 12Rehoboam goes to Shechem where all Israel is assembled to make him king.
- 1 Kings 13A man of God comes from Judah to Bethel while Jeroboam is standing at the altar to burn incense.
- 1 Kings 14Jeroboam's son Abijah falls ill.
- 1 Kings 15Abijam reigns in Judah for three years and walks in the sins of his father; his heart is not perfect with the Lord, but the Lord keeps the lamp of David burning in Jerusalem for David's sake.
- 1 Kings 16The prophet Jehu speaks a word against Baasha: his house will fall as Jeroboam's fell, for he killed Jeroboam's house but walked in Jeroboam's sins.
- 1 Kings 17Elijah the Tishbite of Gilead appears before Ahab and announces there will be no dew or rain except by his word.
- 1 Kings 18The Lord tells Elijah to show himself to Ahab, for rain is coming.
- 1 Kings 19Jezebel sends Elijah a message: tomorrow your life will be as the life of one of the prophets you killed.
- 1 Kings 20Ben-hadad of Syria with thirty-two allied kings besieges Samaria and sends messengers demanding Ahab's silver, gold, wives, and children.
- 1 Kings 21Naboth the Jezreelite has a vineyard beside Ahab's palace at Jezreel.
- 1 Kings 22Jehoshaphat of Judah visits Ahab in Samaria.