1 Kings 1:13

Go at once to King David and say, ‘My lord the king, did you not swear to your maidservant, “Surely your son Solomon will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Nathan instructs Bathsheba to approach King David immediately while Adonijah’s coronation is still being announced, using the moment before the royal decree is sealed.

The words — The command לְכִ֞י (le.khi) demands urgent movement, and the particle הֲ/לֹֽא־ (ha.lo') frames a rhetorical question that forces David to verbally acknowledge his earlier oath.

The thread — The quoted promise resurfaces in 1 Kings 1:30 when David publicly confirms the succession, and in 1 Kings 1:17 when Bathsheba delivers the exact phrasing to the king.

Why it lands — The passage records a direct appeal to a spoken oath and requires the reader to recognize that political succession depends on immediate intervention rather than waiting for events to resolve themselves.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

לְכִ֞יle.Khicome וּבֹ֣אִי׀u./Vo.'iand/ go אֶל־'el-to הַמֶּ֣לֶךְha./Me.lekhthe/ king דָּוִ֗דda.VidDavid וְאָמַ֤רְתְּve./'a.Martand/ you will say אֵלָיו֙'e.La/vto/ him הֲלֹֽא־ha./lo'-¿/ not אַתָּ֞ה'a.Tahyou אֲדֹנִ֣י'a.do.N/iO lord/ my הַמֶּ֗לֶךְha./Me.lekhthe/ king נִשְׁבַּ֤עְתָּnish.Ba'.tadid you swear an oath לַאֲמָֽתְךָ֙la./'a.ma.te./Khato/ maidservant/ your לֵאמֹ֔רle./Mor<to>/ saying כִּֽי־ki-that שְׁלֹמֹ֤הshe.lo.MohSolomon בְנֵךְ֙ve.ne/Khson/ your יִמְלֹ֣ךְyim.Lokhhe will reign אַחֲרַ֔י'a.cha.Ra/iafter/ me וְה֖וּאve./Hu'and/ he יֵשֵׁ֣בye.Shevhe will sit עַל־'al-on כִּסְאִ֑יkis.'/Ithrone/ my וּמַדּ֖וּעַu./ma.Du.a'and/ why?מָלַ֥ךְma.Lakhhas he become king אֲדֹנִיָֽהוּ׃'a.do.ni.Ya.huAdonijah

King James Version

Go and get thee in unto king David, and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? why then doth Adonijah reign?

Cross-references

1 Kings 1:30 I will carry out this very day exactly what I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel: Surely your son Solomon will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place.”
1 Kings 1:17 “My lord,” she replied, “you yourself swore to your maidservant by the LORD your God: ‘Surely your son Solomon will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne.’
1 Kings 2:12 So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was firmly established.
1 Chronicles 22:6 Then David called for his son Solomon and instructed him to build a house for the LORD, the God of Israel.
Psalms 132:11 The LORD swore an oath to David, a promise He will not revoke: “One of your descendants I will place on your throne.
Luke 1:32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,
1 Kings 1:11 Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has become king, and our lord David does not know it?
1 Kings 1:24 “My lord the king,” said Nathan, “did you say, ‘Adonijah will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne’?
1 Kings 1:48 saying, ‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel! Today He has provided one to sit on my throne, and my eyes have seen it.’”
1 Chronicles 29:23 So Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king in place of his father David. He prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.

People named

DavidSolomonAdonijah