Bible Strands
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.’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Bathsheba speaks to King David immediately after he asks what she wants, at the moment Adonijah has secretly assumed the throne.
The words — נִשְׁבַּ֜עְתָּ (nish.Ba'.ta) translates literally as "you swore an oath," and בַּֽ/יהוָ֤ה (ba./Yah.weh) means "by Yahweh," anchoring the promise to the divine name.
The thread — This exact oath surfaces again in 1 Kings 1:13 and 1 Kings 1:30, while Genesis 18:12 parallels her reliance on a covenant despite human limitation.
Why it lands — The text records a direct appeal to a king’s sworn word before God, asking the reader to weigh how public commitments and divine witness determine succession and trust.
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
King James Version
And she said unto him, My lord, thou swarest by the Lord thy God unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne.
Cross-references
- 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?’
- 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.”
- Genesis 18:12 So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
- 1 Peter 3:6 just as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. And you are her children if you do what is right and refuse to give way to fear.