Bible Strands
1 Kings 1:21
Otherwise, when my lord the king rests with his fathers, I and my son Solomon will be counted as criminals.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Bathsheba speaks to King David during the succession dispute, warning that if he dies without formally appointing Solomon, she and her son will be legally exposed.
The words — כִּֽשְׁכַ֥ב (ki/sh.Khav) means “when he lies down,” coupled with וְ/הָיָ֕ה (ve./ha.Yah) meaning “and it will be,” creating the conditional “otherwise, when... it will be.”
The thread — The pattern of a ruler dying and joining his ancestors runs through Genesis 15:15, Deuteronomy 31:16, and 1 Kings 2:10, where the text explicitly describes going to one’s fathers in peace or resting with them.
Why it lands — The passage requires immediate royal action to establish legal standing, showing that a mother and son’s safety depends on the king’s timely decree rather than passive expectation.
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
Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 31:16 And the LORD said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I have made with them.
- 1 Kings 2:10 Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.
- Genesis 15:15 You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.
- 2 Samuel 7:12 And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.
- 1 Kings 2:15 “You know that the kingship was mine,” he said. “All Israel expected that I should reign, but the kingship has turned to my brother, for it has come to him from the LORD.
- 1 Kings 2:22 King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Since he is my older brother, you might as well request the kingdom for him and for Abiathar the priest and for Joab son of Zeruiah!”