Bible Strands
1 Kings 1:32
Then King David said, “Call in for me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” So they came before the king.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — King David speaks to his court immediately after Bathsheba’s homage, ordering the immediate assembly of three specific officials.
The words — The Hebrew imperative קִרְאוּ (kir’u) translates literally as “summon” or “call in,” directing the royal attendants to bring Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet into the king’s presence.
The thread — These three officials are identified as David’s loyalists in 1 Kings 1:8, noted in 1 Kings 1:26 as absent from Adonijah’s feast, and later shown executing this exact order in 1 Kings 1:38.
Why it lands — It places the succession mechanism in documented, verbal commands to named witnesses, requiring the reader to track how royal authority shifts through explicit, recorded instructions rather than informal claims.
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 king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 1:8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David’s mighty men would not join Adonijah.
- 1 Kings 1:26 But me your servant he has not invited, nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon.
- 1 Kings 1:38 Then Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, along with the Cherethites and Pelethites, went down and set Solomon on King David’s mule, and they escorted him to Gihon.