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.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Adonijah addresses Bathsheba following his failed bid for power and David’s death, pressing his claim during a critical political moment.

The words — הַמְּלוּכָה (ha.me.lu.Kah) translates literally as “the kingship,” while שָׂמוּ (Sa.mu) means “they set” or “they placed,” describing the transfer of royal authority.

The thread — The text’s claim of divine appointment aligns with 1 Chronicles 28:5, which records God choosing Solomon to sit on the throne, and echoes 1 Kings 1:5, where Adonijah previously declared, “I will be king!”

Why it lands — The verse states that human expectation and political maneuvering yield to divine sovereignty, requiring the reader to acknowledge that authority originates from God rather than human ambition.

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

וַיֹּ֗אמֶרva/i.Yo.merand/ he said אַ֤תְּ'atyou יָדַ֙עַתְּ֙ya.Da.'atyou know כִּי־ki-thatלִי֙l/ito/ meהָיְתָ֣הha.ye.Tahit belonged הַמְּלוּכָ֔הha./me.lu.Khahthe/ kingship וְעָלַ֞יve./'a.La/iand/ on/ me שָׂ֧מוּSa.muthey set כָֽל־khol-all יִשְׂרָאֵ֛לYis.ra.'ElIsrael פְּנֵיהֶ֖םpe.nei./Hemfaces/ their לִמְלֹ֑ךְli/m.Lokhto/ become king וַתִּסֹּ֤בva./ti.Soand/ it has turned round הַמְּלוּכָה֙ha./me.lu.Khahthe/ kingship וַתְּהִ֣יva./te.Hiand/ it has belonged לְאָחִ֔יle./'a.Ch/ito/ brother/ my כִּ֥יkifor מֵיְהוָ֖הme./Yah.wehfrom/ Yahweh הָ֥יְתָהHa.ye.tahit belongedלּֽוֹ׃l/oto/ him

King James Version

And he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: howbeit the kingdom is turned about, and is become my brother’s: for it was his from the Lord.

Cross-references

1 Chronicles 22:9 But a son will be born to you who will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name will be Solomon, and I will grant to Israel peace and quiet during his reign.
1 Chronicles 28:5 And of all my sons—for the LORD has given me many sons—He has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel.
1 Kings 1:5 At that time Adonijah, David’s son by Haggith, began to exalt himself, saying, “I will be king!” And he acquired chariots and horsemen and fifty men to run ahead of him.
1 Kings 1:25 For today he has gone down and sacrificed an abundance of oxen, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the sons of the king, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him, saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’
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.
2 Samuel 16:18 “Not at all,” Hushai answered. “For the one chosen by the LORD, by this people, and by all the men of Israel—his I will be, and with him I will remain.
Proverbs 21:30 There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
Jeremiah 27:5 By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.
Daniel 2:22 He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him.
2 Samuel 12:24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. So she gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. Now the LORD loved the child