1 Kings 2:16

So now I have just one request of you; do not deny me.” “State your request,” she told him.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Adonijah addresses Bathsheba following his failed bid for the throne, pressing her to intercede with Solomon. He frames his appeal as a final, unavoidable favor before she responds.

The words — שְׁאֵלָ֤ה (she.'e.Lah) denotes a formal petition, while תָּשִׁ֖בִי (ta.Shi.vi) literally means “you turn away,” marking the rejection he fears.

The thread — The pattern of pressing an unrefused favor runs through Psalms 132:10 and Proverbs 30:7, where petitioners anchor their requests in covenant loyalty or mortal limitation.

Why it lands — The text requires a reader to track how political desperation shapes the language of petition, mapping the boundary between a legitimate appeal and a demand that tests authority.

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

וְעַתָּ֗הve./'a.Tahand/ now שְׁאֵלָ֤הshe.'e.Laha petition אַחַת֙'a.Chatone אָֽנֹכִי֙'a.no.KhiI שֹׁאֵ֣לsho.'El[am] asking מֵֽאִתָּ֔ךְme./'i.Ta/khfrom/ with <the>/ you אַל־'al-may not תָּשִׁ֖בִיta.Shi.viyou turn away אֶת־'et-<obj.>פָּנָ֑יpa.Na/iface/ my וַתֹּ֥אמֶרva./To.merand/ she said אֵלָ֖יו'e.La/vto/ him דַּבֵּֽר׃da.Berspeak

King James Version

And now I ask one petition of thee, deny me not. And she said unto him, Say on.

Cross-references

Psalms 132:10 For the sake of Your servant David, do not reject Your anointed one.
Proverbs 30:7 Two things I ask of You—do not refuse me before I die: