Adonijah: David's Fourth Son and the Crown He Grasped

David's fourth son

Adonijah was a son of David, born to Haggith, and he belonged to the tribe of Judah in the days of the united kingdom, an era placed around 1095 BC to 975 BC on Ussher's chronology (1650). The genealogy of David's sons sets him in order: "the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith" (1 Chronicles 3:2). His name first appears in a list at 2 Samuel 3:4, and he is counted again among David's children in 1 Chronicles 3:2. Everything else Scripture tells about him is packed into two chapters, 1 Kings 1 and 1 Kings 2, where he is the man who reached for a throne and lost both the throne and his life.

The feast by En Rogel

His move is reported at 1 Kings 1:5, and the narrative then names the men he gathered to his side: "He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest; and they followed Adonijah and helped him. But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. Adonijah killed sheep, cattle, and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En Rogel; and he called all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the king's servants" (1 Kings 1:7-9).

Notice how carefully the text divides the house. A commander and a priest went with him. Another priest, another commander, a prophet, two further men, and David's mighty men did not. The sacrifice and the feast were a claim staked in public, and the guest list was the claim's argument: brothers, the king's sons, the men of Judah.

The word reached David through the prophet Nathan: "My lord, king, have you said, 'Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne?' For he has gone down today, and has slain cattle, fatlings, and sheep in abundance, and has called all the king's sons, the captains of the army, and Abiathar the priest. Behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and saying, 'Long live king Adonijah!'" (1 Kings 1:24-25). Adonijah is also spoken of in the exchanges at 1 Kings 1:11, 1:13, and 1:18.

The news that broke the feast

The feast ended with a sound from the city. "Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they had finished eating. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, 'Why is this noise of the city being in an uproar?' While he yet spoke, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came; and Adonijah said, 'Come in; for you are a worthy man, and bring good news.' Jonathan answered Adonijah, 'Most certainly our lord king David has made Solomon king'" (1 Kings 1:41-43). The man Adonijah greeted as a bearer of good news carried the one message that undid him.

What followed was collapse. "All the guests of Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and each man went his way. Adonijah was afraid because of Solomon; and he arose, and went, and hung onto the horns of the altar. Solomon was told, 'Behold, Adonijah fears king Solomon; for, behold, he is hanging onto the horns of the altar, saying, "Let king Solomon swear to me first that he will not kill his servant with the sword"'" (1 Kings 1:49-51). The party that had shouted long life for him scattered in a single verse.

One request too many

Adonijah appears again at 1 Kings 2:13 and 1 Kings 2:19, and then in the scene that ends him. A request was carried to the king: "She said, 'Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife.' King Solomon answered his mother, 'Why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.' Then king Solomon swore by Yahweh, saying, 'God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life. Now therefore as Yahweh lives, who has established me, and set me on my father David's throne, and who has made me a house as he promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death today'" (1 Kings 2:21-24). Adonijah's name is heard once more in connection with the aftermath at 1 Kings 2:28.

Failures told plainly

Scripture does not soften him. He conferred with a commander and a priest to build a faction (1 Kings 1:7), feasted himself toward a crown while his father still lived (1 Kings 1:9), and let men acclaim him king (1 Kings 1:25). His turning, such as it was, came as fear: he hung onto the horns of the altar and begged for an oath (1 Kings 1:50-51). Then, spared, he asked for Abishag the Shunammite, and Solomon heard in that request the kingdom asked for a second time (1 Kings 2:22). The king's verdict was that Adonijah had spoken against his own life (1 Kings 2:23).

What we are not told

No children of Adonijah are named. Scripture gives us his mother's name, his place in the birth order, his bid for the throne, his fear, and his end, and leaves the rest closed. We are not told what he thought as he clung to the altar, nor why he asked for Abishag the Shunammite, only how Solomon read the request (1 Kings 2:22).

A son of David who grasped

The dossier lists no New Testament reference to Adonijah, so no line is drawn from him into the later Scriptures here. His story stands as it is written: a son of David and Haggith (1 Chronicles 3:2) who gathered a faction, heard himself hailed as king, and then heard that another had been made king instead (1 Kings 1:43). He sought an oath at the altar and received one (1 Kings 1:51), and he lost it by asking for more (1 Kings 2:21-24). That is the whole of what the text gives, and it is enough to read closely.