Solomon?s Kingdom Established, 1 Kings 2:1-46
INTRODUCTION
1 Kings 2 consists of two large scenes. First, David gives his final instructions to Solomon (vv. 1-12); these verses are bracketed by the word ?days?E(vv. 1, 11). Second, Solomon carries out David?s instructions, enabling him to establish his kingdom (vv. 12-46); these verses are surrounded by the word ?establish.?EJust as David?s word in chapter 1 ensured that Solomon would sit on the throne, so Solomon?s fulfillment of David?s word secures the throne.
It seems odd that Yahweh?s promise would be worked out in this way. David instructs Solomon to execute two people, and he ends up executing three and exiling a fourth. He tears down the four pillars of a rival kingdom, and this is the way God?s promise is worked out (vv. 24, 45; cf. 1:48). Yahweh doesn?t fulfill His promises in a perfect, stainless world, in a way that avoids the messiness of power struggle, calculation, and bloodshed. Rather, Yahweh does battle precisely in the midst of this messiness.
THE TEXT
?Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man; And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself . . . .?E(1 Kings 2:1-46).
DAVID?S LAST WORDS
In a number of respects, David?s instructions echo the instructions of Moses to Joshua, and Yahweh?s words to Joshua. Moses encourages Israel, and specifically Joshua, to be ?strong and courageous?E(Deuteronomy 31:1ff), and the Lord repeats this exhortation in Joshua 1:7-8. David says the same in 1 Kings 2:3. So, Moses is to Joshua as David is to Solomon. There is a general similarity, in that both Moses and David pass on leadership of Israel. But there is also a more specific connection, one that highlights the fact that Solomon is a ?new Joshua,?Ewho spends the chapter wiping out the ?Canaanites?Ethat remain in David?s kingdom, then brings ?rest?Eto the land and establishes a sanctuary for Yahweh (cf. Joshua 18:1ff).
David singles out three people for Solomon?s attention. In each case, they are judged by their actions and attitudes toward the Lord?s anointed, toward David, the Abrahamic seed. Those who bless David (like Barzillai) are blessed, and those who curse him (either verbally, like Shimei, or through their actions, like Joab) are cursed.
Joab deserves to die because he killed two commanders of the army, and shed the blood of war during peacetime. Joab not only killed two people with whom he was not at war (Abner and Amasa) but he did so under the cover of peace (2 Samuel 3:23; 20:9). In some manuscripts, the pronouns in verse 5 are in the first person. David accuses Joab of covering David?s belt and feet in blood. Whether this is the correct reading, David definitely believes that Joab did wrong to David (?what Joab . . . did to me?E and that Joab would be a threat to Solomon if allowed to remain (see 2 Samuel 21). Further, David says that Joab assaulted both Israel and Judah. Joab clearly does not favor Solomon (1 Kings 1), and, as the commander of the army, could form a ?fifth column?Ewithin Solomon?s kingdom.
David wants to show favor to Barzillai, who fed him during his flight from Absalom. Food for food: In exchange for the hospitality that Barzillai showed David, David shows hospitality to him.
David also wants Solomon to eliminate Shimei, who cursed David when David fled Jerusalem during Absalom?s rebellion. David swore that he would not kill Shimei when he returned to the land (2 Samuel 19:16-23), and Shimei has allied himself with Solomon (1 Kings 1:8; 2:8). Yet, David wants him dead. This is not personal vengeance. Shimei, a prominent Benjamite who has been loyal to the house of Saul, poses potential political threats to David. Further, Shimei has violated the law in cursing the leader of Israel (Exodus 22:28). As Solomon carries out these instructions, the writer of Kings indicates that both Joab and Shimei receive what they deserve, as their violence and curses ?return?Eon their own heads (vv. 32-33, 44).
SOLOMON ESTABLISHES THE KINGDOM
Solomon begins to fulfill David?s instructions by dealing with someone that David never mentioned: Adonijah (vv. 13-25). He approaches Bath-sheba requesting Abishag as his wife. Bath-sheba no doubt realizes that this is another bid for the kingdom (she?s not na?Ee); throughout the Ancient Near East (including Israel), a king?s harem was passed on to his successor (2 Samuel 12). Bath-sheba agrees to bring the request to Solomon knowing how Solomon will respond. Solomon acts as expected, and sends Benaiah to execute Adonijah.
Solomon apparently sees that Adonijah?s old allies, Abiathar and Joab, were behind Adonijah?s request. He sends Abiathar away to exile in Anathoth. This fulfills the threat that Yahweh made against the house of Eli (1 Samuel 3). Abiathar is the sole survivor after Saul slaughtered the priests of the house of Eli (1 Samuel 21), and his exile brings the curse against Eli to completion. Joab realizes what is happening, and acts for all the world like a guilty man, fleeing to the altar and taking the horns. Solomon instructs Benaiah to execute him, treating him as a murderer (Exodus 21:14).
Shimei gets a reprieve for a time, as Solomon puts him under house arrest in something like a ?city of refuge?E(see Numbers 35:22ff). Solomon treats Shimei as a man-slayer, rather than as a murderer; though Shimei was not guilty of outright murderer, he was ?stoning?EDavid symbolically, and Solomon appears to count this as a form of manslaughter. Solomon plays the role of the avenger of blood, and as soon as Shimei leaves the city of refuge, he carries out the execution. There is an ironic twist here: Shimei?s curses ?turn?Eon his own head, curses that included the claims that ?Yahweh has turned upon [David] the bloodshed of the house of Saul?E(2 Samuel 16:8). The curses that Shimei ?turned?Eon David have now turned on him.
Catechism for little saints
What did David tell Solomon to do?
David told Solomon to deal with Joab and Shimei, two enemies of David, and to bless Barzillai, who showed mercy to David.
Did Solomon do the right thing?
Solomon executed the bloodthirsty Joab, returning blood for blood. Shimei?s curses were returned to him, curse for curse.