Commentaria in III Regum
Chapter 2. Synopsis of the Chapter
David, about to die, gives Solomon his last counsels. First, that he observe the commandments of God; for so he will be happy in his kingdom; second, that he punish the crimes of Joab and Semei; third, that he repay the sons of Berzellai the kindness done to himself. Finally, David being dead, Solomon reigns, verse 12, and orders Adonias, who asks that Abisag be given him as wife, to be put to death. Next, verse 26, he sends away to Anathoth the Pontiff Abiathar, who had conspired with Adonias, and verse 28 commands Joab to be slain, and finally, verse 36, commands Semei, who violated his orders, to be put to death.
1. And the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying: 2. I am going the way of all flesh; take thou courage, and show thyself a man. 3. And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and observe his ceremonies, and his precepts, and judgments, and testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses: that thou mayest understand all that thou dost, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself; 4. that the Lord may confirm his words which he hath spoken of me, saying: If thy children shall take heed to their ways, and walk before me in truth, with all their heart, and with all their soul, there shall not be taken away from thee a man on the throne of Israel. 5. Thou knowest also what Joab the son of Sarvia hath done to me, what he did to the two captains of the army of Israel, Abner the son of Ner, and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in time of peace, and put the blood of battle on his girdle that was about his loins, and on his shoe that was on his feet.
6. Thou shalt do therefore according to thy wisdom, and shalt not let his grey hairs go down to hell in peace. 7. But thou shalt show kindness to the sons of Berzellai the Galaadite, and let them be among them that eat at thy table; for they met me when I fled from the face of Absalom thy brother. 8. And thou hast with thee Semei the son of Gera, the son of Jemini, of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse when I went to the camp; but because he came down to meet me when I passed the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying: I will not slay thee with the sword; 9. do not thou hold him guiltless. But thou art a wise man, that thou mayest know what to do with him, and thou shalt bring down his grey hairs with blood to hell. 10. And David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. 11. And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: in Hebron he reigned seven years; in Jerusalem thirty-three years. 12. And Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was strengthened exceedingly.
13. And Adonias the son of Haggith came to Bethsabee the mother of Solomon. And she said to him: Is thy coming peaceable? And he answered: It is peaceable. 14. And he added: I have a word to speak to thee. She said to him: Speak. And he said: 15. Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had set their face on me to be their king; but the kingdom is translated, and is become my brother’s; for it was appointed him by the Lord. 16. Now therefore I ask one petition of thee, turn not away my face. And she said to him: Speak. 17. And he said: I pray thee speak to king Solomon (for he can refuse thee nothing) to give me Abisag the Sunamitess to wife. 18. And Bethsabee said: Well, I will speak for thee to the king. 19. So Bethsabee went to king Solomon to speak to him for Adonias; and the king rose up to meet her, and bowed to her, and sat upon his throne; and a throne was set for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right hand. 20. And she said to him: I desire one small petition of thee; do not turn away my face. And the king said to her: My mother, ask: for I must not turn away thy face.
21. And she said: Let Abisag the Sunamitess be given to Adonias thy brother to wife. 22. And king Solomon answered, and said to his mother: Why dost thou ask Abisag the Sunamitess for Adonias? ask for him also the kingdom; for he is my elder brother, and hath Abiathar the priest and Joab the son of Sarvia. 23. Then king Solomon swore by the Lord, saying: Thus may God do to me, and add more, that Adonias hath spoken this word against his own life. 24. And now, as the Lord liveth, who hath established me, and set me upon the throne of David my father, and who hath made me a house, as he promised, this day shall Adonias be put to death. 25. And king Solomon sent by the hand of Banaias the son of Joiada, who slew him, and he died. 26. The king said also to Abiathar the priest: Go to Anathoth, to thy own field, for thou art indeed worthy of death; but I will not this day put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and hast borne labour in all in which my father laboured. 27. So Solomon cast out Abiathar from being the priest of the Lord, that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled which he spoke concerning the house of Heli in Silo.
28. And the news came to Joab, that Joab had turned after Adonias, and had not turned after Solomon; so Joab fled into the tabernacle of the Lord, and took hold of the horn of the altar. 29. And it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled into the tabernacle of the Lord, and was by the altar; and Solomon sent Banaias the son of Joiada, saying: Go, kill him. 30. And Banaias came to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him: Thus saith the king: Come out. And he said: I will not come out, but I will die here. Banaias told the king the word, saying: Thus hath Joab spoken, and thus hath he answered me. 31. And the king said to him: Do as he hath said, and kill him, and bury him, and thou shalt take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father. 32. And the Lord shall return his blood upon his own head, because he slew two men just and better than himself, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing it, Abner the son of Ner, prince of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, prince of the army of Juda: 33. and their blood shall return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever. But to David, and to his seed, and to his house, and to his throne, be peace for ever from the Lord. 34. So Banaias the son of Joiada went up, and, setting upon him, slew him, and he was buried in his house in the desert. 35. And the king appointed Banaias the son of Joiada in his stead over the army, and Sadoc the priest he put in the place of Abiathar. 36. The king also sent and called for Semei, and said to him: Build thee a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not out from thence any whither. 37. For on what day soever thou shalt go out and pass over the torrent Cedron, know that thou shalt be put to death: thy blood shall be upon thy own head. 38. And Semei said to the king: The saying is good: as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. So Semei dwelt in Jerusalem many days. 39. And it came to pass after three years, that the servants of Semei fled to Achis the son of Maacha king of Geth; and it was told Semei that his servants were in Geth. 40. And Semei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Achis in Geth to seek his servants, and brought them from Geth. 41. And it was told Solomon that Semei was gone from Jerusalem to Geth, and was come back. 42. And sending he called for him, and said to him: Did I not charge thee by the Lord, and foretell to thee, saying: On what day soever thou shalt go out and go any where, know that thou shalt die? And thou saidst to me: The saying is good that I have heard. 43. Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord, and the commandment that I laid upon thee? 44. And the king said to Semei: Thou knowest all the evil, which thy heart is conscious of, that thou didst to David my father: the Lord hath returned thy wickedness upon thy own head.
45. And king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord for ever. 46. And the king commanded Banaias the son of Joiada: and he went out, and struck him, and he died.