1 Kings 2:25

1 Kings 2:25 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.
• New International Version (NIV)So King Solomon gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he struck down Adonijah and he died.
• English Standard Version (ESV)So King Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down, and he died.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he struck him down, and he died.

Context of 1 Kings 2:25

23Then King Solomon made this strong promise in the Lord's name. He said, ‘Because Adonijah has asked to have Abishag as his wife, I will certainly punish him with death. If I do not do that, I pray that God will punish me instead! 24As surely as the Lord lives, Adonijah must die today. The Lord has done everything that he promised to me. He has made me strong so that now I rule on the throne of my father David. And my descendants will continue to rule as kings after me.’ So King Solomon commanded Jehoiada's son Benaiah to kill Adonijah. So Adonijah died. 26Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, ‘Go back to your fields in Anathoth. You also deserve to die. But I will not kill you now because you served my father David. You carried the Covenant Box of the Almighty Lord when David was king. Also, the trouble that happened to my father happened to you too.’ 27Solomon sent Abiathar away so that he was no longer a priest who served the Lord. That was the punishment that the Lord had said would happen to Eli's family. So what the Lord had promised at Shiloh now happened.

1 Kings 2:25 word by word

וַיִּשְׁלַח֙ הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹ֔ה בְּיַ֖ד בְּנָיָ֣הוּ בֶן־יְהוֹיָדָ֑ע וַיִּפְגַּע־בּ֖וֹ וַיָּמֹֽת׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• Solomonשְׁלֹמֹהshelômôh · SolomonH8010
• sentשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
• by the handיָדyâd · hand: byH3027
• of Benaiahבְּנָיָ֫הוּbenâyâh benâyâhû · BenaiahH1141
• the sonבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• of Jehoiadaיְהוֹיָדָעyehôyâdâ‛ · JehoiadaH3077
• and he fellפָּגַעpâga‛ · to fall onH6293
• upon him that he diedמוּתmûth · to dieH4191

Cross-references for 1 Kings 2:25

• 1 Kings 2:31The king replied, ‘Do as Joab said. Kill him there and bury him. He has killed people who did not deserve to die. Punish Joab with death. Then I and my father's family will no longer be guilty for the cruel murders that he has done.
• Judges 8:20Gideon said to his oldest son, Jether, ‘Kill them now!’ But Jether was only a boy. He was too afraid to do anything.
• 1 Samuel 15:33But Samuel said to Agag, ‘You have used your sword to kill the children of many mothers. Now your own mother will have no children that are still alive.’ Then Samuel cut Agag into pieces at the Lord's altar in Gilgal.
• 2 Samuel 1:15Then David said to one of his own young men, ‘Go and knock him down!’ So the man knocked him down so that he died.
• 2 Samuel 4:12So David commanded his young men to kill Recab and Baanah. After they had killed them, they cut off their hands and their feet. They hung the dead bodies by the pool in Hebron. But they took Ish-Bosheth's head and they buried it in Abner's grave in Hebron.

Commentaries on 1 Kings 2:25

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 25Solomon sent - Benaiah - and he fell upon him that he died. - Benaiah seems to have been the public state executioner, and yet he was generalissimo of all the forces. See him employed in a similar work, 1 Kings 2:34; (note), 1 Kings 2:46; (note). I suppose him to have been such another general as Suwarrow, butcher-general of the Turks and Poles to the late Empress Catharine of Russia: like mistress, like man. But they have long since been called to an…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-25Verses 12-25 Solomon received Bathsheba with all the respect that was owing to a mother; but let none be asked for that which they ought not to grant. It ill becomes a good man to prefer a bad request, or to appear in a bad cause. According to eastern customs it was plain that Adonijah sought to be king, by his asking for Abishag as his wife, and Solomon could not be safe while he lived. Ambitious, turbulent spirits commonly prepare death for themselves…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 22-25Adonijah broke his agreement to submit to Solomon (1 Kings 1:52–53). So the king told Benaiah to execute him (see 1 Kings 1:8, 26, 38).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 23-2523-25. God do so to me, and more also--the common form of introducing a solemn oath. if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life--Whether there was a treasonable design to conceal under this request or not, the act, according to Eastern notions, was criminal, and of dangerous consequence to the state. There is no ground of censure upon Solomon for cruelty or precipitation in this instance. He had pardoned Adonijah's former conspiracy; but…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Kings 2:25

• Abishag
• Adonijah
• Fratricide
• Government
• Homicide
• Intercession
• Punishment
• Shunammite

In the dictionaries

• Benaiah
• Jehoiada
• Solomon
• Abishag
• Adonijah
• Cherethim
• Curse
• Fail
• Gone
• Return

Commentaries on 1 Kings 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings