His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom. - 1 Kings 1:6
David made his sons priests in his court. (2 Samuel 8:18) He wanted to be king in King David's old age (1 Kings 1:5-8) but was thwarted by King Solomon's coronation (1 Kings 1:28-53). Solomon left him alone in peace until he provoked his own execution in asking King Solomon for Abishag the Shunammite as a wife via Bathsheba. (1 Kings 2:13-25)
Stats
Haggith's son and the son born next after Absalom. (1 Kings 2:6) He is the fourth son of David mentioned in 2 Samuel 3:2-5.
- Death: Executed by Benaiah the son of Jehoiada by order of King Solomon for conspiracy (1 Kings 2:23-25)
- Tribe: Judah
- Birthplace: Hebron
- Father: King David
- Mother: Haggith
- Siblings: Amnon of Ahinoam of Jezreel, Chileab of Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur, Adonijah the son of Haggith, Shephatiah the son of Abital, and Ithream of Eglah. (2 Samuel 3:2-5), Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada, Eliphelet. (2 Samuel 5:13-16)
Life
Adonijah's self-exalting coronation
Adonijah announced himself as the next king, preparing chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and Abiathar the priest who supported him. He invited all his brothers, the king's sons, except Solomon, as well as all the royal officials of Judah to his sacrifice of sheep, oxen, and fattened cattle by the Serpent's Stone beside En-rogel.
Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei and Rei, and David's mighty men were not with Adonijah. Nathan the prophet, Benaiah , the mighty men, and Solomon were not invited to the coronation.
As Adonijah and his guests finished feasting, they heard an uproar in Gihon. Joab heard a trumpet, and asked what the sound meant. Suddenly, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a worthy man and bring good news.” Jonathan answered, “No, for our lord King David has made Solomon king, and the king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites. And they had him ride on the king's mule. And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon, and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you have heard. Solomon sits on the royal throne. Moreover, the king's servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours, and make his throne greater than your throne.’ And the king bowed himself on the bed. And the king also said, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has granted someone to sit on my throne this day, my own eyes seeing it.’”
Adonijah's guests trembled and left. Adonijah feared Solomon, so he went and took hold of the horns of the altar. King Solomon decided, "If he will show himself a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the earth, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die,” so he brought him down from the altar. Adonijah paid homage before King Solomon, and Solomon told him, "Go to your house."
Adonijah went to Bathsheba and asked her to ask King Solomon to give him Abishag the Shunammite as his wife. Bathsheba complied. Solomon answered, "And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he is my older brother, and on hsi side are Abiathar the priest and Joab the son of Zeruiah." Then he swore by the LORD, saying, "God do so to me and more also if this word does not cost Adonijah his life! Now therefore as the LORD lives, who has established me and placed me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today." So King Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down, and he died.
2 Samuel 16:20-22 suggests sexual liaison with the king's concubines amounted to a claim to the throne. Abishag wasn't strictly a concubine, but she was intimately associated in people's minds with David. Solomon appears to interpret Adonijah's request as a revival of the conspiracy of 1 Kings 1, the "wickedness" Solomon warned him against in 1 Kings 1:52.
(The ESV Study BibleTM, English Standard Version (ESV) by Crossway Bibles, 2007. Page 596)