Adonijah

Adonijah is a son of King David, listed as the fourth, born to Haggith, who attempted to take the throne and was executed by Solomon; the name is also borne by an unrelated Levite in the reign of Jehoshaphat. Linguistically, the Hebrew name is commonly understood to mean “Yah is lord” or “my lord is Yah.”

Scripture lists him among David’s sons as the fourth, the son of Haggith (2 Samuel 3:4). The narrative says that Adonijah “exalted himself, saying, ‘I will be king,’” and that he prepared chariots, horsemen, and fifty men to run before him (1 Kings 1:5). His backers included Joab son of Zeruiah and Abiathar the priest, while Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David’s mighty men were not with him (1 Kings 1:7-8). At a sacrificial feast his supporters ate and drank before him and cried, “Long live King Adonijah!” (1 Kings 1:25). Against this, Nathan instructed Bathsheba to remind David of his oath that Solomon would reign and sit on his throne (1 Kings 1:13). After Solomon became king, Bathsheba went to speak to him on Adonijah’s behalf (1 Kings 2:19); Solomon judged Adonijah’s word to be against his own life and sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who struck him so that he died (1 Kings 2:23-25).

A separate Adonijah is listed among the Levites in the reign of Jehoshaphat, alongside priests (2 Chronicles 17:8); the shared name does not identify him with David’s son.

Christian traditions do not assess Adonijah uniformly. Many moral readings treat him as a warning against self-exaltation, since he says “I will be king” without being described in that scene as authorized by David (1 Kings 1:5). Readings more focused on royal succession stress the political danger his request posed and Solomon’s stated grounds for execution (1 Kings 2:23-25). Because these verses report the death without an explicit divine verdict on Solomon’s severity, judgments about whether the execution was necessary or excessive remain interpretive rather than settled by the text.

AI-generated reference entry, grounded in the passages where this term appears — history and Scripture stated as such, interpretation labeled as interpretation. Not a substitute for the text itself.