What Does 1 Kings 1:25 Mean?
For he has gone down today, and has slaughtered oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and has called all the king's sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest, and behold, they eat and drink before him, and they say, Let king Adonijah live.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king’s sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah.THE KEY
The final cry is “May King Adonijah live,” a public wish that makes a contested claim sound like settled rule.
THE MEANING
Here a claim to power gathers force through a feast: abundance fills the scene, influential figures receive the summons, and their shared words name Adonijah king. The cry, literally “May King Adonijah live,” presents a desired kingship in the form of a public blessing.
THE ROOT
יְחִי
yeḥi
GROWS FROM
חיה
חיה (ḥayah): to live, be alive
“Let king Adonijah live” in this verse is yeḥi. יְחִי (yeḥi, “may he live”) comes from the life-root חיה (ḥayah, “to live”). The cry makes a wish for Adonijah’s life into a public acclamation of his kingship.
ALSO GROWS
meḥayyeh: one who gives life or revives
מְחַיֶּה
This form extends the root from living to the act of bringing life, illuminating the life-wish at the center of the acclamation.
teḥiyyah: revival, restoration to life
תְּחִיָּה
This branch names life renewed, showing how the cry gathers around the continued life of the king.
וַיִּקְרָא
vayyiqra
GROWS FROM
קרא
קרא (qara): to call, summon, cry out
“called” in this verse is vayyiqra. The root קרא (qara, “to call or summon”) joins gathering people with raising a public voice. The summons brings influential witnesses together; their shared acclamation gives the claim a public sound.
ALSO GROWS
qeri'ah: a calling, summons, or reading aloud
קְרִיאָה
The same root can gather people by summons or carry words aloud, connecting Adonijah’s invitation to the crowd’s cry.
miqra: a reading or convocation
מִקְרָא
This branch links spoken words with an assembled body, echoing the feast where gathered people voice a royal claim.
מֶלֶךְ
melekh
GROWS FROM
מלך
מלך (malakh): to rule, reign, be king
The root מלך (malakh, “to rule”) branches from the person who is king to the rule and realm associated with kingship. The toast therefore invokes more than Adonijah’s life: it speaks his authority as the frame for the gathering.
ALSO GROWS
malkhut: kingship, royal rule
מַלְכוּת
This branch names the condition Adonijah’s acclamation claims for him.
mamlakhah: kingdom, realm
מַמְלָכָה
This branch opens the personal title into the wider political order the gathered assembly is being asked to recognize.
THE PATTERN
A public cry can turn a private claim to rule into visible, shared allegiance.
And Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people." And all the people shouted and said, "Let the king live!"But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as you hear the voice of the ram's horn, then you shall say, Absalom reigns in Hebron.Saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the nature of the Lord; wholeness in heaven, and weight in the highest."THE THREAD
The king also said to them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.“Bring him down” uses the same root ירד (yarad, “to descend”) as “gone down” in this verse. Here the movement is directed by the king’s command; the next verse recounts Solomon’s anointing and the people’s acclamation, revealing another path from descent to a public claim of kingship.
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