What Does 1 Kings 1:50 Mean in the King James?
And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The altar’s horns become refuge he can physically clutch: fear turns sanctuary into something held in his hands.
THE MEANING
When power turns toward you as a threat, fear can move your body before you know the outcome: you rise, flee, and grip what looks like shelter. The altar’s horns make refuge a physical hold, and the scene leaves the answer suspended in the next word.
THE ROOT
וַיַּחֲזֵק
wayyaḥăzēq
GROWS FROM
חזק
ḥ-z-q
To be strong or make strong; in this form, to seize or hold firmly.
“caught hold” in this verse is wayyaḥăzēq. The Hebrew verb carries the sense of strength in the act of taking hold. The grip is an act of force, not a passing touch.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāzaq: Be strong or firm.
חָזַק
The same root’s sense of firmness gives weight to the way he grips the altar.
heḥĕzîq: Seize or hold firmly.
הֶחֱזִיק
This form links strength directly with the physical act of grasping.
קַרְנוֹת
qarnot
GROWS FROM
קרן
q-r-n
Horn or projecting point; the same word family also carries the sense of radiating or shining.
The horns are raised projections he can grip; the same consonants also appear in a word for shining rays. English “horns” hides this broader image of what projects outward.
ALSO GROWS
qeren: A horn or projecting point.
קֶרֶן
This is the singular form behind the altar’s graspable horns.
qāran: Shine or send out rays.
קָרַן
The shared root links the horn’s projection with radiating outward, adding depth to the image of the altar’s raised points.
הַמִּזְבֵּחַ
hamizbēaḥ
GROWS FROM
זבח
z-b-ḥ
To slaughter or sacrifice.
The altar’s name comes from the verb for sacrifice, so the object he grips is named by the act associated with it. His refuge is a specific place of sacrifice, not generic cover.
ALSO GROWS
zāvaḥ: Offer in sacrifice or slaughter for sacrifice.
זָבַח
This verb is the action that gives the altar its name.
zevaḥ: A sacrifice or sacrificial meal.
זֶבַח
The related noun keeps the altar connected to the ritual act and meal of sacrifice.
THE PATTERN
Refuge is sought while danger is still active; reaching for shelter is an appeal made within the threat.
But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:THE THREAD
Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.Joab’s flight repeats the Hebrew verb חזק (ḥazaq), “take hold,” and the same grasp of the altar’s horns. The repeated gesture makes this a recognizable plea for refuge under royal threat, while leaving open what follows the grip.
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