What Does 1 Kings 1:51 Mean in the King James?
And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me to day that he will not slay his servant with the sword.
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 one named אֲדֹנִיָּהוּ (Adoniyahu, “YHWH is my Lord”) seeks life from שְׁלֹמֹה (Shelomoh, from שָׁלוֹם / shalom, “wholeness”) while gripping מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbeach, whose root זבח / zabach means “slaughter or sacrifice”).
THE MEANING
Fear becomes physical: Adonijah clasps the altar horns and asks Solomon to bind his authority with an oath that the sword will not take his life. The altar offers a place to cling, yet the plea still depends on the king’s word; refuge and danger remain together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Reaching a sacred refuge does not by itself dissolve the danger: Adonijah still needs the king’s explicit promise that the sword will not reach him.
THE ROOT
מִזְבֵּחַ
mizbeach
GROWS FROM
זבח
to slaughter; to sacrifice
English “altar” presents a sacred location; מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbeach) carries the root זבח (zabach), to sacrifice or slaughter. Adonijah clings to a place whose name holds the very act he begs the king not to perform on him.
ALSO GROWS
zevach: sacrifice; slaughtered offering
זֶבַח
The same root names what is brought to the altar, placing Adonijah’s refuge in the vocabulary of sacrifice and death.
zoveach: one who sacrifices
זֹבֵחַ
This form names the action performed at the altar, showing how closely the place is bound to its sacrificial work.
שְׁלֹמֹה
Shelomoh
GROWS FROM
שלם
whole, complete, sound
Solomon’s name grows from the same seed as שָׁלוֹם (shalom), wholeness. The verse places that name beside a sword and makes another person’s life depend on the king’s word.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: wholeness; well-being
שָׁלוֹם
The name’s connection to wholeness stands in sharp relief beside Adonijah’s fear that his life may be cut short.
shalem: whole; complete; intact
שָׁלֵם
This form carries the sense of being intact, the very condition Adonijah asks the king to preserve.
אָחַז
achaz
GROWS FROM
אחז
to seize, grasp, or hold
“caught hold” in this verse is achaz. The Hebrew verb describes a grasp that can also carry the sense of taking or possessing. Adonijah’s hands find something to hold, but his grip cannot settle the outcome; that rests with the king.
ALSO GROWS
achaz: to seize, grasp, hold
אָחַז
This is the verb for Adonijah’s grip on the altar horns, making his appeal for life a physical act of holding fast.
achuzzah: possession; holding; estate
אֲחֻזָּה
The related noun extends the root’s sense from grasping to what is held or possessed, while Adonijah’s grip gives him no possession of the king’s promise.
THE PATTERN
A threatened life reaches for refuge and asks a binding word to hold the sword at bay.
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.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.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
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.The same noun מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbeach, “altar”) names the altar Adonijah grips and the altar from which the deliberate killer is removed. The shared word reveals refuge as real yet bounded: the altar can shelter a life, but it does not make lethal intent harmless.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us