13 Go in to king David, and tell him, 'Didn't you, my lord, king, swear to your handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne? Why then does Adonijah reign?'
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Go and get thee in unto King David - He knew that this woman had a sovereign influence over the king. If Bath-sheba was a source of pleasure to David, must she not also have been a source of pain to him? For could he ever forget the guilty manner in which he acquired her?
Didst not thou - swear - It is very likely that David made such an oath, and that was known only to Bath-sheba and Nathan. It is nowhere else mentioned.
Go and get thee in unto King David,.... That is, go into the chamber where the king lay, at once, without any ceremony:
and say unto him, didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thine handmaid, saying, assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? though no mention is elsewhere made of such an oath, there undoubtedly was one, of which Nathan had knowledge, either from David or Bathsheba, or from them both, or might be present himself at the making of it; for not only Bathsheba affirms it, 1-Kings 1:17; but David owns it and confirms it, 1-Kings 1:30;
why then doth Adonijah reign? surely it cannot be with the king's knowledge and consent, so manifestly contrary to his promise and oath.
*More commentary available at chapter level.