her husband,
and had prepared him to recognise in Solomon her son the heir to the
throne. She had secured, too, as his adherents several persons of
influence, including Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah, the captain
of the foreign guard.

Adonijah had on his side Abiathar the priest, Joab, and the people of
Jerusalem, who had been captivated by his beauty and his regal display.
In the midst of these rivalries the king was daily becoming weaker: he
was now very old, and although he was covered with wrappings he could
not maintain his animal heat. A young girl was sought out for him to
give him the needful warmth. Abishag, a Shunammite, was secured for the
purpose, but her beauty inspired Adonijah with such a violent passion
that he decided to bring matters to a crisis. He invited his brethren,
with the exception of Solomon, to a banquet in the gardens which
belonged to him in the south of Jerusalem, near the well of Eogel. All
his partisans were present, and, inspired by the good cheer, began to
cry, "God save King Adonijah!" When Nathan informed Bathsheba of what
was going on, she went in unto the king, who was being attended on by
Abishag, complained to him of the weakness he was showing in regard to
his eldest son, and besought him to designate his heir officially. He
collected together the soldiers, and charged them to take the young
man Solomon with royal pomp from the hill of Sion to the source of the
Gibon: Nathan anointed his forehead with the sacred oil, and in the
sight of all the people brought him to the palace, mounted on his
father's mule. The blare of the coronation trumpets resounded in the
ears of the conspirators, quickly followed by the tidings that Solomon
had been hailed king over the whole of Israel: they fled on all sides,
Adonijah taking refuge at the horns of the altar. David did not long
survive this event: shortly before his death he advised Solomon to
rid himself of all those who had opposed his accession to the throne.
Solomon did not hesitate to follow this counsel, and the beginning of
his reign was marked by a series of bloodthirsty executions. Adonijah
was the first to suffer. He had been unwise enough to ask the hand of
Abishag in marriage: this request was regarded as indicative of a hidden
intention to rebel, and furnished an excuse for his assassination.
Abiathar, at whose instigation Adonijah had acted, owed his escape
from a similar fate to his priestly character and past serv