Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 2:25
And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.
25. by the hand of Benaiah ] To Benaiah was committed not the oversight, but the execution of the sentence. In like manner he puts to death Joab (1Ki 2:34) and Shimei (1Ki 2:46). Solomon was absolute as a monarch, and the command was executed as promptly as it was given. The LXX fills out the sentence thus, .
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 25. Solomon sent – Benaiah – and he fell upon him that he died.] Benaiah seems to have been the public state executioner, and yet he was generalissimo of all the forces. See him employed in a similar work, 1Kg 2:34; 1Kg 2:46. I suppose him to have been such another general as Suwarrow, butcher-general of the Turks and Poles to the late Empress Catharine of Russia: like mistress, like man. But they have long since been called to an impartial tribunal.
That this was an act of cruelty towards Adonijah, needs no proof. He is suspected, condemned, and slain, without a hearing. Calmet vindicates all this by various assumptions, and lays down a doctrine that is calculated for the meridian of Fez or Morocco; hear him: Un prince, dans ses jugemens, ne peut pas toujours suivre les regles de la plus parfaite morale; la politique, et le bien de l’etat, obligent souvent a des choses opposees aux conseils de l’evangile; “A prince in his judgments cannot always follow the rules of the most perfect morality; policy and the good of the state often require things to be done which are contrary to the counsels of the Gospel.” What a diabolic maxim is this! And is this indeed the way that French kings ruled and ministers decreed judgment? Then we need not wonder at a revolution in that state, nor of the scourge that desolated the land. O England! magnify God for your constitution, your constitutional king, and the laws according to which he reigns.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For the execution of justice was not then committed to obscure persons, as now it is; but to persons of great honour and authority. See Jdg 8:21; 1Sa 22:18; 2Sa 1:15; 4:12. He fell upon him with a sword, or other instrument of death; as below, 1Ki 2:32,34,46.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada,…. Orders to execute him, and proper persons to do it; perhaps some of the Cherethites and Pelethites under him, to assist at least in it:
and he fell upon him, that he died; Benaiah rushed in upon him with his men, and thrust his sword into him, and killed him; executions used to be done in those times and countries by great personages, as the instances of Gideon, Doeg, and others, show, and not by common executioners.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(25) Sent by the hand of Benaiah.The chief of the body-guard is the chief of the executioners (see 1Ki. 1:38), apparently, in the case of great criminals, carrying out the sentence of condemnation with his own hand. (Comp. Jdg. 8:20-21.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1Ki 2:25. Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada It was formerly very customary among princes to employ their officers, or greatest confidants, in such executions. Among the Romans, the soldiers were always the persons who carried to prison, to torture, or to execution, such as were found guilty of any offence; and this Tertullian makes an argument to dissuade Christians from engaging in the wars, lest thereby they should be obliged to imprison, punish, or execute malefactors. In Dan 2:24 we read, that Nebuchadnezzar sent Arioch, who was chief commander of his troops, to destroy the wise men of Babylon, because they could not interpret his dream; and therefore we need less wonder, that we find Solomon employing Benaiah, the captain of the guard, on the like office: but whether he did not first drag Joab (1Ki 2:34.) from the altar, before he slew him, for fear of polluting the holy place with blood, or whether Solomon did not rather think fit to have him killed even at the altar, and let all men see that no place, though never so sacred, should secure any man from the hand of justice, commentators have not agreed. See Exo 21:14.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Ki 2:25 And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.
Ver. 25. And he fell upon him that he died. ] This was another piece of the punishment of David’s two great sins: the small and short pleasure whereof, behold, what a train and tail of calamities it draweth after it!
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
he fell: 1Ki 2:31, 1Ki 2:34, 1Ki 2:46, Jdg 8:20, Jdg 8:21, 1Sa 15:33, 2Sa 1:15, 2Sa 4:12
Reciprocal: Jdg 15:12 – fall 2Sa 19:11 – sent 2Sa 23:5 – Although 1Ki 2:29 – Go 1Ch 3:2 – Adonijah 1Ch 29:24 – all the sons Pro 17:11 – General Ecc 8:4 – the word Heb 12:7 – for what
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 2:25. Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah, &c. For the execution of justice was not then committed to obscure persons, as it is now, but to persons of great honour and authority. Notwithstanding what has been observed in the two or three preceding notes, probably the reader will be inclined to think, as certainly many are, that it is far from being clear Solomon acted right in putting Adonijah to death, or that the latter had any ill design in asking Abishag. And yet, what certainly is of great weight, we nowhere find Solomon censured in the Scriptures for this action.