As Zadok, Nathan, and Benaiah came, the king wasted no time in instructing them what was to be done. He immediately began to give them detailed instructions. In this we notice that, even though he was feeble in body, he was still mentally active, and he knew his own mind.
Take with you the servants of your lord,
was how he began. Notice the breadth of the command. It is not a few people who were to go with Solomon but a whole body of royal servants. Such an escort would have indicated to the people of Jerusalem and the surrounding country that this was something that had the full backing of the king.
The next thing to note is that Solomon was to be mounted on David’s own mule. There should be no misunderstanding about this. David’s mule was the royal mount. Some kings in the ancient world rode on horses and others on mules. For the king to give his son the use of this animal was another way in which the official could back the processions.
The last matter that this verse addresses is the destination. Gihon was not the name of a town or village but the name of a stream or water course. It fed the pool of Siloam in New Testament times and it was not many miles away from En-rogel, the place where Adonijah’s feast was taking place.
33 And the king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.