When we come to this verse the scene has shifted in the narrative, and we are returned to Adonijah’s coronation
feast. As the feast was concluding, the noise of the ascension of Solomon reached them. It was Joab who asked aloud the question that everyone there must have been thinking: What does this uproar in the city mean?
There was no way that the question could be answered by any of the guests. It is probable that they considered both positive and negative possibilities to account for the tumult. At their distance it might have been impossible to determine if the noise was a demonstration of joy or a demonstration of some tragedy. If anyone had at that time deduced the true reason, there is nothing in this verse that reveals this. Indeed, Adonijah’s statement in the next verse describing his assumption—that the noise indicated some good news—was from his perspective alone.
41 Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “What does this uproar in the city mean?”