The son of Abiathar entered the gathering as Joab was speaking. We are not told in this text why he was not present previously. From Adonijah’s response to his entrance, we might safely assume that he, too, was a follower of Adonijah as well as his father. It would have little value to speculate upon the reason for his absence.
Adonijah gave him a warm welcome and pronounced him a worthy
man. The Hebrew word “chayil” has a basic meaning of strength—usually of a physical kind—but it can also mean another kind of strength such as the possession of ability or efficiency, and this is probably the meaning intended here.
The would-be king assumed that Jonathan brought good news and he said so. The word translated good
from Hebrew has the general idea of that which is pleasant and advantageous to the person calling it good. It is possible, therefore that Adonijah thought that Jonathan was bringing to him news that would be advantageous to his purpose of truly becoming king. He was about to learn that he had jumped to a wrong conclusion.
42 While he was still speaking, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. And Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a worthy man and bring good news.”