The response of those attending Adonijah’s banquet was fear displayed in their trembling. They left as fast as they could. They had grievously miscalculated, thinking that their presence was a guarantee of prominence in the coming reign. The news of Jonathan turned that calculation on its head. They feared Solomon might transform the guest list at the feast as a list of rebels.
Adonijah went further since he was the instigator of the rebellion. He went to the tabernacle and took hold of the horns of the altar.
Some believe that this was a recognized practice in Israel that was seen as an appeal from human to divine justice. In some respects, it foreshadowed the medieval idea of sanctuary,
in which a person might enter a church or cathedral to escape human justice (or injustice) in what was considered to be God’s sanctuary.
We must understand that this was a man-made custom, and there was no such provision in the law of Moses. That law provided for cities of refuge that a manslayer could flee from the avenger of blood
that his case might be judged and he be either executed or remain in that city until the death of the high priest, but that was a different matter.
49 Then all the guests of Adonijah trembled and rose, and each went his own way.