Having laid the foundation, as he thought, of the obligation that supposedly rested upon Solomon, Adonijah told Bathsheba that he had a request to make to her. He also requested her acceptance of it. This approach suggested that there should be no doubt that the statement that he had made should necessarily obligate Bathsheba to agree.
Though initially Bathsheba only permitted him to state his request, her readiness to agree after Adonijah stated his request raises some questions. We shall deal with these shortly.
Adonijah requested that King Solomon should give him Abishag the Shunammite as his wife. The request, as Solomon saw when it came to him via his mother, was a dangerous one. Even though there had been no intimacy between her and David, Abishag was still viewed either as David’s last wife or concubine, and if she had become the wife of Adonijah, it would be viewed as a renewal of Adonijah’s claim to the throne. Such was the common practice in the change of dynasties in the ancient world, and Absalom used a similar tactic in his rebellion against David (2 Samuel 16:21–23). That ploy had been successful for Absalom. As far as creating a claim to the throne, his defeat took place in open battle—not in the failure to establish a claim in the eyes of the people of Israel. Adonijah’s request was, as Solomon saw, a request for the kingdom.
The question arises in the minds of careful readers: Why did Bathsheba so quickly agree to the request? Was she a naive woman, or was she a calculating woman foreseeing the reaction of her wise son to such a ridiculous and dangerous request? Other commentators have also asked a similar question or come down on the side of the second possibility.1,2
Paul House gives a number of persuasive arguments against the supposition that Bathsheba was a rather stupid and gullible woman. He suggests that she was a woman of great power in the palace, having played an important part in Solomon’s gaining of the throne. He also notes that, as the queen of the harem,
she, more than anyone else, would have a knowledge of harem politics.
3 House’s arguments are persuasive, but there is one counter-argument that is based upon the manner in which she spoke to Solomon in relaying the request. That will be seen in the comment on 1 Kings 2:20.
The parallel question that comes to mind is in regard to Adonijah. Why did he make such a request to Bathsheba? Did he believe that she was a stupid woman? Did he believe that Solomon would also be deceived by the request? Was this an innocent request based on nothing other than a desire to gain a beautiful wife for himself? We ask the final question because well-respected commentators have brought it up as a possibility.
An almost insurmountable objection to the third suggestion is the isolation of the palace harem from the rest of the kingdom. The women of the palace did not freely circulate in public. Upon what basis can we believe that Adonijah had a strictly personal and romantic interest in Abishag when he could have had little, if any, contact with her?
16 And now I have one request to make of you; do not refuse me.” She said to him, “Speak.”