Discovery Box1 Kings 1:32-40 
Context1:32 King David said, “Summon Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, 1 and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” They came before the king, 1:33 and he 2 told them, “Take your master’s 3 servants with you, put my son Solomon on my mule, and lead him down to Gihon. 4 1:34 There Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet will anoint 5 him king over Israel; then blow the trumpet and declare, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ 1:35 Then follow him up as he comes and sits on my throne. He will be king in my place; I have decreed 6 that he will be ruler over Israel and Judah.” 1:36 Benaiah son of Jehoiada responded 7 to the king: “So be it! 8 May the Lord God of my master the king confirm it! 9 1:37 As the Lord is with my master the king, so may he be with Solomon, and may he make him an even greater king than my master King David!” 10
1:38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites 11 went down, put Solomon on King David’s mule, and led him to Gihon. 1:39 Zadok the priest took a horn filled with olive oil 12 from the tent and poured it on 13 Solomon; the trumpet was blown and all the people declared, “Long live King Solomon!” 1:40 All the people followed him up, playing flutes and celebrating so loudly they made the ground shake. 14
1 sn Summon…Nathan. Nathan must have left the room when Bathsheba reentered.
2 tn Heb “the king.”
3 tn The plural form is used in the Hebrew text to indicate honor and authority.
4 tn Heb “mount Solomon my son on the mule that belongs to me and take him down to Gihon.”
5 tn Or “designate” (i.e., by anointing with oil).
6 tn Or “commanded.”
7 tn Heb “answered and said.”
8 tn Or “Amen.”
9 tn Heb “So may the
10 tn Heb “and may he make his throne greater than the throne of my master King David.”
11 sn The Kerethites and Pelethites were members of David’s royal guard (see 2 Sam 8:18). The Kerethites may have been descendants of an ethnic group originating in Crete.
12 tn Heb “the horn of oil.” This has been specified as olive oil in the translation for clarity.
sn A horn filled with oil. An animal’s horn was used as an oil flask in the anointing ceremony.
13 tn Or “anointed.”
14 tn Heb “and all the people went up after him, and the people were playing flutes and rejoicing with great joy and the ground split open at the sound of them.” The verb בָּקַע (baqa’, “to split open”), which elsewhere describes the effects of an earthquake, is obviously here an exaggeration for the sake of emphasis.
