Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
1 Kings 1:53 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 53. 53So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to king Solomon: and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition: “So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Adonijah seeks altar refuge and receives conditional mercy.”
Adonijah grabs the altar because he fears the new king
This verse is one part of that explanation in 1 Kings 1:50–53. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 1 Kings 1:50–53
Read 1 Kings 1:53 with 1:50–53. The selected wording supplies one closing in the thought unit with its stated result or transition; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Sends Adonijah to grasp the altar horns because he fears Solomon; ends the crisis with Adonijah brought from the altar, submitting to Solomon, and sent home.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Adonijah seeks altar refuge and receives conditional mercy,” 1 Kings 1:53 closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition through the wording “So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: 1 Kings 1:41–49 establishes this prior movement: Lets Adonijah's feast hear the rival city's noise just as its meal ends; shows Adonijah's coalition dissolving in fear after Solomon's enthronement. 1 Kings 1:50–53 responds to the pressure, request, or claim already established; that demonstrated relationship, rather than database adjacency alone, explains its placement.
Read 1 Kings 1:50–53 together
Why these verses belong together: Adonijah seeks altar refuge and receives conditional mercy is the complete reviewed scene, prayer, oracle, list, or regnal notice bounded at 1:50–1:53.
Verse 50. 50 And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
Verse 51. 51 And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me to day that he will not slay his servant with the sword.
Verse 52. 52 And Solomon said, If he will shew himself a worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die.
Verse 53. 53 So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to king Solomon: and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house.
Follow the Context
- Sends Adonijah to grasp the altar horns because he fears Solomon
- Ends the crisis with Adonijah brought from the altar, submitting to Solomon, and sent home
What This Verse Is Not Saying
1 Kings 1:53 does not permit the wording “So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself…” to be read apart from the selected verse's context. The succession narrative does not make Abishag a sexual prop, Bathsheba a stereotype, or royal maneuvering and threatened death a model for leadership.
What Remains True
Public power and worship remain accountable to truth, covenant faithfulness, affected people, and consequences rather than title, success, wealth, or majority support. This unit tests that truth through sends Adonijah to grasp the altar horns because he fears Solomon; ends the crisis with Adonijah brought from the altar, submitting to Solomon, and sent home. In 1 Kings 1:53, the concrete line “So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
Teach It Back
In 70–220 words, explain 1 Kings 1:53's role in 1:50–53. Paraphrase “So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself…,” identify one agent or affected person, state one material source or historical limit, and name one conclusion the context does not authorize.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 1 Kings 1:50–53 — Adonijah seeks altar refuge and receives conditional mercySources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 1 Kings 1:50–53, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Kings
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, name, clause, and older-English checks; this is not a critical apparatus or historical proof.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 1:50–53
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 1 Kings with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Only printed unit-level translation, lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and verse-numbering notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible 1 Kings PDF, printed pp. 584–586, translation and translator notes for 1:50–53
Open source ↗