Verse Lens · Concise explanation
1 Kings 2:21 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 21. 21And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence: “And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife.” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Solomon interprets the request and executes Adonijah.”
Read It With
- 1 Kings 2:19–25
Read 1 Kings 2:21 with 2:19–25. The selected wording supplies one step in the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Depicts Solomon honoring his mother with a seat at his right hand before she speaks; records Benaiah carrying out Solomon's execution order against Adonijah.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Solomon interprets the request and executes Adonijah,” 1 Kings 2:21 advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence through the wording “And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife.” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: 1 Kings 2:13–18 establishes this prior movement: Brings Adonijah to Bathsheba under a question about peaceful intent; shows Bathsheba agreeing to carry the request to Solomon. 1 Kings 2:19–25 escalates the unresolved conflict and its human cost; that demonstrated relationship, rather than database adjacency alone, explains its placement.
Read 1 Kings 2:19–25 together
Why these verses belong together: Solomon interprets the request and executes Adonijah is the complete reviewed scene, prayer, oracle, list, or regnal notice bounded at 2:19–2:25.
Verse 19. 19 Bath-sheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king’s mother; and she sat on his right hand.
Verse 20. 20 Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee; I pray thee, say me not nay. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother: for I will not say thee nay.
Verse 21. 21 And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife.
Verse 22. 22 And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.
Verse 23. 23 Then king Solomon sware by the LORD, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life.
Verse 24. 24 Now therefore, as the LORD liveth, which hath established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who hath made me an house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day.
Verse 25. 25 And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.
What Remains True
Power remains accountable for every person exposed, silenced, displaced, injured, or killed even when the narrative also reports fulfillment or victory. This unit tests that truth through depicts Solomon honoring his mother with a seat at his right hand before she speaks; records Benaiah carrying out Solomon's execution order against Adonijah. In 1 Kings 2:21, the concrete line “And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife.” When authority exposes people to violence, preserve evidence, protect those at risk, require independent lawful review, and refuse retaliation, collective blame, or celebration of harm. This response follows from the unit's own sequence: Depicts Solomon honoring his mother with a seat at his right hand before she speaks; records Benaiah carrying out Solomon's execution order against Adonijah.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 1 Kings 2:19–25 — Solomon interprets the request and executes AdonijahSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
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 2:19–25, 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 2:19–25
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. 586–589, translation and translator notes for 2:19–25
Open source ↗