1 Kings 2:19
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.
Bath-sheba came to Solomon to speak for Adonijah, and Solomon rose to meet her, bowed to her, and set her on his right hand in honor as his mother. To sit at the king's right hand is the highest place of honor and exaltation in the presence of one greater, as with the queen standing at the king's right hand in Psalm 45:9. Adonijah's request made through her was a shrewd plot to gain the kingdom, since taking the king's concubine could give him a strong claim among the people, but his attempt to seize the kingship failed and ended in his overthrow and death after Solomon's coronation. The audience belongs to Solomon's succession in securing the throne as David had charged him, and to the trouble in David's house that fulfilled Nathan's denunciation, showing retribution upon David for his wrong toward Uriah, that wrongdoing returns calamity upon the wrongdoer in kind and what a man sows he reaps.
Historical Setting and Narrative
Bath-sheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah, and Solomon rose to meet her, bowed himself to her, sat down on his throne, had a seat set for the king's mother, and she sat at his right hand, thereby honoring her as his mother. The incident belongs to the history of Solomon's reign when Israel was still an undivided kingdom, as part of the account of the kings of Israel and Judah that continues through the Babylonian Captivity. It belongs to the account of Solomon's succession, in which Solomon carried out the measures David had charged him to take to secure the throne after David's death, following the failed attempt to make Adonijah king.
The transfer of the throne to Solomon described in the chapter was peaceful. Adonijah's attempt to seize the kingship failed and ended in his overthrow and death, with his being put to death after Solomon's coronation. Bath-sheba's audience took place in the setting of Adonijah's request, which was a shrewd plot to gain the kingdom, since possessing the king's concubine could give Adonijah a strong claim among the fickle people.
Honor at Right Hand
Bath-sheba seated at Solomon's right hand as queen shows that sitting at a king's right hand is the highest place of honor. It is the sign of great honor and high standing in the presence of one greater, bestowed here by Solomon upon his mother. The right hand signifies honor and exaltation, not merely a physical position.
Solomon honored Bath-sheba as his mother by rising to meet her, bowing himself to her, and causing a seat to be set for her at his right hand. This honoring parallels the queen standing at the king's right hand in Psalm 45:9.
Divine Judgment and Retribution
The audience before Solomon belongs to the later history of David, which displays the fulfillment of Nathan's prophetic denunciation in the judgments that came upon David. It falls within the account of Adonijah's failed attempt to take David's throne, whose plot was defeated and ended in his overthrow and death. That overthrow continued the trouble in David's house which fulfilled Nathan's words that the sword would not depart from it.
Bath-sheba's speaking to Solomon for Adonijah belongs to Adonijah's rebellion and death. That rebellion and death was retribution upon David for his wicked conduct toward Uriah. Wrongdoing brings calamity and sorrow back upon the wrongdoer in the very kind of evil caused to others. For David this retribution ran through all the rest of his life principally in his own family, proving that what a man sows he reaps and that it never pays to do wrong.