1st Kings Chapter 1 verse 50 Holy Bible
And Adonijah feared because of Solomon; and he arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
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And Adonijah himself was full of fear because of Solomon; and he got up and went to the altar, and put his hands on its horns.
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And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose and went and caught hold of the horns of the altar.
read chapter 1 in DARBY
And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
read chapter 1 in KJV
And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
read chapter 1 in WBT
Adonijah feared because of Solomon; and he arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
read chapter 1 in WEB
and Adonijah feareth because of Solomon, and riseth, and goeth, and layeth hold on the horns of the altar.
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Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 50. - And Adonijah feared because of Solomon and he arose and went and caught hold of the horns of the altar. [Cf. 1 Kings 2:28. Probably the altar of Mount Zion, 1 Kings 3:15; 2 Samuel 6:17. Though it is impossible to say positively whether this or the altar at Gibeon (chap. 3:4) or that recently erected on the threshing floor of Araunah (2 Samuel 24:25) is meant. For the "horns," see Exodus 27:2; Exodus 38:2; and compare Exodus 30:2. They were of shittim (i.e., acacia) wood overlaid with brass, and served a double purpose. Victims were bound to them (Psalm 118:27), and blood was put upon them, Exodus 29:12. As to the altar as a place of sanctuary, see on 1 Kings 2:28. Evidently a right of sanctuary existed amongst both Jews and Gentiles at the time of the Exodus, and probably from time immemorial. It is referred to in Exodus 21:14, but it was much circumscribed by the appointment of the cities of refuge (Numbers 35:10 sqq.) By "laying hold of the horns the offender thereby placed himself under the protection of the saving and helping grace of God" (Bahr, "Symbolik," 1:474)
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(50) The horns of the altar.--The horns were projections from the altar, to which (see Psalm 118:27) the victims were fastened, and on which the blood was sprinkled (Exodus 29:12). To take hold of them was, of course, to claim the right of sanctuary--a right, however, which the Law, ruled as usual by moral considerations, formally denied to wilful murder (Exodus 21:14), and which accordingly (see 1Kings 2:30-31) was refused hereafter to Joab. Adonijah, by the acknowledgment of "King Solomon," seems to represent his usurpation as one of those acts of haste and inadvertency, to which alone sanctuary was conceded.
