Who is…
Adonijah
Hebrew: —meaning: my lord is Jehovah (literally: “my lord is Yah”)
This is the name of 3 biblical men.
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Prince Adonijah
This Adonijah is the 4th son of David (2 Samuel 3:4).
His mother was Haggith and he was born in Hebron (2 Samuel 3:4) before David was king.
After the death of his older brothers, Amnon and Absalom, he became heir-apparent to the throne.
But Solomon, a younger brother, was preferred to him.
In an effort to gain the throne when his father was elderly, feeble, and dying, Adonijah gathered chariots and cohorts and had himself proclaimed king. He obtained backing from army commander Joab and the priest Abiathar.
However, prophet Nathan and David’s wife Bathsheba induced David to give orders that Solomon should at once be proclaimed and admitted to the throne. This was supported by the Zadok the priest and David’s chief bodyguard Benaiah.
Adonijah then fled and took refuge at the Holy Tabernacle altar, and received a pardon for his conduct from King Solomon on the condition that he showed himself to be “a worthy man” (1 Kings 1:5-53).
Later, Adonijah made a second attempt to gain the throne, but was seized and put to death (1 Kings 2:13-25).
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Adonijah, a Levite
He was sent with princes to teach the book of the law to the inhabitants of Judah (2 Chronicles 17:8).
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Adonijah, an Jewish chief
He is one of the “chiefs of the people” who returned to Judea after the Captivity (Neh. 10:16).