Solomon, Part 1 (1 Kings 1: 1-4: 34‪)‬

“When David was old and well advanced in years, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him” (1 Kings 1: 1). Old and sick, the consequences of David’s sin continue to dog him. Adonijah, now David’s eldest surviving son, engineers a palace coup to overthrow David. When David learns of the plot, he anoints his son, Solomon, as king (970-930 B.C.). As David’s tenth son, Solomon is nowhere close to being heir to the throne, but David raises him to power to fulfill a promise made to Bathsheba. To secure the throne, David advises Solomon to kill anyone who poses a threat, including his brother, Adonijah. Upon David’s death, Solomon follows David’s advice, and Solomon secures the throne, littering the stage with bodies. To better understand the story of David, watch Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972). This academy-award winning film is routinely ranked among the greatest films ever made; it was voted greatest film of all time by Entertainment Weekly; and it is ranked by the American Film Institute as the second greatest film in American cinematic history, trailing only Citizen Kane. In many ways, the life of mobster Vito Corleone parallels the life of tribal warlord, David.