1 Kings 1:25

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

For he is gone down this day, and has slain oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has called all the king's sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and say, [Long] live king Adonijah.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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וּֽמְרִיא

mᵉrîyʼ

H4806

“and · fatling”

Conjunction + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute

Appears 8× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at 2 Samuel 6:13

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H4754 in the sense of grossness, through the idea of domineering (compare H4756 )

TWOT: 1239a

well-fed, fatling

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

24: words
23: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is וּֽמְרִיא fatling H4806 — appearing just 8 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

וּֽמְרִיא fatling H4806 occurs in 8 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

7 verbs
15 nouns
1 conjunction
1 particle

Verb forms

יָרַ֣ד Qal · Perfect
וַ֠יִּזְבַּח Qal · Sequential Imperfect
וַיִּקְרָא֩ Qal · Sequential Imperfect
אֹכְלִ֥ים Qal · Participle Active
וְשֹׁתִ֖ים Qal · Participle Active
וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ Qal · Sequential Imperfect
יְחִ֖י Qal · Jussive

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ king H4428 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 49 words from the Hebrew and 49 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — the same length.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 24 Hebrew tokens and 42 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to 1 Kings 1:25 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

1 Samuel 10:24 Samuel said to all the people, "You see him whom Yahweh has chosen, that there is none like him among all the people?" All the people shouted, and said, [Long] live the king.
1 Kings 1:9 Adonijah killed sheep and oxen and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En Rogel; and he called all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the king's servants:
1 Kings 1:19 and he has slain oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host; but he hasn't called Solomon your servant.
1 Samuel 11:14–15 Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.
2 Samuel 16:16 It happened, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, was come to Absalom, that Hushai said to Absalom, [Long] live the king, [Long] live the king.
1 Kings 1:34 and let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel; and blow you the trumpet, and say, [Long] live king Solomon.
2 Kings 11:12 Then he brought out the king's son, and put the crown on him, and [gave him] the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, [Long] live the king.
1 Chronicles 29:13 Now therefore, our God, we thank you, and praise your glorious name.

1 Chronicles 29:21 They sacrificed sacrifices to Yahweh, and offered burnt offerings to Yahweh, on the next day after that day, even one thousand bulls, one thousand rams, and one thousand lambs, with their drink-offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel,
2 Chronicles 23:11 Then they brought out the king's son, and put the crown on him, and [gave him] the testimony, and made him king: and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him; and they said, [Long] live the king.
Matthew 21:9 The multitudes who went before him, and who followed kept shouting, "Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"
Mark 11:9–10 Those who went in front, and those who followed, cried out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Luke 19:38 saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!"

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew 1 Kings 1:25 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

כִּ֣י יָרַ֣ד הַיּ֗וֹם וַ֠יִּזְבַּח שׁ֥וֹר וּֽמְרִיא וְצֹאן֮ לָרֹב֒ וַיִּקְרָא֩ לְכָל בְּנֵ֨י הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ וּלְשָׂרֵ֤י הַצָּבָא֙ וּלְאֶבְיָתָ֣ר הַכֹּהֵ֔ן וְהִנָּ֛ם אֹכְלִ֥ים וְשֹׁתִ֖ים לְפָנָ֑יו וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ יְחִ֖י הַמֶּ֥לֶךְ אֲדֹנִיָּֽהוּ

For he is gone down this day, and has slain oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has called all the king's sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and say, [Long] live king Adonijah.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 1 Kings 1:25 Septuagint · lemma form

ὅτι καταβαίνω σήμερον καί θυσιάζω μόσχος καί ἀρνός καί πρόβατον εἰς πλῆθος καί καλέω πᾶς ὁ υἱός ὁ βασιλεύς καί ὁ ἄρχων ὁ δύναμις καί αβιαθαρ ὁ ἱερεύς καί ἰδού εἰμί ἐσθίω καί πίνω ἐνώπιον αὐτός καί εἶπον ζάω ὁ βασιλεύς αδωνίας

For he has gone down today, and has sacrificed calves and lambs and sheep in abundance, and has called all the king's sons, and the chiefs of the army, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and they said, Long live king Adonias.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)

אֲרֵי נְחַת יוֹמָא דֵין וּנְכֵיס תּוֹרִין וּפַטִימִין וְעָאן לִסְגֵי וְזַמִין לְכָל בְּנֵי מַלְכָּא וּלְרַבָּנֵי חֵילָא וּלְאֶבְיָתָר כַּהֲנָא וְהָא אִינוּן אָכְלִין וְשָׁתָן קֳדָמוֹהִי וַאֲמָרוּ יַצְלַח מַלְכָּא אֲדֹנִיָהוּ:

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on 1 Kings 1:25 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

1Ki 1:25 For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king’s sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah.

Ver. 25. And hath slain oxen and fat cattle.] See on 1Ki 1:14.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Hebrew, let the king Adonijah live.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(25) God save king Adonijah.—Literally (as in 1Sa_10:24; 2Sa_16:16, &c.). “May the king live;” like the “Let the king live for ever” of 1Ki_1:31, and of Neh_2:3; Dan_2:4; Dan_3:9, &c.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

25. For he is gone down] The site of the fountain, near which Adonijah’s banquet was made, was in the valley below Jerusalem.

God save king Adonijah] The Heb. is ‘Let king Adonijah live’ i.e. live long and happily; and similarly in all cases where A. V. has ‘God save, &c.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

For he is gone down this day,.... From Jerusalem, which lay high, to the stone of Zoheleth, in Enrogel, which lay in the valley, Kg1 1:9;

and hath slain oxen, and fat cattle, and sheep in abundance; not by way of sacrifice, but for a feast, on account of his coming to the kingdom:

and hath called all the king's sons; invited them to the entertainment:

and the captains of the host; or army; not only Joab, it seems, the general of it, but the captains of thousands and hundreds under him, being desirous of engaging the militia in his favour, and which was not an impolitic step:

and Abiathar the priest; to consult with by Urim and Thummim, and to anoint him, and use his interest with the populace for him, who might be supposed a man of influence, being the high priest of the nation:

and, behold, they eat and drink before him; they were now at it, at this time, they were not only invited, but they accepted the invitation, and came; which is afore than what was before related:

and say, God save King Adonijah; they proclaimed and saluted him as king, and drank his health, and wished him all prosperity; and so the Targum,

"may King Adonijah prosper!''

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

CHAPTER I.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The Pulpit Commentary

For proof that the king must have decreed that Adonijah should succeed him. There appears to be an undertone of reproof in these words. Nathan assumes that Adonijah cannot have done all this without David"s knowledge and sanction, because "his father had not displeased him at any time" (ver. 6). This uprising was the result of David"s over indulgence and. want of firmness he is gone down this day, and hath slain see on ver. 9 oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king"s sons, and the captains of the host Joab was the captain (ver. 19). The plural shows that other high officers had followed his lead. "Under the captains of the host (ver. 25), the servants of the king (ver. 10) are included" (Bahr). Bahr"s accidental miscitation (ver. 10 for ver. 9) has apparently led his American translator (p. 24) to the serious mistake of identifying these "captains of the host" with "the mighty men" (Gibborim) of ver. 10, who, it is distinctly said, "were not with Adonijah and Abtathar the priest, and behold, they eat and drink before him convivia apta conjurationibus. Grotius and say, God save king Adonijah. Hebrews "let the king (not "king," as marg.) Adonijah live," or better, "live the king," etc. (comp. the vivat rex, and the vives and vivas of later days.) This was the customary acclamation wherewith the Jews greeted their kings (cf. ver. 39; 1Sa_10:24; 2 Samuel 2Ki_11:12; 2Ch_23:11) And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other Heb. one.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

For he has gone down this very day. The city was situated on higher ground and the אבן הזוחלת was below in a valley.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

1 Kings, in the Historical, opens this verse with 24 words (23 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is mᵉrîyʼ (“fatling”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “fatling” (mᵉrîyʼ) shape what this verse is saying?
How does 2 Samuel 6:13, which shares the word «fatling», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “king” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
«יָרַ֣ד» is a Qal Perfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Geneva Bible (1599) read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 24 Hebrew ↔ 42 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 30 words in this verse.
“king” occurs 2× in this single verse.
23 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 24 words in this verse.