The horns of the altar. — The horns were projections from the altar, to which (see Psalms 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 1 Kings 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.
Related Commentaries of 1 Kings 1:50
1 Kings 1:50
50 And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.