And unto Abiathar—said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, &c.— How far the high-priest Abiathar was concerned in the plot against Solomon, the sacred history does not particularly inform us: but such was the reverence paid to the sacerdotal character, that Solomon would have hardly dared to have deposed such a one, had not the constitution of the nation authorized him to do so. When Abiathar, by his conspiracy, had merited severe punishment, Solomon might lawfully take from him all the revenues of his place, as well as the liberty of officiating in it: but the sacerdotal office, which he received from God, and to which he was anointed, he could not alienate; and therefore we may observe, that after his deprivation, and even when Zadok was in possession of his place, he is nevertheless still mentioned under the style and title of the priest; ch. 1 Kings 4:4. The truth is, there is a great deal of difference between depriving a man of the dignity and of the exercise of his function in such a determinate place, and taking from him an authority which was given him by God, and the profits and emoluments of which were the gifts of the crown or the nation. The former of these Solomon could not do; and the latter, it is probable, he was the rather incited to do, out of regard to the prophesy of Samuel, wherein he foretold Eli, from whom Abiathar was descended, that the Lord would translate the priesthood from his to another family; as he now did in the person of Zadok, who was of the house of Eleazar, as Eli was of that of Ithamar; so that in this way did the priesthood revert to its ancient channel. See Calmet and Stackhouse.
REFLECTIONS.—1. Abiathar is degraded, though indeed he deserved death, for his treason and opposition to the declared will of that God at whose altar he served: and thus at last was the threatening against the house of Eli fulfilled, and the priesthood translated from his family into the line of Eleazar. Note; (1.) God's word will be fulfilled in its season, though sometimes he endures long. (2.) Rebellion in a priest, who should teach loyalty, is doubly criminal.
2. Joab is executed. Justly expecting that his lot would fall next, he seeks to save his life by flying to the horns of the altar. Thither Benaiah is ordered to follow him, and (because Joab refused to depart thence) to slay him there. Such an exemplary piece of justice, Solomon well concludes would be the removal of the guilt of blood from his own house, which, if unpunished, would cry against the negligent sword of the magistrate; and the removal of so turbulent a spirit as Joab's would conduce also to the peace of the kingdom. Thus fell Joab, according to David's orders, and was buried at his country-seat, which lay in the wilderness. Note; (1.) Nothing can appease the cries of innocent blood, but the blood of the murderer. (2.) Wicked men entail a curse on their posterity. (3.) A negligent magistrate will bear the sin of the blood that he is not careful to avenge. (4.) Though human laws cannot be satisfied with any thing less than blood for blood, yet if the greatest sinner, if even a murderer, fly to the horns of the true altar, to the atoning blood of the bleeding Lamb of God, he shall never be dragged thence.