And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
Adonijah ... went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar - most probably the altar of burnt offering, which, on the removal of the ark to Jerusalem, had been erected on Mount Zion, where Abiathar, one of his partisans, presided as high priest. The horns, or projections at the four corners of the altar, to which the sacrifice were bound, and which were tipped with the blood of the victim, were symbols of grace and salvation to the sinner. Hence, the altar was regarded as a sanctuary (Exodus 21:14); but not to murderers, rebels, or deliberate perpetrators. Adonijah, having acted in opposition to the will of the reigning prince, was guilty of rebellion, and stood self-condemned. Solomon spared his life on the express condition of his good behaviour, of his living in strict privacy, leading a quiet, peaceable life, and meddling with the affairs neither of the court nor the kingdom.