1 Kings 1:47
ESV
Moreover, the king 's servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours, and make his throne greater than your throne.’ And the king bowed himself on the bed.
NIV
Also, the royal officials have come to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make Solomon’s name more famous than yours and his throne greater than yours!’ And the king bowed in worship on his bed
NASB
Moreover, the king’s servants came to bless our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and his throne greater than your throne!’ And the king bowed himself on the bed.
CSB
"The king’s servants have also gone to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon more well known than your name, and may he make his throne greater than your throne.’ Then the king bowed in worship on his bed.
NLT
And all the royal officials have gone to King David and congratulated him, saying, ‘May your God make Solomon’s fame even greater than your own, and may Solomon’s reign be even greater than yours!’ Then the king bowed his head in worship as he lay in his bed,
KJV
And moreover the king's servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed.
NKJV
And moreover the king’s servants have gone to bless our lord King David, saying, ‘May God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and may He make his throne greater than your throne.’ Then the king bowed himself on the bed.
What does 1 Kings 1:47 mean?
Jonathan continues to report disastrous news to Adonijah and those who supported his self-proclaimed kingship. Not only did David find out about Adonijah's bold scheme, but he immediately made Solomon king before Adonijah's feast of celebration was completed. Solomon is publicly crowned, anointed, and sitting on the throne, and the people are celebrating in the streets of Jerusalem (1 Kings 1:43–46).Now comes the detail that servants came to David in his bedchamber to congratulate him. This answers the question of how any kind of ceremony could have happened if David could not leave his bed. The answer was that David did not attend. Instead, his servants returned to report that it was successfully completed.
David's "servants" likely means to Nathan the prophet, Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the military leader, among others. The prayer of blessing Jonathan reports is remarkably similar to Benaiah's words after David first revealed his plan to make Solomon king: May God make Solomon's name more famous than yours and his throne greater than yours (1 Kings 1:36–37).
This is exactly what David hoped for. As he bowed in humility, he prayed, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has granted someone to sit on my throne this day, my own eyes seeing it" (1 Kings 1:48).
