ADONIKAM

unwisdom, as it gave a handle to liis enemies, for king David was still alive. These, naturally on the alert, represent the gathering to David, now very aged, as an attempt to usurp the throne while he is yet alive; Bathsheba reminds David ot his promise that Solomon, her son, should succeed him on the throne (1") [this may or may not have been the case; there is no refer-ence to it elsewhere, and it certainly does not accord with what we read in 1" 2"]; David, remembering perhaps the rebellion of Absalom (whom Adonijah seems to have resembled in temperament as well as in outward appearance), is easily prevailed upon to transfer the succession to Solomon (l""). Even so it is very doubtful whether Bathsheba would have succeeded in her plan had it not been that she was enabled to , gain Benaiah to her side; as captain of the king's body-guard (the Cherethites and Pelethites), Benaiah was the man upon whom the issue really depended, for he commanded the only armed troops that were Immediately available. In an emergency such as this, everything would depend upon who could strike the first decisive blow. Had the old commander-in-chief Joab had time to assemble his forces, no doubt the issue would have been different; but Bathsheba and her friends had laid their plans too well, and they won the day. Adonijah is 'pardoned' (l^^- m); it would nave been dangerous, owing to the attitude of the people (2"), to put him to death until Solomon was secure on the throne; but as he was rightful heir, the safety of Solomon's throne could never be guaranteed as long as Adonijah was alive. Bathsheba was not the woman to be oblivious of this fact, accordingly she recommences her intrigues; she represents to Solomon that Adonijah is desirous of marrying Abishag the Shunammite, the maiden who was brought to David in his old age (.!'■ *), and who, according to Oriental ideas, was regarded as one of the royal wives. Such a desire was naturally inter-preted by Solomon as an intention of seeking the kingdom (222), and self-preservation compelled him to decree Adonijah's death, a sentence which was carried out by Benaiah (v.^s).

Theabove is not in entire accordwiththeBiblical account, which in its present form gives rise to a number of serious difficulties. We shall mention but two of these. The request which Adonijah aalcs Bathsheba to convey (2'^) was the most grievous insult that could have been offered to the king; Adonijah would have known precisely what the result would be, viz. death to himself, unless supported by an army; but there is no hint that he contemplated an armed rising. Secondly, Bathsheba is quite the last person he would have asked to prefer this request; as mother of the king, andp rime mover mthesuccessful conspiracy which had robbed him of his succession, he would know better than to place himself so gratuitously within her power.

Adonijah is one of those men whose cruel fate and tragic death, both undeserved, must call forth deep sympathy and commiseration.

2. Perhaps =Adonikam, one of those that sealed the covenant (Neh 9" 10").

3. One of those sent, in the third year of Jehosha-phat, to teach the Law in the cities of Judah (2 Ch 17'-»).

W. O. E. Oesterley.

ADONIKAM ('my Lord has arisen'), Ezr 2" 8'=, Neh 7'8, 1 Es 5" 8»9.— The head of a Jewish family after the Exile; apparently called in Neh 10'" Adonijah.

ADONntAM, ADORAM.— The latter name occurs 2 S 202«, 1 K 12i«, and is probably a corruption of Adoniram. Adoniram superintended the levies employed in the public works during the reigns of David, Solomon, and Rehoboam. He was stoned to death by the rebellious Israelites when sent to them by Rehoboam (1 K 12>«).

ADOHIS.— The phrase rendered by EV 'pleasant plants,' and by RVm 'plantings of Adonis' (Is 17'<i), alludes to the miniature gardens whose rapid decUne symbolized the death of this god, or rather the spring verdure of which he Is a personification. This phase of

ADOPTION

the myth, which the Greeks obtained from the Semitic Tammuz cult, through the Phoenicians, where the god was worshipped under the title of Adon ('lord'), is used by Isaiah to depict tlie fading hope of Israel. See Tammuz. N. Koenig.

ADONl-ZEDEK.— King of Jerusalem at the time of the invasion of Canaan by the Israelites under Joshua. After the Gibeonites had succeeded in making a league with Israel, he induced four other kings to unite with him against the invaders. Joshua came unexpectedly upon the allied kings, and utterly routed them. They were discovered in a cave at Makkedah, and brought before Joshua, who ordered them to be slain. Their bodies were hung up until the evening, when they were taken down and flung into the cave where they had hid themselves. The mouth of the cave was filled up with great stones (Jos IQi-^'). Some have identified Adonl-zedek with Adoni-bezek of Jg 1'.

ADOPTION.— The term 'adoption' is found five times in St. Paul's letters (Ro S'*- ^ 9*, Gal #, Eph 1'), and not elsewhere in the NT. In Ro 9' reference is made to the favoured position of the Jews as the chosen people. To them belonged the adoption, the position of sons (Ex 422). In the remaining passages St. Paul uses the word to describe the privileges of the Christian as opposed to the unbeliever. He is trying, as a rule, to bring home to Gentile readers the great change wrought by the coming of Christ. Though W. M. Ramsay has attempted to identify peculiarities of Syro-Greek law in Gal 4, and though it is true that 'no word is more common in Greek inscriptions of Hellenistic times: the idea like the word is native Greek,' yet St. Paul's use of the term seems to be based on Roman law. See Hastings' ERE, s.v.

Adoption in Roman law.could be effected by a modified form of the method of sale known as mancipation. ' The Roman Mancipation required the presence, first, of all of the parties, the vendor and the vendee. . . . There were also no less than five witnesses; and an anomalous personage, the libripens, who brought with him a pair of scales to weigh the uncoined copper money of Rome. Certain formal gestures were made and sentences pro-nounced. The (purchaser) simulated the payment of a price by striking the scales with a piece of money, and the (vendor) ratified what had been done in a set form of words' (Maine, Ancient Law, vi.). The witnesses were necessary, especially in the age before written documents, to vouch for the regularity of the procedure, and to ensure the genuineness of the transaction.

Some of the details of the procedure are said to be reflected in the language of St. Paul. 'To redeem those under the law' (Gal45) suggests that God's action in sending His Son to buyout mankind from slavery to the Law, may be illustrated by the adopting parent's purchase of ason from his natural father.

Again, Dr. W. E. Ball {Contemp. Rev., 1891) has pointed out that the work of the Spirit (Ro 8") is parallel to the place of the five witnesses in the process of adoption. The reality of God's adoption is assured by the Spirit's witness. Dr. Ball brings out the general force of the metaphor thus. Any one who was made a son by adoption, severed all his former ties. Even his debts appear to have been cancelled. 'The adopted person became in the eyes of the law a new creature. He was bom again into a new family. By the aid of this figure, the Gentile convert waa enabled to realize in a vivid manner the fatherhood of God, brother' hood of the faithful, the obliteration of past penalties, the right to the mystic inheritance.' The figure of adoption describes clearly the effect of God's revelation of Himself aa Father.

St. Paul speaks of adoption, as both present (Ro 8"') and future (v.^s). With Pfieiderer we must distinguish three moments in adoption. It involves here and now, freedom from the Law, and the possession of the spirit of adoption which enables us to address God as our Father. Adoption wUl be completed by the redemption of our body, the inheritance with Christ in glory. ' Be-lievers have this blessing (adoption) already, but only

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