מלכים א, פרק ב׳, פסוק כ״ה

The execution of a royal brother was not an act of sudden anger, but the final chapter of an ongoing rebellion. Solomon sent his loyal supporter, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, to carry out the sentence against his brother Adonijah [ביאור שטיינזלץ], delivering a fatal blow [מצודת ציון]. While it might seem the execution was sparked merely by Adonijah's request to marry Abishag the Shunammite, the roots of this punishment went much deeper into his initial uprising. Adonijah was already guilty of a capital offense for rebelling against his father David and defying God's decision that Solomon would inherit the throne.

Earlier, when Adonijah sought refuge at the altar, Solomon never promised him unconditional safety. Instead, he granted a conditional pardon, valid only as long as no further wrongdoing was found in him. By requesting to marry a woman who belonged to the king, Adonijah revealed that his rebellious intentions and desire for the crown still burned within his heart. Once he broke the condition, his previous pardon was retroactively canceled. Ultimately, he was put to death for his original sin of rebellion, a necessary step to secure public peace and prevent future unrest in Israel [אברבנאל].

The choice of executioner presented a unique difficulty, as Benaiah was a priest, and priests are forbidden from becoming ritually impure through contact with the dead. Commentators offer two ways to understand how he carried out this duty. One approach suggests a practical method: Benaiah struck Adonijah but immediately pulled his hand away and left before the soul departed, thereby avoiding ritual impurity [רד״ק, מצודת דוד]. Another perspective argues that there was no legal issue to begin with. Fulfilling the king's command is treated with the same weight as a mandatory war. In such a situation of fulfilling a commandment, a priest is permitted to become impure, which also explains how Solomon could appoint Benaiah as the commander of the army [רד״ק].