When King David was nearing the end of his life, he hadn’t appointed a successor as king. His eldest son, Amnon had been murdered by Absalom, who had been killed by Joab. This left David’s second son, Daniel (Chileab) next in line for the throne. However, we don’t read anything about Daniel, so he was either dead or had no interest in the throne since all we ever read about him in the text is that he was David’s second son, born to him from Abigail. Therefore, David’s son, Adonijah, declares himself king.
There’s an interesting note here in 1 Kings 1:6 that gives us insight into how Adonijah was raised.
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