1 Kings 2:2

King James Version (KJV)

I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man;

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

I go the way of all the earth - I am dying. All the inhabitants of the earth must come to the dust. In life, some follow one occupation, some another; but all must, sooner or later, come to the grave. Death is no respecter of persons; he visits the palace of the king as well as the cottage of the peasant.

Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas,

Regumque turres. -

Hor. Odar. lib. i., od. iv., ver. 13.

"With equal pace, impartial fate

Knocks at the palace as the cottage gate."

Francis.

- Sed omnes una manet nox,

Et calcanda semel via lethi. -

Ib. od. xxviii., ver. 15.

"One dreary night for all mankind remains,

And once we all must tread the shadowy plains."

Ibid.

There is no respect to age or youth more than to station or external circumstance: -

Mixta senum ac juvenum densantur funera: nullum

Saeva caput Proserpina fugit.

Ib. od. xxviii., ver. 19.

Thus age and youth promiscuous crowd the tomb;

No mortal head can shun the impending doom."

Ibid.

And it is not merely man that is subjected to this necessity; all that have in them the breath of life must lose it; it is the way of all the earth, both of men and inferior animals.

- Terrestria quando Mortales animas vivunt sortita,

neque ulla est Aut parvo aut magno lethi fuga.

Vive memor quam sis aevi brevis.

Hor. Sat. l. ii., s. vi., ver. 93.

"All that tread the earth are subject to mortality;

neither great nor small can avoid death.

Live therefore conscious that your time is short."

It is painful to the pride of the great and mighty that, however decorated their tombs may be, they must undergo the same dissolution and corruption with the vulgar dead; for the grave is the house appointed for all living: man is born to die.

Omnium idem exitus est, sed et idem domicilium.

"For all have the same end, and are huddled together in the same narrow house."

Here emperors, kings, statesmen, warriors, heroes, and butchers of all kinds, with peasants and beggars, meet; however various their routes, they terminate in the same point. This and all other kindred sentiments on the subject are well expressed in that excellent little poem of Mr. Blair, entitled "The Grave," which opens with the following lines: -

While some affect the sun, and some the shade; Some flee the city, some the hermitage; Their aims as various as the roads they take In journeying through life; the task be mine To paint the gloomy horrors of the tomb, The appointed place of rendezvous, where all These travelers meet.

Show thyself a man - Act like a rational being, and not like a brute; and remember, that he acts most like a man who is most devoted to his Good.

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Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

David appears to have in his thoughts the divine address to Joshua. Without following it servilely, he reproduces several of its leading expressions and sentiments (compare the margin reference). Solomon‘s youth clearly constituted one of the chief difficulties of his position. If he was about nineteen or twenty, and known to be of a pacific disposition 1 Chronicles 22:9, then to have to rule over the warlike and turbulent Hebrew nation, with a strong party opposed to him, and brothers of full age ready to lead it, was evidently a most difficult task. Hence, he is exhorted, though in years a boy, to show himself in Spirit “a man.”

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Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

David's charge to Solomon is, to keep the charge of the Lord. The authority of a dying father is much, but nothing to that of a living God. God promised David that the Messiah should come from his descendants, and that promise was absolute; but the promise, that there should not fail of them a man on the throne of Israel, was conditional; if he walks before God in sincerity, with zeal and resolution: in order hereunto, he must take heed to his way.

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Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

The Lord discovered to him the offices and the salvation of that glorious personage, the Messiah, whose coming he then foretold, and from whom he derived all his comforts and expectations. That passage gives a decided proof that David died under the influence of the Holy Ghost, in the exercise of faith and hope.

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SDA Bible Commentary (limited)
Volume 1-7

2. Way of all the earth. This expression reminds us of the words of Joshua (Joshua 23:14) as he faced the end. Death shows no partiality. The greatest heroes of earth take their place with the lowliest of men and both go together to a common grave. Worldly distinctions are only for a moment, and the glories of kings disappear wherever death holds sway.

Be thou strong. David’s thoughts are not of himself but of his son, not of the past but of the future. He speaks as a loving father, a soldier and patriot, and above all as a man who has shown himself every whit a king. He charges Solomon to be strong as he undertakes the responsibilities of leadership, even as Moses charged Joshua (Deut. 31:7), and as the Lord Himself had charged Joshua (Joshua 1:7).

Shew thyself a man. In spite of his youth, Solomon now was king, and particularly as such he must show himself a man. He was to be a man in full control of himself and of his people, fearless, above bribery and corruption. He was to seek first, not his own interests, but those of the people whom he had been appointed to serve and of the God whose representative he was.

Keep the charge. David’s charge to Solomon was, above all, of a religious nature. Solomon was first to be true to God. The Israelites were the people of God, and Solomon was to rule over them as a servant of God. The last words of David to Solomon were not so much those of a father to his son, but rather those of a head of Israel, a theocratic state, to his divinely appointed successor upon the throne. It is from this standpoint that the whole discourse is to be viewed. As king of Israel, Solomon was “to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord” (1 Chron. 28:5). When he had taken the kingdom, he “sat on the throne of the Lord” (1 Chron. 29:23). Israel was a nation of which Jehovah was king and of which the human ruler was only a servant and representative of the heavenly King.

Walk in his ways. The king was to know the ways of God and to walk in them, not only for his own best interests but also as an example to the people. The ways of God were ways of righteousness and peace, and would bring to him blessing and prosperity.

Keep his statutes. The statutes are the provisions of the law. God gave His commandments to the people, and then prescribed further regulations to make clear exactly what obedience entailed in specific cases. Such detailed statutes, judgments, and testimonies are found in the law of Moses. There are ceremonial ordinances, civil statutes, laws of health, as well as moral requirements.

Mayest prosper. All the laws of God were given for the benefit of man. God placed His children under law because He desired to see them happy and prosperous. His prescriptions and injunctions were not given to display His supreme authority but to ensure the welfare and happiness of the children of earth. Walking in harmony with the laws of Heaven, man was to find joy, peace, contentment of spirit, health of body, and fullness of life. Disobeying those laws would bring trouble, sorrow, sickness, woe, pain, and death. This has been made plain at the beginning of Israel’s history. It was constantly pointed out by the prophets down to the very end. “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it” (Isa. 1:19, 20; cf. Jer. 7:5-7). When Israel finally perished, it was made clear that the reason was failure to comply with the commandments of the Lord (2 Kings 17:7-20).

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Ellen G. White
Patriarchs and Prophets, 753

All that man receives of God's bounty still belongs to God. Whatever God has bestowed in the valuable and beautiful things of earth is placed in the hands of men to test them—to sound the depths of their love for Him and their appreciation of His favors. Whether it be the treasures of wealth or of intellect, they are to be laid, a willing offering, at the feet of Jesus; the giver saying, meanwhile, with David, “All things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee.” PP 753.1

When he felt that death was approaching, the burden of David's heart was still for Solomon and for the kingdom of Israel, whose prosperity must so largely depend upon the fidelity of her king. “And he charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man; and keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His judgments, and His testimonies, ... that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself: that the Lord may continue His word which He spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said He) a man on the throne of Israel.” 1 Kings 2:1-4. PP 753.2

David's “last words,” as recorded, are a song—a song of trust, of loftiest principle, and undying faith: PP 754.1

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Ellen G. White
Prophets and Kings, 26

David knew that God's high purpose for Israel could be met only as rulers and people should seek with unceasing vigilance to attain to the standard placed before them. He knew that in order for his son Solomon to fulfill the trust with which God was pleased to honor him, the youthful ruler must be not merely a warrior, a statesman, and a sovereign, but a strong, good man, a teacher of righteousness, an example of fidelity. PK 26.1

With tender earnestness David entreated Solomon to be manly and noble, to show mercy and loving-kindness to his subjects, and in all his dealings with the nations of earth to honor and glorify the name of God and to make manifest the beauty of holiness. The many trying and remarkable experiences through which David had passed during his lifetime had taught him the value of the nobler virtues and led him to declare in his dying charge to Solomon: “He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.” 2 Samuel 23:3, 4. PK 26.2

Oh, what an opportunity was Solomon's! Should he follow the divinely inspired instruction of his father, his reign would be a reign of righteousness, like that described in the seventy-second psalm: PK 26.3

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Ellen G. White
Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, 509

I counsel you to humble your heart and confess your wrongs. Consider the solemn charge David gave to Solomon on his dying bed: “I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man; and keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself.” Take this charge to your own heart. Let no one flatter you in wrongdoing. While it is a disgrace to sin, it is no disgrace, but rather an honor, to confess one's sins. Maintain true individuality, and cultivate manly dignity. Put away pride, self-conceit, and false dignity; for these can be maintained only at the most terrible consequences to yourself. 5T 509.1

It is not the boisterous song, the merry company, or the stimulating drink that can make you a man in the sight of God, or cheer your heart in sickness and sorrow. True religion alone can be your solace and comfort in trouble. The discipline you received at the office has not been more close and severe than God's word has imposed upon you. Will you call God unjust? Will you tell Him to His face that He is arbitrary because He declares that the wrongdoer shall be separated from His presence? 5T 509.2

How plainly the picture is drawn in the word of God of His dealing with the man who accepted His invitation to the wedding, but who did not put on the wedding garment which had been purchased for him, the robe of Christ's righteousness! He thought his own defiled garments good enough to come into the presence of Christ, but he was cast out as one who had insulted his Lord and abused His gracious benevolence. 5T 509.3

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I go

be thou