Why Did David Choose Solomon? (Plus: Who Else Was Divorced?)

Q. Why did David leave his kingdom to Solomon while his brother Adonijah was older and more experienced than him?

A. Thanks for your question. While Adoniyahu was indeed older, why do you assume he was more experienced? Also, from what little we see of Adoniyahu in the text, he doesn't appear to have been a particularly nice person.

Nevertheless, the answer to your question is found in I Chronicles 28:5. There, David says, "of all my sons – because God has given me many sons – He has chosen my son Solomon to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of God over Israel." So it was God Who picked Solomon. This makes sense since Solomon was inherently pious and wise. We also know that God particularly loved Solomon (2 Samuel 12:24-25).

I hope this helps!

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Necessary background information: According to the Gemara (Shabbos 56a), soldiers in David's army gave their wives conditional divorces in case they didn't return from war. When Uriah got killed in battle, his divorce became effective, retroactively rendering Batsheva a divorcee.

Q. In Tanakh, besides possibly David and Bathsheba, are there any examples of righteous people who were divorced or married to a divorced person? Thank you!

A. Thanks for your very interesting question. Avraham apparently divorced Hagar when he sent her away. (Assuming that Hagar is Keturah, he later remarried her.) Amram apparently divorced Yocheved and, again, later remarried her. I can't think of (or find) any others.

At least those are my best guesses!

Rabbi Jack's book Ask Rabbi Jack is available from Kodesh Press and on Amazon.com.