Adonijah asked for Abishag the Shunammite through Bathsheba (1 Kings 2:17). Solomon treated the request as a renewed claim to the kingdom and linked it with Adonijah’s prior supporters (1 Kings 2:22). He then ordered Adonijah’s execution (1 Kings 2:24-25).
Adonijah approaches Bathsheba with a calm tone and claims he accepts Solomon’s rule, even saying it came from Yahweh. He then asks for Abishag as his wife and persuades Bathsheba to request it from Solomon. Solomon receives his mother with honor and promises not to refuse her. This scene continues the tense transition from David’s final days into Solomon’s consolidation of power. Just before this, Solomon has been established as king, and unresolved threats remain from figures connected to Adonijah’s earlier attempt to seize rule (compare 1 Kings 1:5).
The passage presents a political request framed as a personal matter. Adonijah approaches Bathsheba and carefully signals “peaceably,” then argues that many expected him to rule but that Solomon’s kingship happened and was “from Yahweh” (explicit claims in verses 13–15).
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with 1 Kings 2:17, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
17He said, Please speak to Solomon the king (for he will not tell you `no`), that he give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife.