Solomon said, "If he is a worthy man, not one of his hairs will fall to the ground; but if wickedness is found in him, he will die."Adonijah, Solomon's half-brother, and effectively named himself king. I'm not quite sure why he had decided that he was supposed to be king. Maybe he was the oldest surviving son, or maybe he was just ambitious. Whatever the reason, he definitely jumped the gun, and had not been named king by David. So when word came of what he had done, David immediately named Solomon king and had him anointed.
When word came to Adonijah, he realized he had overstepped, and feared for his life. His followers abandoned him, and he sought refuge in the temple against Solomon's wrath. But here, Solomon declared that he was not after vengeance. It appears that Solomon felt that he had honestly made a mistake and simple overstepped his bounds, he would not take it personally. But if this was all done with malice aforethought, then he would die. However, I'm not sure how this could not be with malice aforethought, given that he'd been very specific with the guest list for his "coronation ceremony." Still, in the next verse Solomon forgives him, so there must have been something we don't know.
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