Adonijah replied, “Please speak to King Solomon, since he will not turn you down. Let him give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.”
Here is, I. Solomon's accession to the throne, Kg1 2:12. He came to it much more easily and peaceably than David did, and much sooner saw his government established. It is happy for a kingdom when the end of one good reign is the beginning of another, as it was here. II. His just and necessary removal of Adonijah his rival, in order to the establishment of his throne.
Commenting on 1 Kings 2:12-25
And he said, speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king,.... He owns him to be king, and which he the rather did to engage her to take his suit in hand, and to cover his design: for he will not say thee nay; or turn away thy face, or deny thy request; she being his mother, for whom he had a great affection, and...
That he give me Abishag - to wife - He cheerfully gives up all right to the kingdom, and only desires to have this young woman, who, though she had been his father's wife or concubine, was still in a state of virginity.