And Adonijah feared Solomon. So he arose and went and took hold of the horns of the altar.
We have here, I. The tidings of Solomon's inauguration brought to Adonijah and his party, in the midst of their jollity: They had made an end of eating, and, it should seem, it was a great while before they made an end, for all the affair of Solomon's anointing was ordered and finished while they were at dinner, glutting themselves.
Commenting on 1 Kings 1:41-53
And Adonijah feared because of Solomon,.... Lest he should seize him as an usurper and traitor, and put him to death: and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar; either that which was at Gibeon, where the tabernacle now was; see Kg1 3:4; so Jarchi; or rather that which was nearest, the altar that David had built in the threshingfloor...
ADONIJAH, FLEEING TO THE HORNS OF THE ALTAR, IS DISMISSED BY SOLOMON. (Kg1 1:50-53) Adonijah . . . went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar--most probably the altar of burnt offering which had been erected on Mount Zion, where Abiathar, one of his partisans, presided as high priest.