The flight of the fugitives Adonijah and Joab to the "altar of the LORD" (1) in 1 Kgs 1:50-53 and 2:28-34, respectively, presents something of a challenge to biblical scholars who have struggled to explain the relationship between this aspect of these events in 1 Kings 1-2 and the practice of asylum seeking at the "altar of the LORD" in Exod 21:12-14. This is reflected both in the lack of consensus on the subject and in the problematic nature of the positions that have so far been advanced. A spectrum of views can be identified, as follows. At one end are scholars who see the narratives of Adonijah and Joab as straightforward applications of Exod 21:12-14 (including James K. Bruckner, Brevard S. Childs, John I. Durham, William H. C. Propp, Nahum M. Sarna, and Keith W. Whitelam). (2) However, the Joab and Adonijah narratives could be straightforward examples of Exod 21:12-14 only if they dealt with fugitives who were "on the run" following a fresh killing, since this is the focus of the Exodus passage. Yet plainly this is not the case, either for Adonijah or for Joab. There is no indication that Adonijah has killed anyone (despite Nathan's warning to Bathsheba in 1 Kgs 1:12 and Bathsheba's own plea for protection in 1:21). And while the battle-weary Joab has plenty of blood on his hands, the deaths of Abner (2 Sam 3:27) and Amasa (2 Sam 20:10), which are presented as sources of blood-guilt by David and Solomon (1 Kgs 2:5-6, 31-33), are long past. As a result, it is inadequate to claim that the succession narrative simply illustrates Exod 21:12-14.
