And the king said unto them, take ye the servants of your lord,.... Meaning his own servants, his bodyguards, the Cherethites and Pelethites, as appears from 1Ki 1:38; the Jews from hence gather, that a king is superior to an high priest, since David calls himself the lord of Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet:and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule; for it seems on such a creature David used to ride, as did his sons; horses not being so common in Judea as they were afterwards.
Some of the Jews say it was not lawful to ride upon a mule, and that this case of David is to be excepted; for they pretend that this was a peculiar mule; and if the instance of his son urged, they reply, an argument from what kings and their sons used to do is of no force.
Now this was one way of testifying that it was his will that Solomon should reign in his stead; for no private person might ride upon the beast the king was wont to ride on; this is now one of the Jewish canons ,"no one may ride on the king's horse, nor sit on his throne, nor use his sceptre:''and bring him down to Gihon; a fountain near Jerusalem, on the west side of it, which flowed from Mount Gihon, 2Ch 32:30; the same with Siloah according to the Targum, of which mention is made, Joh 9:7.
The reason for this order is not easily given; whether it was to denote the peaceableness and gentleness of Solomon's government, the waters of Shiloah moving softly, Isa 8:6, or the spread, constancy, firmness, and perpetuity of it, as the Jews say , since the water of a fountain is ever running; or because there might be a concourse of people there, and so he would be anointed and proclaimed king in a public manner, and be attended to the city with great pomp and solemnity.
Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 6. fol. 186. 3. Vid. Bartenoram in Misn. Celaim, c. 8. sect. 1. Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 5. T. Bab. Horayot, fol. 12.