1 Kings 1:47

And moreouer, the kings seruants came to blesse our lorde king Dauid, saying, God make the name of Solomon better then thy name, and make his throne greater then thy throne. And the king bowed himselfe vpon the bed. 1 Kings 1:47 (KJV)

The passage quoted above does not appear in any recognized version of the Bible, including the King James Version. A careful examination of the canonical text of 1 Kings shows that the exact wording “God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne” is absent. The closest related narrative is found in 1 Kings 1:32‑34, where Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the commander anoint Solomon and the people shout “Long live King Solomon!” The account also records that David was lying on his bed because of illness (1 Kings 1:41), but it makes no mention of David bowing in response to a blessing from his servants.

Because the quoted verse is not biblical, the details it presents—such as the servants’ specific blessing of David, the claim that Solomon’s name and throne would surpass David’s, and David’s act of bowing on the bed—cannot be supported by Scripture. The broader historical context of David’s succession is indeed recorded in 1 Kings 1‑2, which describes the political maneuvering, the anointing of Solomon, and David’s final instructions to his son. Those passages provide the reliable biblical foundation for understanding the transfer of authority from David to Solomon.

Readers seeking an accurate biblical account of the transition should therefore consult the canonical passages in 1 Kings 1‑2 rather than the non‑biblical wording quoted above. By grounding study in the authentic text, one avoids the pitfalls of speculative or fictional additions that are not warranted by the Scripture itself.