"And now, behold, Adonijah is king; and you, my lord the king, do not know it.'" — The rhetorical pivot: *ve-`attah hinne 'Adoniyahu melekh* (and now behold, Adonijah is king)—Bathsheba presents the fait accompli as almost complete, a crisis demanding immediate intervention. The phrase *ve-'attah yadati* (and you do not know it) compounds David's diminishment; he is not merely passive but *ignorant* of events transpiring in his own realm. The tone shifts from supplication to urgency—David's compliance in the oath is invoked precisely because his agency is slipping away. The rhetoric suggests that if David does not immediately act, the succession will crystallize into irreversible fact.

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