"Then Solomon said to Abiathar the priest, 'Go to Anathoth, to your own fields; for you deserve to die, but I will not put you to death this day, because you carried the ark of the LORD God before my father David, and because you shared in all the afflictions of my father.'" — Solomon addresses Abiathar (*Evyatar*), the surviving priest of Eli's line and supporter of Adonijah. The phrase *lekh Anatot 'al-sadekha* (go to Anathoth, to your own fields) is banishment—Abiathar is expelled from Jerusalem and the priesthood. The conditional *ish maveht 'attah* (you are a man of death, i.e., you deserve to die) is a sentence of conditional execution: Abiathar's life is spared *only because* he carried the ark and shared David's afflictions. The theological principle is *hesed* (loving-kindness)—past service and loyalty purchase present clemency.

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