1 Kings 1:50

Horns of the altar. The horns of the altar were projections from its four corners (Ex. 27:2; 30:2; 38:2), upon which blood was sprinkled (Ex. 29:12; Lev. 4:7; Eze. 43:20). To take hold of the horns was to claim the right of sanctuary. This right was denied to a willful murderer (Ex. 21:14), and thus was denied to Joab after the death of David (1 Kings 2:28-31). Adonijah, by fleeing to the altar, conceded the fact that he was guilty of a deed for which he might be executed. By acknowledging Solomon as king (v. 51), he may have attempted to make a public acknowledgment of his mistake and to represent his usurpation as an act of haste and inadvertency for which sanctuary might justly be claimed.