1 Kings 1:3

a fair damsel Such as might be fitted to be one of the royal wives. A similar direction is given when Vashti has been deposed, and a new queen is to be sought for Ahasuerus (Esther 2:2).

all the coasts In the English of the Bible this word has no necessary reference to sea-board land, as it has in our modern use, but often signifies, as here, borders, territories.

Abishag a Shunammite The Hebrew has - theShunammite", as though she either was already, or from subsequent events became, well known. She was a native of Shunem, a city belonging to the tribe of Issachar and lying north of Jezreel and south of Mt Gilboa (see Joshua 19:18; 1 Samuel 28:4). The Syriac and Arabic read Sulamite(cf. Song of Solomon 6:13).