1 Kings 1:1-4

I. THE CONSPIRACY OF ADONIJAH 1:1-10

David's final years were full of turmoil and tribulation and even as he lay critically ill and at the point of death he was yet to experience one last heartbreak. His disgruntled eldest son, Adonijah, tried to take advantage of David's condition and usurp the throne. By the way of background the author first describes (1) the decrepitude of David (1 Kings 1:1-4); and then (2) the designs of Adonijah (1 Kings 1:5-10).

A. DAVID'S DECREPITUDE 1:1-4

TRANSLATION

(1) Now King David was old, advanced in years; and they covered him with covers, but he could not make himself warm. (2) Therefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a maiden who is a virgin and let her stand before the king, and be his intimate companion; and let her lie in your bosom, that my lord the king may be warm. (3) So they sought for a fair maiden in all the borders of Israel, and they found Abishag the Shunammite, and they brought her to the king. (4) The maiden was exceedingly fair, and she became an intimate companion to the king, and she ministered to him; but the king knew her not.

COMMENTS

At the outset two points of a somewhat technical nature need to be made. The chapter is introduced with the word now which renders the Hebrew particle vav. While this particle usually has a connecting force, it is frequently used at the beginning of a book where there is no connection whatever with any earlier writing (as in Esther, Ezekiel, Jonah, etc.). Therefore, one cannot argue on the basis of this particle that the author of Kings considered his work a continuation of preceding history (as Rawlinson argues) or that he has lifted this material from a writing containing the earlier history of David (as Keil argues). The second point concerns the title king which is given to David in this chapter. While this title is used infrequently in Samuel, it is characteristic of the author of Kings.

The Book of Kings opens with a sad scene. David the mighty hero of the books of Samuel has succumbed to the vicissitudes of his life and reign. He is an old man stricken in years (lit., entered into days). Since David began to reign when he was thirty years old, and since he ruled forty years (2 Samuel 5:4), he must have been seventy years of age at this time.[74] The hardships of his youth, the wounds of battle, the sorrows of his later years, and perhaps disease as well have all taken their toll. Even though blankets were piled upon him, the old king was not able to maintain normal body temperature (1 Kings 1:1).

[74] Of the kings of Judah only David, Solomon and Manasseh exceeded sixty years of age.

As a solution to the king's desperate physical condition, the court servantsperhaps the royal physicians[75]suggested that a young virgin (lit., a maiden, a virgin) be secured to stand before the king, i.e., to become his servant. She was to be young so that her body might provide warmth to the ailing monarch; a virgin, as befitted a king. She was to become a companion (sekhenet) to the king, i.e., one who stands in intimate relationship with another.[76] Suggested in this Hebrew word is the idea that the maiden would become a concubine to the king (1 Kings 1:2).[77]

[75] Josephus (Ant. VIII, 19.3) regarded the advice to procure a maiden as a medical prescription.

[76] Slotki, SBB. p. 1.
[77] While the evidence falls short of being conclusive, in the light of Solomon's violent response to Adonijah's request to marry Abishag it seems best to regard her as a member of the royal harem. Cf. Gray, QTL, p. 76.

With David's consent, a search was conducted throughout the kingdom for a suitable maiden. Finally in the tribe of Issachar, the town of Shunem,[78] the royal committee found a girl named Abishag who met all the qualifications (1 Kings 1:3). She was very fair (lit., fair to exceeding), and apparently willing to become the intimate companion to the decrepit king. Abishag ministered unto the physical needs of David, but the king knew her not (v.4). This latter remark serves the dual purpose of indicating the wane of David's physical faculties[79] and the legal grounds upon which Adonijah would dare to request the hand of this maiden after David's death (1 Kings 2:17).

[78] Shunem is the modern Arab town of Sulem, located about seven miles from Nazareth. Another Shunammite woman appears in 2 Kings 4:8.

[79] Snaith (IB, pp. 19-20) feels that the Israelite king, like his Canaanite counterpart, had to prove his sexual potency or lose his right to govern. According to this theory, Abishag was procured in order to excite David sexually. Wilson (WBC p. 241) has fol lowed Snaith in this interpretation for which there is not the slightest warrant in the text. While the phrase lie in your bosom often refers to sexual intimacy, the meaning is here modified by the primary purpose of the suggested remedy, viz., the supplying of vital body heat by physical contact. See Matheney and Honeycutt, BC, p. 151.