And they sought for a fair damsel throughout the territory of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king.
The book of Kings opens with a search across the whole country for one girl. The men around David's bed act fast — but the question raised here is whether people will handle their problems themselves or bring them to the Lord.
The search happens because the king cannot get warm. David was not extremely old. One writer contrasts him with another King whose strength never failed:
At the time our account begins, King David was about seventy years old. He had not reached extreme old age. But a life of suffering, conflict and grief wears down the strength of even the strongest man, so that the king "was old and advanced in years." At thirty-three years of age the Lord Himself looked fifty years old (John 8:57), yet His strength was unbroken. He was not worn down by grief as David was. He was the Man of Sorrows, and His face was marred more than any man's.
Verse 3 is the result of a plan made by the king's servants. One writer points out the question nobody in the room asked:
David complained of the cold, even though he was well covered with blankets. His servants thought a young girl, a virgin, would help to warm him. Why could not one of his wives do this? But they found a beautiful young woman, Abishag, and brought her to the king (v.2). She took care of the king's needs, but he did not have relations with her (v.4). People will use any means they can find to deal with problems, instead of committing the problem to the Lord.
Where did the idea come from? One commentator traces it to the courts of the surrounding nations, and then follows Abishag into the next reign:
The king's servants come up with a way to bring him back to life (vv. 2-4). In this they copy the kings of the surrounding nations. It seems David lacked the will-power to oppose the plan of those around him. They bring a woman of Shunem to him. She cares for him and serves him. Later Solomon will count this "very fair" virgin of Israel as one of the most precious jewels in his crown. She is to belong to him, and anyone who dares to look at her with desire will bear his judgment.
The search covered the whole country. An older translation reads "all the coasts of Israel." That word does not mean seashore:
In Scripture the term means any 'border,' inland as well as near the sea. It can also mean large districts.
Verse 4 says the relationship stayed pure. One writer takes that line as the point of the passage, and reads it as a picture of Christ today:
What the Word teaches us is that she did not become the wife of David, the king of grace. It is the same now with Christ. His eyes are on Israel, yet at this present time another bride is being taken from the nations outside Israel. He will keep her as King of Glory, and as King of Glory He will also renew His relations with the remnant of Israel, the excellent of His people.
Abishag first appears here. Her name matters again later, when Adonijah asks to marry her. In the customs of that world, a dead king's women carried the crown with them:
In the customs of that part of the world, many held that taking a dead king's wife or concubine was the same as claiming the rights of the king (2 Sam. 12:8; 16:21-22). Abishag was not David's wife in the full sense of the word. Yet she must have been counted as belonging to the king who had died.
Another writer feels the outrage of that request. The young woman who had served the king was to go to the man who had rebelled against him:
Abishag! — that young girl who had served David and cared for him with tenderness, who had lived close to the king of grace — and she is to be given to this rebellious man, whom only Solomon's patience had spared until now!
- Worn, not old. At about seventy David is failing early, drained by sorrow and conflict. The Lord's strength was never broken.
- Managed, not prayed. The servants reach for the nearest fix. People will use any means they can find instead of bringing the problem to the Lord.
- Copied, not commanded. The plan imitates the kings of the surrounding nations, and David has no strength of will left to refuse it.
- Kept, not taken. She served the king but never became his wife. One writer reads this as a picture of Christ, who takes a bride from the nations while His eye stays on Israel.
- Named for what follows. A dead king's woman implied a claim to his throne. So Abishag's name becomes the hinge of Adonijah's ambition — and of his judgment.
And the damsel was very fair; and cherished the king, and ministered to him; but the king knew her not.
David's last chapter opens with an old king who cannot get warm, and a young woman brought in to warm him. The verse then adds that he never knew her — a small note that will shape the whole fight over his throne.
The plan came from the servants, not from God. One writer asks why none of David's own wives could do this, and draws a lesson from their choice:
Being 70 years old, David was near to death. He complained of the cold, though well covered with blankets. His servants thought that a young girl, a virgin, would help to warm him. Why could not one of his wives do this? But they found a beautiful young woman, Abishag, and brought her to the king (v.2). She ministered to the king's needs, but he did not cohabit with her (v.4). Men will employ any available means of dealing with problems instead of committing the problem to the Lord.
She served the king, yet she never became his wife. One writer follows her forward to Solomon, and sees in David's position a picture of where Christ stands now toward Israel:
The king's servants devise a means of recalling him to life (vv. 2-4), imitating in this the sovereigns of the surrounding nations. It seems that David lacked the will-power to oppose the plan of those around him. A Shunammite is brought to him. She cares for him and serves him. This "very beautiful" virgin of Israel will later be counted by Solomon as one of the most precious jewels in his crown. She is to belong to him, and anyone who dares to look on her and covet her will bear his judgment. But let us not run ahead. What the Word teaches us is that she did not become the wife of David, the king of grace. It is the same at present with Christ. Though He has His eyes upon Israel, all the while there is another bride at this moment taken from among the Gentiles. He will keep her as King of Glory, but as such He will also renew His relations with the remnant of Israel, the excellent of His people.
The verse names two things about Abishag: her beauty and her care of the king. Later David's rebel son Adonijah asks to marry her. One writer calls that request an outrage:
Abishag! — that young woman who had served David and cared for him so tenderly, who had lived close to the king of grace, to be handed over to this rebellious man! Only Solomon's patience had spared him until this moment. ... Should the woman who served David as a chaste virgin be given to this godless man?
Why would asking for one woman count as treason? A custom about a dead king's household stands behind it:
Adonijah's request was a scheme to get the kingdom. Most likely it was concocted by Abiathar and Joab. To many, a deceased king's wife or concubine was, according to Eastern custom, the same as claiming the rights of the king (2 Sam. 12:8; 16:21-22). Now Abishag was not the wife of David in the full sense of the word, yet she must have been considered as belonging to the departed king.
The king who cannot keep warm also cannot act. That weakness shapes the rest of the chapter:
In 1 Kings 1, Solomon is anointed, so to speak, at the last moment of David's reign. David's life was like a candle-end about to go out, still throwing off a feeble glow. The old king lacked the strength to make a prompt, courageous decision according to God... In the book of Kings, David is responsible to appoint Solomon king according to God's order. We can plainly see that he would have failed in this responsibility, had God not intervened.
More than a man is fading here. Writers have long seen David's reign as a picture of grace, and Solomon's as a picture of glory:
It is commonly understood among us, and very rightly, that grace is the thing shown in David, and glory in Solomon. Grace had a very full display in David. It raised the people it reached from disgrace to honour, it comforted and sustained him in sorrow, restored him from wandering, and kept him to the end in safety. But when the time came for glory to shine out, grace having in this way displayed itself to the full, David hands the throne over to Solomon.
- Cold — At seventy David cannot keep warm. His own strength has run out just when the kingdom needs a decision.
- Cure — His servants reach for the nearest human fix instead of bringing the problem to the Lord.
- Chaste — She warms the king and serves him, but he never knows her. She never becomes David's wife.
- Claim — People still counted her as the dead king's own. So when Adonijah asked for her, he was asking for the crown.
- Crown — God steps in, and David's candle-end reign of grace gives way to Solomon and the display of glory.