1 Kings 1:3

_SO THEY SOUGHT FOR A FAIR DAMSEL THROUGHOUT ALL THE COASTS OF ISRAEL, AND FOUND ABISHAG A SHUNAMMITE, AND BROUGHT HER TO THE KING._ A Shunammite. Shunem, in the tribe of Issachar (Joshua 19:18), lay on an eminence in the plain of Esdraelon, five miles south of Tabor. It is now called Sulam....

1-4 We have David sinking under infirmities. He was chastised for his recent sins, and felt the effects of his former toils and hardships....

EXPOSITION THE REVOLT OF ADONIJAH AND THE ACCESSION OF SOLOMON.—The first chapter of this book is occupied with the accession of Solomon and with the circumstances which preceded, marked, and followed that event. The author, or compiler, evidently considered that his work properly began with the reign of Israel's third king, and David's illness and death are only introduced into the narrative because they necessitated a hasty and premature coronation of Solomon, and exercised an important influence on the beginning of his reign (1 Kings 2:1). In the natural order of events, Solomon would not have succeeded until his father's death, but Adonijah's attempt to possess himself of the kingdom required the immediate elevation of Sol

SO THEY SOUGHT FOR A FAIR DAMSEL THROUGHOUT ALL THE COASTS OF ISRAEL,.... Not only a damsel, but a beautiful one, that she might be the more acceptable to the king; who otherwise, if deformed and ugly, would not have endured her in his sight, or received at her hands, and much less suffered her to lie in his bosom: AND FOUND ABISHAG A SHUNAMMITE; a native of the city Shunem, a city in the tribe of Issachar, Joshua 19:18; AND BROUGHT HER TO THE KING; for his approbation of her, and to make her his concubine wife, as he did....

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. DAVID'S LAST DAYS AND THE CROWNING OF SOLOMON 1. Adonijah's Exaltation to be King CHAPTER 1:1-27 _ 1. David's decrepitude (1 Kings 1:1)_ 2. Adonijah's self-exaltation (1 Kings 1:5) 3. The plot of Nathan and Bath-sheba (1 Kings 1:10) 4. Bath-sheba and Nathan before the king (1 Kings 1:15) David was about 70 years old and extremely feeble. The strenuous life he had led, the exposures and hardships of his youth, the cares and anxieties of his reign, and the chastenings through which he passed on account of his great sin, and much else were responsible for thi

LAST DAYS OF DAVID AND ACCESSION OF SOLOMON. This chapter with the following has many analogies with the court history of David (2 Samuel 11-20). The narrative bears every sign of an authentic account of actual events, told with complete impartiality, and without any attempt to comment favourably or otherwise on the events related. David is represented as a very aged man nursed by his youngest wife, Abishag the Shunammite (1 Kings 1:3). Her beauty is especially noticed as it may have caused the death of David's son, Adonijah. Shunem, her native place, was a slope overlooking the plain of Esdraelon near Jezreel, and she is the Shulammite in the Song of Songs (Ca. 1 Kings 6:13). The pivot around which all revolves is the succession. The chief claimant was Adonijah the son of Haggith ...

COASTS. borders....

_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 - _the_Shunammite", 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_...

NOW KING DAVID WAS OLD, &C.— It appears from 2 Samuel 5:4 that he was seventy years old. The strength of nature was so far abated in him, that clothes could not keep him warm in his bed. His physicians therefore advised, that a fair and youthful virgin should be sought for, who might cherish his vital heat; the natural warmth of a young healthful human body being, as the physicians observe, best fitted for that end, both in kind and degree. If it be asked, how the beauty of the person to be employed for this purpose was concerned in David's health; I answer, that the beauty here required, is evidently beauty of complexion, which, as it indicates the health and temperament of the body, might be of importance in this case. Possibly too, as David was very beautiful himself, they sought for some person of complexion and constitution likest to his own, and, of consequence, best suited, and mo

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 companio