1 Kings 1:4

_AND THE DAMSEL WAS VERY FAIR, AND CHERISHED THE KING, AND MINISTERED TO HIM: BUT THE KING KNEW HER NOT._ No JFB commentary on this verse....

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....

Verse 1 Kings 1:4. _THE KING KNEW HER NOT._] The maxim of Bacon in his enigmatical cure is, "Take all you can from the medicine, but give nothing to it; if you give any thing, it increases the disease and hastens death." I have seen this abundantly verified; but it is a subject on which it would be improper to dilate except in a medical work. An extract from Friar Bacon's _Cure of Old Age_ may be found at the end of the chapter. 1 Kings 1:53....

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

AND THE DAMSEL [WAS] VERY FAIR,.... And so very agreeable to the king to be in his presence, and wait upon him, and take things of her hand, as well as lie with him: AND CHERISHED THE KING; enlivened his spirits by her amiable countenance, her graceful behaviour, and tender care of him, and especially by bedding with him: AND MINISTERED TO HIM; serving him with her own hands whatever he took for his sustenance: BUT THE KING KNEW HER NOT; as a man knows his wife; which shows that she was his wife, and that it would not have been criminal in him had he known her; but this is observed, not to point at the chastity of David, but his feebleness, and loss of desire after women, and that the damsel remained a virgin; and that was the ground of Adonijah's request, and his hope of succeeding....

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 ...

_cherished the king_ Being always at hand to perform, as his nurse, such duties as the weak condition of king David needed. _knew her not_ These words seem added to explain how it came to pass that Adonijah afterwards could ask her for his wife. (1 Kings 2:17.)...

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