1 Kings 2:17

that he give me Abishag It is highly probable that the construction which Solomon put upon Adonijah's request was the true one, for in the East the widows of the late king become the wives of his successor, and to marry, or seek to marry, such a widow is equivalent to putting forward a claim to the throne. Cf. God's message to David (2 Samuel 12:8) -I gave thee … thy master's wives into thy bosom," and also the threatening in the verses which follow that passage. See too 1 Kings 20:7; 2 Kings 24:15. Peter Martyr in his comment on this verse gives, as an illustration of the proud aspirations which are sometimes fostered by marriage with a royal widow, the case of Admiral Seymour, who married Catharine Parr, the widow of Henry 8, and straightway after his marriage began to plot rebellion.