1 Kings 1:1-5

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 1:1-4

David, as recorded in the foregoing chapter, had, by the great mercy of God, escaped the sword of the destroying angel. But our deliverances from or through diseases and dangers are but reprieves; if the candle be not blown out, it will burn out of itself. We have David here sinking under the infirmities of old age, and brought by them to the gates of the grave. He that cometh up out of the pit shall fall into the snare; and, one way or other, we must needs die. 1. It would have troubled one... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 1:5-10

David had much affliction in his children. Amnon and Absalom had both been his grief; the one his first-born, the other his third, 2 Sam. 3:2, 3. His second, whom he had by Abigail, we will suppose he had comfort in; his fourth was Adonijah (2 Sam. 3:4); he was one of those that were born in Hebron; we have heard nothing of him till now, and here we are told that he was a comely person, and that he was next in age, and (as it proved) next in temper to Absalom, 1 Kgs. 1:6. And, further, that in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 1:1

Now King David was old, and stricken in years ,.... Was seventy years of age; for he was thirty years of age when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years, 2 Samuel 5:4 ; this was just the age of man, Psalm 90:10 ; and they covered him with clothes ; not wearing apparel, but bed clothes; he seems to have been bedridden and paralytic: but he got no heat ; by them; having no natural heat in him, clothes could not communicate any to him, only keep the cold from him, see ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 1:2

Wherefore his servants said unto him ,.... His physicians; so Joseph's physicians are called his servants, Genesis 50:2 ; let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin ; not only a young woman, but a virgin, that has more natural heat than women that have bore children have, which is abated thereby: and let her stand before the king : minister to him, serve him with whatsoever he should want to eat or drink; and so by being in his presence, and taking things at her hand,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 1:3

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,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 1:4

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 1:5

Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself ,.... This was his mother's name, 2 Samuel 3:4 ; his father David being old and infirm, and not like to live long, notable to oppose him; and he being the eldest son, and a comely person, was inspired with ambition to set up for king: saying, I will be king ; though he knew that Solomon was appointed of God, and promised by David, and expected by the people to be king, yet he was resolved to set up himself for king, and try if he could... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 1:1

Now King David was old - He was probably now about sixty-nine years of age. He was thirty years old when he began to reign, reigned forty, and died in the seventieth year of his age, 2 Samuel 5:4 , and 1 Kings 2:11 ; and the transactions mentioned here are supposed to have taken place about a year before his death. But he gat no heat - Sixty-nine was not an advanced age; but David had been exhausted with various fatigues, and especially by family afflictions, so that... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 1:2

Let there be sought - a young virgin - This was the best remedy which in his state could be prescribed. His nearly exhausted frame would infallibly absorb from her young and healthy body an additional portion of animal heat, and consequently trim and revive the flame of animal life. This is properly, as I have elsewhere expressed it, Friar Bacon's secret for the cure of old age. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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. read more

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