1 Kings 1:1-4

1. David’s declining health 1:1-4

It was customary in ancient times to warm an elderly person not only by covering him or her with blankets, but also by putting a healthy person in bed with him or her. [Note: Wiseman, p. 67.] The body heat of the well person would keep the older person warmer. David’s physicians chose Abishag to provide nursing care for David as well as to warm him. Since David was the king, they sought and found a beautiful nurse for him. In view of David’s symptoms, he may have suffered from arteriosclerosis. [Note: Gene Rice, Nations under God, p. 8; and Simon DeVries, 1 Kings, p. 12.]

"Shunammite" is an alternate reading of "Shulammite," a resident of Shunem in Issachar. There is no way of telling if Abishag was the Shulammite Solomon loved and wrote of in the Song of Solomon (Song of Solomon 6:13). The fact that David did not have sexual relations with this "very beautiful" young woman (1 Kings 1:4) is significant because it shows that his physical powers were now weak. David had been sexually active, but now his sexual powers were depleted. This shows that it was time for a more energetic man to reign.