1 Kings 1:4

in 1 Kings 1

The girl was unsurpassed in beauty; she cared for the king and served him, but he had no relations with her.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the damsel was very fair; and she cherished the king, and ministered to him; but the king knew her not.

KJV

And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.

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Commentary

1 note on this verse

This site's exposition

found Abishag a Shunammite

on 1 Kings 1:3-4

The search runs the whole coasts of Israel and settles on Abishag, a Shunammite, brought to cherish and minister to the king. The text is careful to add that the king knew her not, ruling out marriage before the fact and leaving her role plainly a nurse's. Her place at David's side becomes political property later, when Adonijah asks for her hand at 2:17 and Solomon reads the request as a claim on the throne itself.

The words behind it

11 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

Hebrew	Sound	Meaning	Word study	In the Bible
וְהַֽנַּעֲרָ֖ה	vehanaarah	and the young woman	H5291 →	63 times
יָפָ֣ה	yafah	[was] beautiful	H3303 →
עַד־	ʾad-	up to	H5704 →	1261 times
מְאֹ֑ד	meod	muchness	H3966 →	300 times
וַתְּהִ֨י	vatehi	and she became	H1961 →	3559 times
לַמֶּ֤לֶךְ	lamelekh	of the king	H4428 →	2525 times
סֹכֶ֙נֶת֙	sokhenet	a nurse	H5532 →
וַתְּשָׁ֣רְתֵ֔הוּ	vatesharetehu	and she served him	H8334 →	97 times
וְהַמֶּ֖לֶךְ	vehamelekh	and the king	H4428 →	2525 times
לֹ֥א	lo'	not	H3808 →	5168 times
יְדָעָֽהּ׃	yedaah	he knew her	H3045 →	945 times

וְהַֽנַּעֲרָ֖הand the young woman
vehanaarahH5291 →63 times
יָפָ֣ה[was] beautiful
yafahH3303 →
עַד־up to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
מְאֹ֑דmuchness
meodH3966 →300 times
וַתְּהִ֨יand she became
vatehiH1961 →3559 times
לַמֶּ֤לֶךְof the king
lamelekhH4428 →2525 times
סֹכֶ֙נֶת֙a nurse
sokhenetH5532 →
וַתְּשָׁ֣רְתֵ֔הוּand she served him
vatesharetehuH8334 →97 times
וְהַמֶּ֖לֶךְand the king
vehamelekhH4428 →2525 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יְדָעָֽהּ׃he knew her
yedaahH3045 →945 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

Through
Matthew 1:25
But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a Son. And he gave Him the name Jesus.
it leads to
- Luke 2:21
  When the eight days until His circumcision had passed, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He had been conceived.
- Exodus 13:2
  “Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.”
- Exodus 22:29
  You must not hold back offerings from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons.
- Luke 2:7
  And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
- Matthew 1:21
  She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”