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1 Kings 1:15

in 1 Kings 1

So Bathsheba went to see the king in his bedroom. Since the king was very old, Abishag the Shunammite was serving him.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Bath-sheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite was ministering unto the king.

KJV

And Bath–sheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered unto the king.

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This verse in 1 Kings 1

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
Into the chamber - The “bed-chamber” or “inner chamber.” Abishag was a disinterested witness present, who heard all that Bath-sheba said to David.

This site's exposition

the king was very old

on 1 Kings 1:15-16

Bathsheba goes in to a king so old that Abishag is still ministering to him in the room, and she bows before she speaks a word. The king's opening question, what wouldest thou, is the first thing he says in the whole chapter, a man who has said nothing while his kingdom decided itself without him. His silence to this point is part of the crisis Bathsheba has come to end.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And Bathsheba went in unto the king into the chamber,.... Where he lay, being bedridden; she took Nathan's advice, and directly went to the king's apartment: and the king was very old: and decrepit, borne down with the infirmities of old age, though but seventy years of age: and Abishag the Shunammite ministered unto the king; she was then waiting upon the king, and serving him with what was necessary and proper for him; and perhaps there was no other in the chamber at that time.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Adonijah, in common with the people generally, expected that this natural arrangement should be followed in the Hebrew kingdom as in all others. Nathan, who was aware of the old king's solemn promise to Solomon, and, moreover, that this promise was sanctioned by the divine will, saw that no time was to be lost.

The words behind it

14 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.

  • וַתָּבֹ֨אand she went

    vatavo'H935 →2568 times

  • בַת־Bath-

    vat-H1339 →20 times

  • שֶׁ֤בֶע-sheba

    sheve'H1339 →20 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙the king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • הַחַ֔דְרָהthe room towards

    hachadrahH2315 →38 times

  • וְהַמֶּ֖לֶךְand the king

    vehamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • זָקֵ֣ןhe was old

    zakenH2204 →

  • מְאֹ֑דvery

    meodH3966 →300 times

  • וַֽאֲבִישַׁג֙and Abishag

    vaavishagH49 →5 times

  • הַשּׁ֣וּנַמִּ֔יתthe Shunammite

    hashunamitH7767 →8 times

  • מְשָׁרַ֖ת[was] serving

    mesharatH8334 →97 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃the king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

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

Related verses

1 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Kings 1:1Now King David was old and well along in years, and though they covered him with blankets, he could not keep warm.2 works

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

    1 Kings 1:1

    Now King David was old and well along in years, and though they covered him with blankets, he could not keep warm.

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 29:27–28

      The length of David’s reign over Israel was forty years—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

    • Joshua 23:1–2

      A long time after the LORD had given Israel rest from all the enemies around them, when Joshua was old and well along in years,

    • 1 Chronicles 23:1

      When David was old and full of years, he installed his son Solomon as king over Israel.

    • Psalms 90:10

      The length of our days is seventy years— or eighty if we are strong— yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

    • 2 Samuel 5:4

      David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies2

On this verse

On this chapter

About 1 Kings

The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
1 Kings: the study guide →Read 1 Kings 1 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).

Read on in 1 Kings 1 →