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1 Kings 1:2

in 1 Kings 1

So his servants said to him, “Let us search for a young virgin for our lord the king, to attend to him and care for him and lie by his side to keep him warm.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and cherish him; and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat.

KJV

Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat.

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This verse in 1 Kings 1

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Secondly, it appears from this phrase of lying in his bosom, which is everywhere in scripture mentioned as the privilege of a wife. Thirdly, this made Adonijah's crime in desiring her to wife, so heinous in Solomon's account, because he saw, that by marrying the king's wife he designed to revive his pretense to the kingdom.

This site's exposition

old and stricken in years

on 1 Kings 1:1-2

David is old and stricken in years, cannot get warm under his own clothes, and his servants propose the era's answer to a failing king's chill: a young virgin to stand before him and lie in his bosom for heat. The older commentators read this as medical care rather than courtship, the household's attempt to keep a very old king functioning. The book opens by measuring the king's strength in the most physical terms available, and the throne question that follows in verse five reads against that weakness.

This site's exposition

lie by his side

The servants ask for a virgin to lie by the king’s side, the place Scripture gives a wife, and John Wesley and Matthew Henry held that Abishag became a secondary wife of David. Albert Barnes called the plan a physician’s advice. Her standing makes Adonijah’s later request for her so grave.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Ishodad of Merv

BOOKS OF SESSIONS 1 KINGS 1:2 · Written before 850.

proposed

[The king] could get no warmth from blankets, because blankets cannot provide warmth by themselves; if you put them on stones or corpses, they certainly cannot warm them; but when there is heat emanating from the inside of our body, then they are useful and …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

We now have not so learned of Christ, but are taught that one man must have but one wife ( Matt. xix. 5 ), and further that it is good for a man not to touch a woman, 1 Cor. vii. That Abishag was married to David before she lay with him, and was his secondary wife, appears from its being imputed as a great crime to Adonijah that he desired to marry her ( ch. ii.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

Wherefore his servants said unto him,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

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.
Since the Jewish law allowed polygamy, David’s conduct in following - what has been said to have been - physician’s advice, was blameless.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

But he was not warmed. Our Rabbis said, “He who disgraces clothing will ultimately be deprived of their pleasures.” 1 Maseches Berachos 62b. [Dovid’s clothing did not warm him] because he tore off the corner of Shaul’s robe. 2 See I Shmuel:5.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on I Kings 1:1:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

19 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.

  • וַיֹּ֧אמְרוּand they said

    vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times

  • ל֣וֹto him

    lo

  • עֲבָדָ֗יוservants his

    ʾavadavH5650 →799 times

  • יְבַקְשׁ֞וּlet people seek

    yevakshuH1245 →225 times

  • לַאדֹנִ֤יfor lord my

    ladoniH113 →333 times

  • הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙the king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • נַעֲרָ֣הa young woman

    naarahH5291 →63 times

  • בְתוּלָ֔הa virgin

    vetulahH1330 →

  • וְעָֽמְדָה֙and she will stand

    veamedahH5975 →521 times

  • לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before

    lifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • וּתְהִי־and let her be

    utehi-H1961 →3559 times

  • ל֖וֹof him

    lo

  • סֹכֶ֑נֶתa nurse

    sokhenetH5532 →

  • וְשָׁכְבָ֣הand she will lie

    veshakhevahH7901 →212 times

  • בְחֵיקֶ֔ךָin bosom your

    vecheikechaH2436 →38 times

  • וְחַ֖םand it will be warm

    vechamH2552 →

  • לַאדֹנִ֥יto lord my

    ladoniH113 →333 times

  • הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃the king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

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

Related verses

10 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.

Ecclesiastes 4:11Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone?10 worksGenesis 16:5Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me.”9 worksMicah 7:5Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms.8 works1 Samuel 16:21–22When David came to Saul and entered his service, Saul admired him greatly, and David became his armor-bearer.7 worksDeuteronomy 10:8At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to serve Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name, as they do to this day.5 worksDeuteronomy 13:6If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (which neither you nor your fathers have known,5 works
The other 4 cross-references, with their words ▾
2 Samuel 12:3but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms and was like a daughter to him.5 works2 Chronicles 29:11Now, my sons, do not be negligent, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, to minister before Him, and to burn incense.”4 worksEsther 2:2Then the king’s attendants proposed, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king,4 works2 Kings 15:38And Jotham rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David his father. And his son Ahaz reigned in his place.2 works

The walk

8 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

    Micah 7:5

    Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 9:4

      “Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander.

    • Psalms 118:8–9

      It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.

    • Matthew 10:16

      Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

    • Job 6:14–15

      A despairing man should have the kindness of his friend, even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

    • Judges 16:5–20

      The lords of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice him and find out the source of his great strength and how we can overpower him to tie him up and subdue him.…

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 10:8

    At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to serve Him, and to pronounce blessings in…

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 21:5

      And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in His name and to give a ruling in every…

    • Deuteronomy 18:5

      For the LORD your God has chosen Levi and his sons out of all your tribes to stand and minister in His name for all time.

  • Through

    Ecclesiastes 4:11

    Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone?

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 1:1–4

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

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 on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ishodad of Merv, BOOKS OF SESSIONS 1 KINGS 1:2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Kings 1 →