1 Kings 1:4
in 1 Kings 1The 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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This verse in 1 Kings 1
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis 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.
This site's exposition
he had no relations with her
The girl's beauty is stated, and so is David's restraint. Ishodad of Merv held that David still felt desire and held it back, wary of what might be said of a king who already had many women. Adam Clarke read the clause as sound medicine for an old man's failing strength.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
But he "did not know her," that is, he did not get close to her, not because he was by now devoid of concupiscence but because he restrained the movements of concupiscence, fearing that it might be believed that he, who had many women, had …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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
And the damsel was very fair,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery 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 stopsEach 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 1:25But 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.”
- Luke 2:21
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
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About 1 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ishodad of Merv, BOOKS OF SESSIONS 1 KINGS 1:4; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.