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In the Hebrew Bible, Abishag (/ˈæbɪʃæɡ/; Hebrew: אבישג Avishag) was a beautiful young woman of Shunem chosen to be a helper and servant to King David in his old age.^[1] Among Abishag's duties was to lie next to David and pass along her body heat and vigor because "they put covers on him, but he could not get warm".^[2]

Biblical narrative

1 Kings 1:4 notes that David did not engage in sexual intercourse with her.^[3] When brought to David, she was a na'arah, which indicates youth or virginity but not necessarily both.^[4]^[5]^[6] Nonetheless, there are elements of Jewish exegetical tradition which maintain that David engaged in anal intercourse with Abishag and he was not totally impotent. It is speculated that King David engaged in a multicoital act of intercourse with his wife Bathsheba in his old age precisely to prove his continued virility.^[7]

After David's death, Adonijah (David's fourth and eldest surviving son) persuaded Bathsheba, King Solomon's mother, to entreat the king to permit him to marry Abishag. Solomon suspected in this request an aspiration to the throne, since Abishag was considered David's concubine,^[8]^[9] and so ordered Adonijah's assassination (1 Kings 2:17–25). In the earlier story of Absalom's rebellion, it is noted that having sexual relations with the former king's concubine is a way of proclaiming oneself to be the new king. Adonijah may have asked to marry her at the suggestion of his mother.^[3]

Some scholars point to the possibility that Abishag is the female protagonist in the Song of Songs.^[10]

Later Jewish midrashic and Christian traditions paid little attention to Abishag's role.^[11] Rashi refers to her as a meḥomemet, or "warmer". Modern commentaries and translators have variously described her as a "housekeeper", "hot-water bottle", "heating pad," "attendant" or "bedfellow", though she is twice referred to as a sokenet in the text of Kings. This term, when applied to a male (soken), is often translated "administrator" or "palace steward" in Isaiah 22:15, leading some to believe she may have had a broader role and responsibilities.^[12] Other commentaries describe her role as being a nurse to the frail King David.^[13]

Abishag's experiences have provided inspiration for contemporary writers including Rainer Maria Rilke, Itzik Manger, Louise Gluck and Shirley Kaufman.^[11] The story is referred to allegorically at the end of the first part of the final volume (The Cross or in the original Norwegian, Korset) of Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset. Abishag's name, although not her story, is invoked to begin Robert Frost's poem "Provide, Provide."^[14]

References

^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford paperback reference. Oxford University Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1. Retrieved 2018-11-17.
^ Whedon, Daniel (1909). "Whedon's Commentary on the Bible". StudyLight.org. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Abishag of Shunem (fl. 1000 bce)". Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Gale Research Inc. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2013.(subscription required)
^ Lacocque, André (2015). "Jesus the Central Jew: His Times and His People". Retrieved July 12, 2019. unable to conceive although married because she is not yet pubescent
^ Benson, Joseph (1857). "Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments 1 Kings 1". StudyLight.org. Retrieved July 12, 2019. Whose natural heat is fresh and wholesome, and not impaired with bearing or breeding children
^ Gill, John (1748–63). "John Gill's Commentary on Ruth 4:12". Retrieved June 2, 2020. she was a young woman, though a widow: the Jews say she was forty years of age, as observed in (Ruth 3:10) and the elders wish and pray he might have a numerous family of the children the Lord would give him by her; and this might be the rather expected of her, as being a young woman, yet only as the gift of God, as children are, (Psalms 127:3).
^ Klein, Reuven Chaim (January 1, 2024). "Male Virility and Biblical Power Dynamics" (PDF). Jewish Bible Quarterly. 51 (1): 3–19. doi:10.17613/rb9g-4m16.
^ Fleming, Donald C. (2005). "Bridgeway Bible Commentary". Retrieved July 12, 2019. Since a new king inherited the former king's concubines, Solomon considered that Adonijah's request to marry Abishag was an attempt to claim David's throne
^ Clark, Adam (1832). "Adam Clark Commentaries". Retrieved July 12, 2019. He cheerfully gives up all right to the kingdom, and only desires to have this young woman, who, though she had been his father's wife or concubine, was still in a state of virginity.
^ Christopher W. Mitchell, The Song of Songs (Saint Louis: Concordia, 2003), 130–132.
^ ^a ^b Koplowitz-Breier (2018). "The Power of Words: The Biblical Abishag in Contemporary American Jewish Women's Poetry". Studies in American Jewish Literature. 37 (1): 21–36. doi:10.5325/studamerjewilite.37.1.0021. ISSN 0271-9274. S2CID 165198923.
^ Daniel Bodi, Abishag: Bedwarmer or Bureaucrat?, Biblical Archeology Review, Summer 2024, Vol. 50., No. 2, p. 64
^ Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary, Kenneth L. Barker & John Kohlenberger, Consulting Editors, Zondervan Publishing House, 1994, p. 490.
^ Frost, Robert (1979). The poetry of Robert Frost : the collected poems, complete and unabridged. New York: H. Holt. ISBN 9780805069860. OCLC 1004925419. Retrieved 24 January 2021.

External links

"Abishag". Easton's Bible Dictionary. Wikidata Q115282500.
Henry Gardiner Adams, ed. (1857). "Abishag". A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography: 3–4. Wikidata Q115282338.

[Hanks_Hardcastle_Hodges_2006-1] Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford paperback reference. Oxford University Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1. Retrieved 2018-11-17.

[Whedon-2] Whedon, Daniel (1909). "Whedon's Commentary on the Bible". StudyLight.org. Retrieved July 12, 2019.

[AbishagHB-3] "Abishag of Shunem (fl. 1000 bce)". Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Gale Research Inc. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2013.(subscription required)

[LaCocque-4] Lacocque, André (2015). "Jesus the Central Jew: His Times and His People". Retrieved July 12, 2019. unable to conceive although married because she is not yet pubescent

[StudyLight-5] Benson, Joseph (1857). "Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments 1 Kings 1". StudyLight.org. Retrieved July 12, 2019. Whose natural heat is fresh and wholesome, and not impaired with bearing or breeding children

[John_Gill-6] Gill, John (1748–63). "John Gill's Commentary on Ruth 4:12". Retrieved June 2, 2020. she was a young woman, though a widow: the Jews say she was forty years of age, as observed in (Ruth 3:10) and the elders wish and pray he might have a numerous family of the children the Lord would give him by her; and this might be the rather expected of her, as being a young woman, yet only as the gift of God, as children are, (Psalms 127:3).

[7] Klein, Reuven Chaim (January 1, 2024). "Male Virility and Biblical Power Dynamics" (PDF). Jewish Bible Quarterly. 51 (1): 3–19. doi:10.17613/rb9g-4m16.

[BridgeWayBible-8] Fleming, Donald C. (2005). "Bridgeway Bible Commentary". Retrieved July 12, 2019. Since a new king inherited the former king's concubines, Solomon considered that Adonijah's request to marry Abishag was an attempt to claim David's throne

[AdamClark-9] Clark, Adam (1832). "Adam Clark Commentaries". Retrieved July 12, 2019. He cheerfully gives up all right to the kingdom, and only desires to have this young woman, who, though she had been his father's wife or concubine, was still in a state of virginity.

[10] Christopher W. Mitchell, The Song of Songs (Saint Louis: Concordia, 2003), 130–132.

[:0-11] Koplowitz-Breier (2018). "The Power of Words: The Biblical Abishag in Contemporary American Jewish Women's Poetry". Studies in American Jewish Literature. 37 (1): 21–36. doi:10.5325/studamerjewilite.37.1.0021. ISSN 0271-9274. S2CID 165198923.

[12] Daniel Bodi, Abishag: Bedwarmer or Bureaucrat?, Biblical Archeology Review, Summer 2024, Vol. 50., No. 2, p. 64

[13] Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary, Kenneth L. Barker & John Kohlenberger, Consulting Editors, Zondervan Publishing House, 1994, p. 490.

[14] Frost, Robert (1979). The poetry of Robert Frost : the collected poems, complete and unabridged. New York: H. Holt. ISBN 9780805069860. OCLC 1004925419. Retrieved 24 January 2021.

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Abishag

Biblical narrative

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