1 Kings 1:3

3 They searched for a beautiful girl throughout the territory of Israel; they found Abishag the Shunammite^[a] and brought her to the king.

1 Kings 1:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 1:3

So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of
Israel
Not only a damsel, but a beautiful one, that she might be the more acceptable to the king; who otherwise, if deformed and ugly, would not have endured her in his sight, or received at her hands, and much less suffered her to lie in his bosom:

and found Abishag a Shunammite;
a native of the city Shunem, a city in the tribe of Issachar, ( Joshua 19:18 ) ;

and brought her to the king;
for his approbation of her, and to make her his concubine wife, as he did.

1 Kings 1:3 In-Context

1 Now King David was old and getting on in years. Although they covered him with bedclothes, he could not get warm.

2 So his servants said to him: "Let us search for a young virgin for my lord the king. She is to attend the king and be his caregiver. She is to lie by your side so that my lord the king will get warm."

3 They searched for a beautiful girl throughout the territory of Israel; they found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king.

4 The girl was of unsurpassed beauty, and she became the king's caregiver. She served him, but he was not intimate with her.

5 Adonijah son of Haggith kept exalting himself, saying, "I will be king!" He also assembled chariots, cavalry, and 50 men to run ahead of him.

Footnotes

• [a]. Shunem was a town in the hill country of Issachar at the foot of Mt. Moreh; Jos 19:17-18.