Kings I 1:2

2 And he two wives; the name of the one Anna, and the name of the second Phennana. And Phennana had children, but Anna had no child.

Kings I 1:2 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 1:2

Wherefore his servants said unto him
His physicians; so Joseph's physicians are called his servants, ( Genesis 50:2 ) ;

let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin;
not only a young woman, but a virgin, that has more natural heat than women that have bore children have, which is abated thereby:

and let her stand before the king:
minister to him, serve him with whatsoever he should want to eat or drink; and so by being in his presence, and taking things at her hand, she might be the more ingratiated into his affections:

and let her cherish him;
as the husband the wife, so she her husband, as doubtless David was; and that by giving him cordials to cheer his spirits, and everything that was convenient for him, and particularly by lying with him. Kimchi interprets the word of her being profitable to him, in which sense the word is used, ( Job 22:2 ) ( 35:3 ) ; that is, by warming him; Ben Gersom understands it of her being made mistress of his treasures, according to the sense of the word in ( Isaiah 22:15 ) ; that she might have the command of his purse, and provide anything proper for him, without being taken notice of or obstructed; but the Targum is better,

``and let her be near him,''

lie close unto him, and even in his bosom, as in the next clause:

and let her lie in his bosom;
which shows that it was proposed that he should marry her, at least that she should become his concubine wife, since this phrase is descriptive of a wife, ( Micah 7:5 ) ; nor can it be thought his physicians would advise, or he agree to have a young woman admitted to his bed, without marriage; and if this had not been the case, it would not have answered the design of Adonijah in requesting her in marriage after his father's death, which was to make way to ascend the throne when opportunity should offer; nor would his request have been so much resented by Solomon as it was, ( 1 Kings 2:17-24 ) ;

that my lord the king may get heat:
and somewhat similar to this, Galen, that great physician, prescribed in like cases ^F4.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 Vid. Poli Synopsin in loc.

Kings I 1:2 In-Context

1 There was a man of Armathaim Sipha, of mount Ephraim, and his name Helkana, a son of Jeremeel the son of Elias the son of Thoke, in Nasib Ephraim.

2 And he two wives; the name of the one Anna, and the name of the second Phennana. And Phennana had children, but Anna had no child.

3 And the man went up from year to year from his city, from Armathaim, to worship and sacrifice to the Lord God of Sabaoth at Selom: and Heli and his two sons Ophni and Phinees, the priests of the Lord.

4 And the day came, and Helkana sacrificed, and gave portions to his wife Phennana and her children.

5 And to Anna he gave a prime portion, because she had no child, only Helkana loved Anna more than the other; but the Lord closed her womb.