1 Kings 1:1

Abishag Cares for David

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

1 Kings 1:1 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 1:1

Now King David was old, [and] stricken in years
Was seventy years of age; for he was thirty years of age when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years, ( 2 Samuel 5:4 ) ; this was just the age of man, ( Psalms 90:10 ) ;

and they covered him with clothes;
not wearing apparel, but bed clothes; he seems to have been bedridden and paralytic:

but he got no heat;
by them; having no natural heat in him, clothes could not communicate any to him, only keep the cold from him, see ( Haggai 1:6 ) ; there are many persons at the age he was, that are lively, healthful, and robust, comparatively speaking at least; but David's strength was impaired, and his natural force abated by his many wars, fatigues by night and day in campaigns, and the many sorrows and afflictions he met with from his family and his friends, as well as enemies; which exhausted his natural moisture, weakened his nerves, and drank up his spirits, and brought upon him the infirmities of a decrepit old age very soon.

1 Kings 1:1 In-Context

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

2 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.”

3 Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful girl, and they found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king.

4 The girl was unsurpassed in beauty; she cared for the king and served him, but he had no relations with her.

5 At that time Adonijah, David’s son by Haggith, began to exalt himself, saying, “I will be king!” And he acquired chariots and horsemen and fifty men to run ahead of him.