1 Kings 1:1

David and Abishag

1 King David had become very old. His servants covered him with blankets, but he couldn't stay 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 King David had become very old. His servants covered him with blankets, but he couldn't stay warm.

2 They said to him, "Allow us to find a young woman for our master the king. She will serve the king and take care of him by lying beside our master the king and keeping him warm."

3 So they looked in every corner of Israel until they found Abishag from Shunem. They brought her to the king.

4 She was very beautiful. She cared for the king and served him, but the king didn't have sex with her.

5 Adonijah, Haggith's son, bragged about himself and said, "I'll rule as king myself." He got his own chariot and horses with fifty runners to go in front.