1 Kings 1:4

4 The girl was very beautiful; and she became the king's nurse and served him, but the king did not ^[a]cohabit with her.

1 Kings 1:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 1:4

And the damsel [was] very fair
And so very agreeable to the king to be in his presence, and wait upon him, and take things of her hand, as well as lie with him:

and cherished the king;
enlivened his spirits by her amiable countenance, her graceful behaviour, and tender care of him, and especially by bedding with him:

and ministered to him;
serving him with her own hands whatever he took for his sustenance:

but the king knew her not;
as a man knows his wife; which shows that she was his wife, and that it would not have been criminal in him had he known her; but this is observed, not to point at the chastity of David, but his feebleness, and loss of desire after women, and that the damsel remained a virgin; and that was the ground of Adonijah's request, and his hope of succeeding.

1 Kings 1:4 In-Context

2 So his servants said to him, "Let them seek a young virgin for my lord the king, and let her attend the king and become his nurse; and let her lie in your bosom, that my lord the king may keep warm."

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

4 The girl was very beautiful; and she became the king's nurse and served him, but the king did not cohabit with her.

5 Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I will be king." So he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen with fifty men to run before him.

6 His father had never crossed him at any time by asking, "Why have you done so?" And he was also a very handsome man, and he was born after Absalom.

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "know her"