1 Raja-raja 1:15

1:15 So Bathsheba visited the king in his private quarters. ¹  (The king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king.)

1 Raja-raja 1:2

1:2 His servants advised ²  him, “A young virgin must be found for our master, the king, ³  to take care of the king’s needs ⁴  and serve as his nurse. She can also sleep with you ⁵  and keep our master, the king, warm.” ⁶ 

1 Samuel 3:7

3:7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord; the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

1 Samuel 3:1

The Call of Samuel

3:1 Now the boy Samuel continued serving the Lord under Eli’s supervision. ⁷  Word from the Lord was rare in those days; revelatory visions were infrequent.

1 Raja-raja 2:17

2:17 He said, “Please ask King Solomon if he would give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife, for he won’t refuse you.” ⁸ 

1 Raja-raja 2:22

2:22 King Solomon answered his mother, “Why just request Abishag the Shunammite for him? ⁹  Since he is my older brother, you should also request the kingdom for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah!”

[1:15]  ¹ tn Or “bedroom.”

[1:2]  ² tn Heb “said to.”

[1:2]  ³ tn Heb “let them seek for my master, the king, a young girl, a virgin.” The third person plural subject of the verb is indefinite (see GKC 460 §144.f). The appositional expression, “a young girl, a virgin,” is idiomatic; the second term specifically defines the more general first term (see IBHS 230 §12.3b).

[1:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “and she will stand before the king.” The Hebrew phrase “stand before” can mean “to attend; to serve” (BDB 764 s.v. עָמַד).

[1:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “and she will lie down in your bosom.” The expression might imply sexual intimacy (see 2 Sam 12:3 [where the lamb symbolizes Bathsheba] and Mic 7:5), though v. 4b indicates that David did not actually have sex with the young woman.

[1:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “and my master, the king, will be warm.”

[3:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “before Eli.”

[2:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “Say to Solomon the king, for he will not turn back your face, that he might give to me Abishag the Shunammite for a wife.”

[2:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “for Adonijah.”