In Service to the King
Abishag is a young, beautiful Shunammite woman. She’s carefully selected to attend to King David in his old age. Despite her sleeping next to him to keep him warm, their relationship isn’t sexual—though I’m sure people thought otherwise.
When the king dies, we might assume her ordeal is over. But it’s not. After David’s death, his son Adonijah requests, through Bathsheba, that her son Solomon, the new king, allow him to marry Abishag.
Though this seems like a reasonable request, Solomon sees this as Adonijah’s attempt to elevate his standing in the kingdom and vie for leadership.
His perceived power struggle is a threat to Solomon’s reign. So Solomon executes Adonijah.
Abishag has her life in front of her, full of expectation, when she’s tapped to serve the king. Then another man tries to use her to usurp his half-brother’s throne. His ploy results in his execution.
We don’t know what happens to Abishag after this.
How do we react when someone uses us?
How should we respond to things outside our control?
[Read about Abishag in 1 Kings 1:1–4. Discover more in 1 Kings 2:13–25.]
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More Old Testament Sinners and Saints is part of the Bible Character Sketches series.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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