Avishag
Sign in to savethumb|David and Abishag by Pedro Américo, 1879 thumb|Abisag, Bathsheba, Solomon, and Nathan (prophet)|Nathan tend to the aging David, c. 1435. thumb|David and Abishag, James Tissot (1836–1902, France), [[Jewish Museum (Manhattan)]] In the Hebrew Bible, Abishag (; ) was a beautiful young woman of Shunem chosen to be a helper and servant to King David in his old age. Among Abishag's duties was to lie next to David and pass along her body heat and vigor because "they put covers on him, but he could not get warm".
Article
4 sectionsContents
- Biblical narrative
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|David and Abishag by Pedro Américo, 1879 thumb|Abisag, Bathsheba, Solomon, and Nathan (prophet)|Nathan tend to the aging David, c. 1435. thumb|David and Abishag, James Tissot (1836–1902, France), [[Jewish Museum (Manhattan)]] In the Hebrew Bible, Abishag (; ) was a beautiful young woman of Shunem chosen to be a helper and servant to King David in his old age. Among Abishag's duties was to lie next to David and pass along her body heat and vigor because "they put covers on him, but he could not get warm".
==Biblical narrative== When brought to David, she was a (), which indicates youth but not specifically a virgin. However, in the preceding verse (1 Kings 1:2), it specifies that they are looking for a () 'a virgin' to warm David. 1 Kings 1:4 states that David did not engage in sexual intercourse with her. Nonetheless, there are elements of Jewish exegetical tradition which maintain that David engaged in anal sex with Abishag and he was not totally impotent. It is speculated that King David engaged in a multicoital act of intercourse with his wife Bathsheba in his old age precisely to prove his continued virility.