Abishag (Hebrew 'father of error' [?])

ABISAG (Hebr. “father of error” [?]).—Girl from Shūnem (today Sōlem), a locality on the southern slopes of little Hermon. Of rare beauty, she was chosen by the courtiers (by the physicians, Flavius Josephus specifies, Ant. Ind. VII, 14, 3) to give warmth to the body of the seventy-year-old King David, who received her affectionate care for as long as he lived, but left her virginity intact (I Reg. 1:1–4). At the death of the pious king, A., the last ornament of his harem, passed into Solomon’s possession, and Adonijah (v.), his elder brother and rash competitor, asked him twice to give her to him in marriage. Solomon saw in the request a political maneuver—the possession, even partial, of the royal harem attested a right to the throne (cf. II Sam. 3:7 ff.; 16:22)—and had Adonijah put to death (I Reg. 2:13–25). Francesco Spadafora