Facts About Abishag: Are They True or False? Quiz

Answer: True

True. According to the first chapter of 1 Kings, David's servants came up with a plan to find the top young woman in Israel to serve him when he was elderly and frail. 1 Kings 1:2, in the NIV Bible, quotes David's servants as saying "Let us look for a young virgin to serve the king and take care of him." According to verse 3, they searched throughout Israel before selecting Abishag for the task.

Answer: True

According to Scripture, Abishag was extremely beautiful. In verses 3 and 4 of the first chapter of 1 Kings, her beauty is mentioned. In verse 3, in the NIV, she is described as a "beautiful young woman" and in verse 4 as "very beautiful".

Not much is known about Abishag's personal life, but according to verse 3, she was a Shunammite.

Answer: True

Yes, it's true according to 1 Kings 1:1-4. Those verses state: "When King David was very old, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. So his attendants said to him, 'Let us look for a young virgin to serve the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm.' Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. The woman was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no sexual relations with her."

Abishag could very well have been the world's first nurse.

Answer: False

False. There is no indication of this in Scripture. In fact, there are no reports about dialogue between Abishag and David's wives.

1 Kings 1:15 tells of Bathsheba entering the chamber of the king while Abishag was caring for David, but the following verses show the only concern on Bathsheba's mind at that time was the fact Adonijah had set himself up as king. Bathsheba, with the help of Nathan the prophet, made sure her son Solomon would become king.

Answer: False

False. In fact, there isn't a single quote by Abishag in the Bible. The second chapter of 1 Kings is largely about David's instructions to Solomon, the new king.

Answer: True

It's true. Adonijah lost his life over Abishag. It's a bit of a long story, but when Adonijah requested Bathsheba to get permission from her son Solomon for the marriage and when she approached Solomon about the matter, it appears to have been the final straw.

1 Kings 2:23-25, in the NKJV Bible, states: "Then King Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, 'May God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life! Now therefore, as the LORD lives, who has confirmed me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has established a house for me, as He promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today!' So King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he struck him down, and he died."

Previously, Adonijah had attempted to replace his father David as king, but lost out to Solomon when Bathsheba intervened. Notes in the NKJV Study Bible suggest Adonijah's request came with serious ramifications. "Taking a member of the king's harem would normally be interpreted as a claim to the throne," the notes state.

Answer: False

False. There is no indication in Scripture about Abishag and Mephibosheth marrying each other.

However, according to Wikipedia, "it is possible Abishag became one of Solomon's wives, as part of his inheritance." Wikipedia goes on to suggest some scholars point to the possibility Abishag is the female protagonist in the Song of Songs.

Incidentally, Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul and Scripture reports he was "lame in both feet." David and Mephibosheth's father were the best of friends. This, even though Jonathan's father Saul devoted much of his latter life trying to kill David. 2 Samuel 9:7 states that David restored to Mephibosheth all the land that belonged to his grandfather Saul and he ensured he would "always dine at his table with him."

Mephibosheth was married as 2 Samuel 9:12 states he had a young son named Mika. (In the NKJV, the son is known as Micha.)

Answer: False

Well, Abigail and Ahinoam, two wives of David, were taken captive by the Amalekites. But Abishag was not part of the story. In fact, it's likely Abishag wasn't even born at the time of the capture of the two women. The capture took place when David was in his prime and Abishag entered the picture when David was elderly and frail.

The account of Abigail and Ahinoam being captured by the Amalekites is recorded in the 30th chapter of 1 Samuel. The chapter tells of David and his men arriving in Ziklag and finding the town burnt to the ground with all the "sons and daughters" taken captive by the Amalekites. Scripture goes on to state Abigail and Ahinoam were also taken captive. David and 400 men ended up attacking the Amalekites and freeing the captives, including his two wives.

1 Samuel 30:17-20, in the NIV Bible, states: "David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back. He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, 'This is David's plunder'."

Answer: False

There is no other woman in the Old Testament with such a name. According to Christiananswers.net, Abishag means "father of (i.e., 'given to') error."

Answer: False

False. Abishag is not mentioned in the New Testament. In fact, in the Hebrew Bible, or the Old Testament of the English Bible, she is mentioned only in the first and second chapters of 1 Kings. Her name appears only five times in Scripture.