Abishag

In my reading today, day 24, lots of things jumped out at me.  For one thing, the second born of David's son's arranged for himself to become King. It wasn't the Lord's will, though.  When David heard about it, he had Solomon anointed King of Israel. He was put on a donkey and the people shouted and sang. Sound familiar? No wonder the people thought a famous person was coming when Jesus was on the donkey going down the road. They all sang hosanna and praised Him.  -- Traditions.  It helps when we understand these things. See what reading the Bible like this is doing for me? It's intense but I'm getting such a good look at things.

Okay, here's something else: 

As King David got older, he got colder. Happens today, too.  I guess instead of turning up the heat and piling on more blankets, a virgin was chosen to keep the King warm.  She did some housekeeping for him and lay beside him. What a chore.  I wonder what they talked about?  Did he sing to her?  Maybe she sang to him?  Her name was Abishag, the Shunammite.

Later, David's second born, who tried to claim the throne for himself, even though he knew it would be Solomon's, asked Soloman's mother, Bathsheba, to request a wife for himself from Solomon. He wanted none other than sweet Abishag.

I didn't remember who this woman was. I couldn't figure out why Solomon was so mad and had Adinijah, his own brother, put to death.  So I did what any woman trying to figure things out nowadays does - I Googled it:)

Because of Abishag's position, a servant of the King, it could have placed Adinijah as king. A commoner was not allowed to marry a servant of a deceased king. Good thing Solomon was wise or he may have lost his position.

Know why David never made Abishag his wife? Tradition says that kings were only allowed to have 18. She would have exceeded his limit. Wow. Crazy:)

Know what else my Google research told me?  Abishag, the Shunnamite, may have been the same woman Solomon writes about in the Song of Solomon. I can't wait until I get there and check that one out.  Pieces of knowledge like this makes the Bible come alive that much more.