Verse Lens · Concise explanation
1 Kings 1:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence: “So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “David's age and Abishag's service.”
A king who cannot keep warm
This verse is one part of that explanation in 1 Kings 1:1–4. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 1 Kings 1:1–4
Read 1 Kings 1:3 with 1:1–4. The selected wording supplies one step in the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Opens the succession crisis by showing David unable to keep warm in advanced age; distinguishes Abishag's intimate service from sexual relations with David.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “David's age and Abishag's service,” 1 Kings 1:3 advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence through the wording “So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: David's last words, final crisis, and public worship leave succession unresolved; the opening age-and-care notice establishes why others can act around a weakened king.
Read 1 Kings 1:1–4 together
Why these verses belong together: David's age and Abishag's service is the complete reviewed scene, prayer, oracle, list, or regnal notice bounded at 1:1–1:4.
Verse 1. 1 Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat.
Verse 2. 2 Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat.
Verse 3. 3 So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king.
Verse 4. 4 And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.
What Remains True
Public power and worship remain accountable to truth, covenant faithfulness, affected people, and consequences rather than title, success, wealth, or majority support. This unit tests that truth through opens the succession crisis by showing David unable to keep warm in advanced age; distinguishes Abishag's intimate service from sexual relations with David. In 1 Kings 1:3, the concrete line “So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 1 Kings 1:1–4 — David's age and Abishag's serviceSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 1 Kings 1:1–4, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Kings
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, name, clause, and older-English checks; this is not a critical apparatus or historical proof.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 1:1–4
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 1 Kings with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Only printed unit-level translation, lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and verse-numbering notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible 1 Kings PDF, printed pp. 584–586, translation and translator notes for 1:1–4
Open source ↗