Abishag Meaning in the Bible

Abishag (Hebrew אֲבִישַׁג) is generally read as 'my father strays' or 'father of error,' though the second element is obscure and lexicons hedge. She is called 'the Shunammite,' from Shunem in Issachar, which is also the home town of the woman who hosted Elisha — a different woman entirely.

She is introduced in the first chapter of Kings. David is old and cannot get warm, so his servants seek 'a young virgin' to stand before him and cherish him. 'The damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not' (1 Kings 1:4). The text is careful about that last clause, and the care matters for what follows.

After David's death Adonijah asks Bathsheba to request Abishag as his wife. Solomon reads the request exactly as it was meant — claiming a former king's household was a claim on the throne — and answers, 'Ask for him the kingdom also' (1 Kings 2:22). Adonijah is executed that day. Abishag never speaks in the narrative and is never heard of again.

The name is not in modern use and probably should not be revived without knowing the story. It is worth reading as a quiet warning about how the powerless become instruments in other people's politics.