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Friday, July 11th, 2025
the Week of Proper 9 / Ordinary 14
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Read the Bible

Christian Standard Bible ®

1 Kings 1:1

Now King David was old and advanced in age. Although they covered him with bedclothes, he could not get warm.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Abishag;   David;   Diplomacy;   Scofield Reference Index - Kings;   Thompson Chain Reference - Feebleness;   Long Life;   Old Age;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Abishag;   Adonijah;   Nathan;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Abishag;   Holman Bible Dictionary - David;   India;   Joab;   Kings, 1 and 2;   Zadok;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Adonijah;   Firstborn;   Israel;   Nathan;   Samuel, Books of;   Solomon;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Adonijah;   David;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Ab'ishag,;   Da'vid;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Hebrew Monarchy, the;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Abishag;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Church Fathers;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he got no heat.
King James Version
Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat.
English Standard Version
Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.
New Century Version
At this time King David was very old, and although his servants covered him with blankets, he could not keep warm.
New English Translation
King David was very old; even when they covered him with blankets, he could not get warm.
Amplified Bible
Now King David was old, advanced in years; they covered him with clothes, but he could not get warm.
New American Standard Bible
Now King David was old, advanced in age; and they covered him with garments, but he could not keep warm.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Now when King Dauid was olde, and striken in yeeres, they couered him with clothes, but no heate came vnto him.
Legacy Standard Bible
Now King David was old, advanced in age; and they covered him with clothes, but he could not keep warm.
Contemporary English Version
King David was now an old man, and he always felt cold, even under a lot of blankets.
Complete Jewish Bible
King David grew old, the years took their toll, and he couldn't get warm even when they covered him with bedclothes.
Darby Translation
And king David was old [and] advanced in age; and they covered him with clothes, but he obtained no warmth.
Easy-to-Read Version
King David was very old and could not keep warm. His servants covered him with blankets, but he was still cold.
George Lamsa Translation
NOW King David was old and well advanced in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he could not get warm.
Good News Translation
King David was now a very old man, and although his servants covered him with blankets, he could not keep warm.
Lexham English Bible
Now King David had become old, advanced in years, and they covered him with garments, but he was not warm.
Literal Translation
And King David was old, going into days. And they covered him with garments, for he had no heat.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And wha kinge Dauid was olde & well strycke in age, he coulde not be warme, though he was couered with clothes.
American Standard Version
Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat.
Bible in Basic English
Now King David was old and far on in years; and though they put covers over him, his body was cold.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And king Dauid was olde and stricken in yeres, so that whe they couered him with clothes, he caught no heate.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he could get no heat.
King James Version (1611)
Now King Dauid was olde, and striken in yeeres, and they couered him with clothes, but hee gate no heate.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And king David was old and advanced in days, and they covered him with clothes, and he was not warmed.
English Revised Version
Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat.
Berean Standard Bible
Now King David was old and advanced in years, and though they covered him with blankets, he could not get warm.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And kyng Dauid wax eld, and hadde ful many daies of age; and whanne he was hilid with clothis, he was not maad hoot.
Young's Literal Translation
And king David [is] old, entering into days, and they cover him with garments, and he hath no heat,
Update Bible Version
Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he got no heat.
Webster's Bible Translation
Now king David was old [and] advanced in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he got no heat.
World English Bible
Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he got no heat.
New King James Version
Now King David was old, advanced in years; and they put covers on him, but he could not get warm.
New Living Translation
King David was now very old, and no matter how many blankets covered him, he could not keep warm.
New Life Bible
Now King David was old. He had lived many years. They covered him with clothes, but he could not keep warm.
New Revised Standard
King David was old and advanced in years; and although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Now, King David, was old, advanced in days, - and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Now king David was old, and advanced in years: and when he was covered with clothes he was not warm.
Revised Standard Version
Now King David was old and advanced in years; and although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.
THE MESSAGE
King David grew old. The years had caught up with him. Even though they piled blankets on him, he couldn't keep warm. So his servants said to him, "We're going to get a young virgin for our master the king to be at his side and look after him; she'll get in bed with you and arouse our master the king." So they searched the country of Israel for the most ravishing girl they could find; they found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king. The girl was stunningly beautiful; she stayed at his side and looked after the king, but the king did not have sex with her.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now King David was old, advanced in age; and they covered him with clothes, but he could not keep warm.

Contextual Overview

1Now King David was old and advanced in age. Although they covered him with bedclothes, he could not get warm. 2So his servants said to him: “Let us search for a young virgin for my lord the king. She is to attend the king and be his caregiver. She is to lie by your side so that my lord the king will get warm.” 3They searched for a beautiful girl throughout the territory of Israel; they found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king. 4The girl was of unsurpassed beauty, and she became the king’s caregiver. She attended to him, but he was not intimate with her.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

old: David was probably now about sixty-nine years of age. He was thirty years old when he began to reign, reigned forty, and died in his seventieth year; and the transactions mentioned here are supposed to have taken place about a year before his death. Sixty-nine was not an advanced age; but he had been exhausted with various fatigues, and especially family afflictions, so that he was much older in constitution than in years. 2 Samuel 5:4, 1 Chronicles 23:1, 1 Chronicles 29:27, 1 Chronicles 29:28, Psalms 90:10

and stricken in years: Heb. and entered into days, Genesis 18:11, Genesis 24:1, Joshua 23:1, Joshua 23:2, Luke 1:7

Reciprocal: Joshua 13:1 - Joshua Ecclesiastes 4:11 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 1:4
God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.
Genesis 1:5
God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was an evening, and there was a morning: one day.
Genesis 1:11
Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” And it was so.
Genesis 1:12
The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:16
God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night—as well as the stars.
Genesis 1:17
God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth,
Genesis 1:19
Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.
Genesis 1:20
Then God said, “Let the water swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.”
Genesis 1:22
God blessed them: “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”
Genesis 1:30
for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Now King David was old, [and] stricken in years,.... Was seventy years of age; for he was thirty years of age when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years, 2 Samuel 5:4; this was just the age of man, Psalms 90:10;

and they covered him with clothes; not wearing apparel, but bed clothes; he seems to have been bedridden and paralytic:

but he got no heat; by them; having no natural heat in him, clothes could not communicate any to him, only keep the cold from him, see Haggai 1:6; there are many persons at the age he was, that are lively, healthful, and robust, comparatively speaking at least; but David's strength was impaired, and his natural force abated by his many wars, fatigues by night and day in campaigns, and the many sorrows and afflictions he met with from his family and his friends, as well as enemies; which exhausted his natural moisture, weakened his nerves, and drank up his spirits, and brought upon him the infirmities of a decrepit old age very soon.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Now - Rather, “and.” The conjunction has here, probably, the same sort of connecting force which it has at the opening of Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, etc., and implies that the historian regards his work as a continuation of a preceding history.

King David - The expression “king David,” instead of the simpler “David,” is characteristic of the writer of Kings. (See the introduction to the Book of Kings) The phrase is comparatively rare in Chronicles and Samuel.

Stricken in, years - David was perhaps now in his first year. He was thirty years old when he was made king in Hebron 2 Samuel 5:4; he reigned in Hebron seven years and six months 2Sa 2:11; 1 Chronicles 3:4; and he reigned thirty-three years at Jerusalem 2 Samuel 5:5. The expression had here been used only of persons above eighty Genesis 18:11; Genesis 24:1; Joshua 13:1; Joshua 23:1 : but the Jews at this time were not long-lived. No Jewish monarch after David, excepting Solomon and Manasseh, exceeded sixty years.

Clothes - Probably “bed-clothes.” The king was evidently bed-ridden 1 Kings 1:47.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

THE FIRST BOOK OF THE KINGS

-Year from the Creation, according to the English Bible, 2989.

-Year before the Incarnation, 1015.

-Year from the destruction of Troy, according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, 170.

-Year before the first Olympiad, 239.

-Year before the building of Rome, 262.

-Year of the Julian Period, 3699.

-Year of the Dionysian Period, 507.

-Cycle of the Sun, 3.

-Cycle of the Moon, 13.

-Year of Acastus, the second perpetual archon of the Athenians, 31.

-Pyritiades was king over the Assyrians about this time, according to Scaliger, Langius, and Strauchius. He was the thirty-seventh monarch, (including Belus,) according to Africanus, and the thirty-third according to Eusebius.

-Year of Alba Silvius, the sixth king of the Latins, 15.

-Year of David, king of the Hebrews, 40.

CHAPTER I

David, grown old, is, by the advice of his physicians,

cherished by Abishag the Shunummite, 1-4.

Adonijah conspires with Joab and Abiathar to seize on the

government, 5-10.

Nathan and Bathsheba communicate these tidings to the aged king,

11-27.

David immediately pronounces Solomon his successor, and causes

Zadok and Nathan to proclaim and anoint him king, 28-40.

Adonijah and his friends hear of it, are afraid, and flee away,

Adonijah laying hold on the horns of the altar, from which he

refuses to go till Solomon shall promise him his life; this he

does, and banishes him to his own house, 41-53.

NOTES ON CHAP. I

Verse 1 Kings 1:1. Now King David was old — He was probably now about sixty-nine years of age. He was thirty years old when he began to reign, reigned forty, and died in the seventieth year of his age, 2 Samuel 5:4, and 1 Kings 2:11; and the transactions mentioned here are supposed to have taken place about a year before his death.

But he gat no heat. — Sixty-nine was not an advanced age; but David had been exhausted with various fatigues, and especially by family afflictions, so that he was much older in constitution than he was in years. Besides he seems to have laboured under some wasting maladies, to which there is frequent reference in the Psalms.


 
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