Abishag? Abishag the Shunammite? If the name doesn’t ring a bell, do not despair. The young woman with this name makes only a brief appearance in the Hebrew Bible, in the first two chapters of the First Book of Kings, during the story of the succession of power from David to Solomon. Perhaps because of her role—to provide warmth to the aging (no, aged) David (1 Kings 1:1–4)—she has assumed far greater prominence in the post-Biblical, especially modern, world than she did in antiquity. Based on numerous references to her in the press, however, it is uncertain whether she […]
