Abishag
Ab'ishag (Heb. Abishag' אֲבַישִׁג, father of [i.e. given to] error, i. q. inconsiderate; Sept. Α᾿βισάγ), a beautiful young woman of Shunem, in the tribe of Issachar, who was chosen by the servants of David to be introduced into the royal harem, for the special purpose of ministering to him and cherishing him in his old age, B.C. cir. 1015. She became his wife, but the marriage was never consummated (1Ki 1:3-15). Some time after the death of David, Adonijah, his eldest son, persuaded Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, to entreat the king that Abishag might be given to him in marriage, B.C. cir. 1013. But as rights and privileges peculiarly regal were associated with the control and possession of the harem (q.v.) of deceased kings (2Sa 12:8), Solomon detected in this application a fresh aspiration to the throne, which he visited with death (1Ki 2:17-22; Josephus, Aβησάκη, Ant. 7:14, 3). SEE ADONIJAH.
