1 Kings 2:17
ESV
And he said, "Please ask King Solomon — he will not refuse you — to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife."
NIV
So he continued, "Please ask King Solomon—he will not refuse you—to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife."
NASB
Then he said, 'Please speak to Solomon the king—for he will not refuse you—that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife.'
CSB
He replied, "Please speak to King Solomon since he won’t turn you down. Let him give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife."
NLT
He replied, 'Speak to King Solomon on my behalf, for I know he will do anything you request. Ask him to let me marry Abishag, the girl from Shunem.'
KJV
And he said, Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king, (for he will not say thee nay,) that he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife.
NKJV
Then he said, “Please speak to King Solomon, for he will not refuse you, that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife.”
What does 1 Kings 2:17 mean?
Solomon's half-brother Adonijah tried to assume the crown while David lay dying. Nathan and Bathsheba alerted David, who had Solomon crowned while Adonijah's party was still going on (1 Kings 1). Now David is dead, and Solomon is king. Adonijah came to Bathsheba to ask her to petition Solomon to give him Abishag, David's last concubine.Abishag is the beautiful young woman who nursed the ailing King David and kept him warm as he neared death. They never had sex (1 Kings 1:1–4). Adonijah isn't asking out of love. He knows that when a new king comes to power, he inherits the wives and concubines of the former king (2 Samuel 12:7–8). To take a king's woman is to declare authority and dominance, as Adonijah witnessed when his brother Absalom publicly slept with David's concubines (2 Samuel 16:20–22).
Adonijah has done what he can to appear non-threatening. He's told Bathsheba that he knows it's God's will for Solomon to be king (1 Kings 2:15). He has chosen the one concubine whom David never had sex with (1 Kings 1:4). It's unclear if Bathsheba is so naïve as to trust the man who might have murdered her had he been king (1 Kings 1:21).
Although Bathsheba is a woman and Solomon is the king of Israel, Solomon greatly respects her. When she enters the throne room, he bows before her and seats her at his right hand: the place of the royal advisor (1 Kings 2:19). He places her guidance on the same level as his father's (Proverbs 1:8). It appears Solomon may have learned that respect from David. When Nathan needed to tell David that Adonijah was trying to assume the crown, he sent Bathsheba to break the news (1 Kings 1:11–21).
It may be that Adonijah underestimates Bathsheba's wisdom. He thinks he's tricking her: getting her to convince Solomon to provide a symbol of authority over David and Solomon. But it may be that Bathsheba tricks Adonijah into committing the crime that will force Solomon to execute him.
