Today's Scripture Reading (October 6, 2022): 1 Kings 2
We know their names; Helen of
Troy, Cleopatra, Nefertiti, and Phryne. They are women who are historically
said to be among the most beautiful women in history. I get it; in our current
environment, it is not politically correct to compare men and women according
to their looks but stick with me. It was not always that way. Were these women more beautiful than Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, or
Elizabeth Hurley? We will probably never know the answer to that question.
Although we try to list them, the reality is that we don't know what Helen of Troy or Cleopatra really appeared. Not only that but what was considered to be beautiful
has changed over time. Even in my lifetime, the standard of what is beautiful has
changed drastically. But even if that standard hadn't changed, our personal opinion of beauty is also
sometimes vastly different. And, of course, what is really beautiful in a woman
or man is what is on the inside. As we mature, most of us have known people who
might have been beautiful on the outside, but they were impossible people with
whom we would want to spend any time. It is a truth that becomes more important
as we get older. Beauty is a young person's priority. I remember driving in a van in the late
1990s when Shania Twain's "That Don't Impress Me Much" came on the radio. There was a group of young ladies
sitting behind me,
and when Twain got to the part of the song where she said, "Okay, so you're Brad Pitt," the girls behind my seat changed the first words of
the chorus to "That does impress me much."
A name that doesn't make our lists of beautiful historical women is
Abishag the Shunammite. She was the woman who shared King David's bed late in the King's life. Her job was to share her body heat with the King, keeping him warm at a time when the King struggled to stay warm. The Bible is clear that David
and Abishag didn't
have sexual relations, but even so, Abishag would have been considered one of
the King's concubines. And in ancient times, sleeping with a
King's concubines was a way of declaring that you had a
claim on the throne. Sleeping with David's concubines was precisely the path that Absalom, David's son, had followed during his rebellion against his father.
Enter Adonijah, another son of David. He believed he should have been chosen King of the nation instead of Solomon. And so he
decides to ask for Abishag as his wife, maybe indicating that she could
be his consolation prize because he had lost the throne to his younger brother. Perhaps he can convince Bathsheba and Solomon that he only
wants Abishag for her beauty when he really wants to put the first piece of his plan in place to take the throne from Solomon. Sleeping with Abishag would be the public declaration of his intention to take the throne. It was a symbolism
that Bathsheba missed, but one that Solomon didn't. Solomon makes it clear that he knows what his brother
is doing. If he gave Abishag to Adonijah, he might as well just hand over the
keys to the kingdom along with his priest and the general of the army because Adonijah wanted it
all. Solomon will give him none of it, starting by refusing to provide him with Abishag.
We aren't sure, but it is quite possible that the beautiful
Abishag, the Shunammite became one of the wives of Solomon. If that is true, then it is likely
that she is the bride that is
highlighted in Solomon's love poem, "The Song of Songs." And Abishag, the Shunammite,
belongs on any list of beautiful women in history.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Psalm 37
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