Abishag

Abishag (meaning ignorance of the father or given to error) was a young woman of Shunem, distinguished for her beauty, who was chosen to minister to the aged King David by lying close to him for warmth. Though she became his wife, David had no conjugal relations with her (1 Kings 1:3–4). After David's death, Adonijah requested Abishag as his wife through Bathsheba, an appeal Solomon interpreted as a veiled claim to the throne—leading to Adonijah's execution (1 Kings 2:17–25). Abishag thus became an unintended flashpoint in the Solomonic succession.