What Does 1 Kings 1:3 Mean in the King James?
So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Beauty is the criterion of the search, while Abishag’s own will remains outside the sentence.
THE MEANING
The search is set by beauty: a young woman is sought, Abishag is found, and she is brought to the king. The sentence gives the actions to those who search and bring, while Abishag appears as the one acted upon; her own speech is absent. That asymmetry is part of what the verse lets you see now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that being selected means being fully seen dissolves here: the sentence names Abishag’s beauty and origin, but gives her no word or choice.
THE ROOT
וַיְבַקְשׁוּ
wayvaqshu
GROWS FROM
בקש
b-q-sh
Seek, request, pursue.
“sought” in this verse is wayvaqshu. The search is more than looking around: this root also carries the sense of asking or requesting. Beauty is the quality the seekers pursue, so the object of the search reveals the desire organizing it.
ALSO GROWS
mevaqqesh: One who seeks; a seeker.
מְבַקֵּשׁ
The same root names the seeker, keeping the focus on the people directing the search.
baqqashah: A request or petition.
בַּקָּשָׁה
The root’s sense of asking shows that seeking can carry a desire toward its object, as this search does.
יָפָה
yaphah
GROWS FROM
יפה
y-p-h
Be beautiful; be fair.
“fair” in this verse is yaphah. The root connects the description of Abishag with beauty as a quality in its own right. It makes the selection criterion explicit: she is sought for her beauty, while the sentence says nothing about what she wants.
ALSO GROWS
yofi: Beauty.
יֹפִי
The noun names the quality expressed by “fair,” making the basis of the search plain.
yafeh: Beautiful; fair, masculine form.
יָפֶה
It shows the same root describing beauty across grammatical forms.
וַיָּבִאוּ
wayyavi’u
GROWS FROM
בוא
b-w-ʾ
Come or enter; in a causative form, bring or lead in.
The root holds coming and bringing together: the seekers cause Abishag to enter the king’s presence. English “brought” captures the action, while the shared root also carries the movement of entering.
ALSO GROWS
bo: Come; enter.
בּוֹא
The basic verb shows the movement contained in the act of bringing her before the king.
mavo: An entrance or approach.
מָבוֹא
This related form makes the arrival into another’s space visible in the verse’s final action.
THE PATTERN
The quality a person seeks reveals the desire governing the search and shapes what counts as a find.
The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.THE THREAD
But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.This verse uses the same Hebrew root, בקש (baqash, seek or request), but names the LORD as the object of seeking. The shared verb makes the object of desire the hinge: the search remains, while what is sought changes.
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