The Final Days of King David and the Mystery of Avishag the Shunammite

A Chilling Illness and a Royal Solution
Toward the end of his life, King David suffered from an intense, pervasive, and unrelenting feeling of being cold. Despite every effort to warm him, nothing worked until his advisors proposed bringing a young woman to serve as his personal attendant. Avishag the Shunammite was chosen for this task. She was described as extraordinarily beautiful, and from that moment until David’s death, she cared for him closely.

Her presence is noted again during a critical moment in the royal household. When Batsheva, David’s wife and the mother of Shlomo, entered the king’s chambers to remind him of his promise that Shlomo would inherit the throne, the verse highlights Avishag’s continued service:

“And Batsheva came to the king into the chamber, and the king was very old, and Avishag the Shunammite served the king” (Melachim I 1:15).

“Very Beautiful” — But Not Like Sarah
The verse emphasizes Avishag’s appearance, calling her “very beautiful”. In the Talmud (Sanhedrin 39b), Rabbi Chanina bar Papa comments on this phrase:

“She had not yet reached even half the beauty of Sarah [our matriarch], for it says ‘very,’ but not ‘very very.’”
This contrast elevates Sarah’s unmatched beauty while still acknowledging Avishag’s striking appearance.

Was She Related to the Woman from Elisha’s Time?
A curious midrashic tradition, cited in Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer, claims that Avishag the Shunammite was the sister of the Shunammite woman who appears centuries later during the time of the prophet Elisha.

This woman experienced several miracles at Elisha’s hands, and her story is read in the haftarah (portion from the prophets read after the Torah reading on Shabbat) for Parshat Vayera. But how could they be sisters if their stories are separated by so many generations?

Commentators grapple with this question. In his commentary on the Midrash, Rabbi Zev Wolf Einhorn finds the identification problematic due to the extended time gap. He suggests that the term “sister” refers to a more distant family relationship, not a literal sibling. However, a different commentator, Rabbi David Luria, offers a different resolution: the Shunammite woman in Elisha’s time could have been born to her father while Avishag was already elderly, making their relationship biologically possible, though highly unusual.

A Legacy Beyond the Palace
Though Avishag is a relatively quiet figure in the Tanach, her story weaves together royalty, beauty, prophecy, and enduring mystery. Her role in King David’s final days, her connection to the Shunammite woman of Elisha’s time, and the midrashic interpretations that surround her offer a glimpse into the impact of even minor biblical figures.