by
Damien F. Mackey
“I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem,
as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon”.
Song of Solomon 1:5
I have multi-identified her as:
Abishag: “… a beautiful young woman … a Shunammite” (I Kings 1:3).
Tamar: “Now David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar” (2 Samuel 13:1).
Shunammite: “… fairest among women” (Song of Solomon 1:8).
Queen of Sheba: “King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for …” (I Kings 10:13).
Pharaoh’s Daughter: “Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter” (I Kings 3:1).
Hatshepsut: Whose name means “foremost of noble women”.
This can make for some really tricky geography and ethnicity, however.
How can she be, at once, a girl from Shunem in northern Israel; a Queen of exotic Sheba; and an Egyptian royal?
And now we read in Song of Solomon 1:5 that she may have been “black”.
But, whilst that appears to be the literal meaning of the Hebrew word here: shechorah שְׁחוֹרָה
the reason for her shade of colour, according to the text, was from her working under the sun http://biblehub.com/commentaries/songs/1-6.htm:
“The word translated looked upon occurs only twice besides (Job 20:9; Job 28:7). The “all-seeing sun” is a commonplace of poetry; but here with sense of scorching. The heroine goes on to explain the cause of her exposure to the sun. Her dark complexion is accidental, and cannot therefore be used as an argument that she was an Egyptian princess, whose nuptials with Solomon are celebrated in the poem”.
Little wonder that, in light of all this, Solomon will ask: ‘Who is she …?’ (Song of Solomon 6:10).
Here is my tentative reconstruction of her life:
Our “she” began as a beautiful foreign captive girl, daughter of Maacah (Maakah), possibly an Egyptian (Maat-ka-re), who had become the property, maid-servant, of King Talmai of Geshur, whose capital was the important Beer Sheba (Tell Masos).
King David acquired Maacah perhaps during his raids on the “Geshurites” (I Samuel 27:8) – or he may have made a treaty with King Talmai – and subsequently Maacah, now David’s wife, would give birth to Absalom at Hebron (I Chronicles 3:2).
Now, Absalom had a “beautiful sister” called Tamar, according to 2 Samuel 13:1, though some Jewish tradition suggests that Tamar was not Absalom’s actual sister, but, perhaps, a captive girl. She may possibly have been “black”, or, at least, “dark” – an Egyptian, Nubian (or Ethiopian)?
She is contrasted with the (presumably fairer skinned) “daughters of Jerusalem”.
Hebrew-named in 2 Samuel as “Tamar” (“date palm”), the name she is given in I Kings is “Abishag”, an awkward name, that may be a Hebraïsed version of Hatshepsut (which has many variations). She lived in the house of Absalom, which I have suggested was situated at Shunem, in the approximate vicinity of Baal-hamon where Solomon had a vineyard (Song of Solomon 8:11).
Joab had a field adjoining Absalom’s (2 Samuel 14:30).
Her close associations with the royal throne occurred when she was selected to be the nurse-consort of King David after a search had been made “throughout Israel for a beautiful young woman” (I Kings 1:3). This search would have been confined only to noble women.
They “found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. The woman was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no sexual relations with her”.
We next meet her in 2 Samuel 13 as the beautiful virgin Tamar, for whom, dwelling “at the palace”, King David will send (v. 7) in response to his oldest son Amnon’s lovesick request.
Thereupon she is raped by Amnon, treated coldly by her ‘brother’, Absalom – who may actually have conspired with the shrewd adviser, Jonadab (= Achitophel), to bring about this tragic situation. She dwelt a desolate woman in the house of Absalom, now back in Shunem.
Her appalling treatment, which even King David may have condoned by his apparent silence, could have been exacerbated by the fact that she was originally a captive girl, or daughter of one, and perhaps also because of her dark complexion.
When Absalom had murdered Amnon, and fled to the kingdom of Geshur, to his maternal ‘grand-father’, King Talmai, he may have dragged Tamar there with him.
She would later become the queen of Geshur, dwelling at the capital, Beersheba (or Sheba).
Whether she was in Beersheba during Absalom’s revolt, or still at Shunem, or had been re-instated with King David “at the palace”, we do not know.
But she was ministering to King David afterwards, when Adonijah made a play for the throne.
One speculative writer is adamant that Abishag was actually the wife-concubine of King David (“Bible Evidence That David Married 12 Year Old Abishag”):
“After the demise of King David, Solomon took over his father’s place and became the King. Adonijah attempted to seize power once more, this time, went around and asked Solomon’s mother to take Abishag as his wife. Adonijah asked her to tell Solomon if he would give him the green light to go ahead and marry Abishag.
Solomon got furious and seen the scheme of Adonijah. In ancient times, to marry one of your father’s wives was seen as you claiming the Throne i.e., become the King. Solomon seeing this, executed his brother, Adonijah:
“The Death of David
10 David died and was buried in David’s City. 11 He had been king of Israel for forty years, ruling seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12 Solomon succeeded his father David as king, and his royal power was firmly established.
The Death of Adonijah
13 Then Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, went to Bathsheba, who was Solomon’s mother. “Is this a friendly visit?” she asked. “It is,” he answered,
14 and then he added, “I have something to ask of you.” “What is it?” she asked.
14 and then he added, “I have something to ask of you.” “What is it?” she asked.
15 He answered, “You know that I should have become king and that everyone in Israel expected it. But it happened differently, and my brother became king because it was the Lord’s will.
16 And now I have one request to make; please do not refuse me.” “What is it?” Bathsheba asked.
17 He answered, “PLEASE ASK KING SOLOMON—I KNOW HE WON’T REFUSE YOU—TO LET ME HAVE ABISHAG, THE YOUNG WOMAN FROM SHUNEM, AS MY WIFE.”
16 And now I have one request to make; please do not refuse me.” “What is it?” Bathsheba asked.
17 He answered, “PLEASE ASK KING SOLOMON—I KNOW HE WON’T REFUSE YOU—TO LET ME HAVE ABISHAG, THE YOUNG WOMAN FROM SHUNEM, AS MY WIFE.”
18 “Very well,” she answered. “I will speak to the king for you.”
19 So Bathsheba went to the king to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. The king stood up to greet his mother and bowed to her. Then he sat on his throne and had another one brought in on which she sat at his right.
19 So Bathsheba went to the king to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. The king stood up to greet his mother and bowed to her. Then he sat on his throne and had another one brought in on which she sat at his right.
20 She said, “I have a small favor to ask of you; please do not refuse me.”
“What is it, mother?” he asked. “I will not refuse you.”
21 She answered, “LET YOUR BROTHER ADONIJAH HAVE ABISHAG AS HIS WIFE.”
22 “WHY DO YOU ASK ME TO GIVE ABISHAG TO HIM?” the king asked. “YOU MIGHT AS WELL ASK ME TO GIVE HIM THE THRONE TOO. After all, he is my older brother, and Abiathar the priest and Joab are on his side!”[c] 23 Then Solomon made a solemn promise in the Lord’s name, “May God strike me dead if I don’t make Adonijah pay with his life for asking this! 24 THE LORD HAS FIRMLY ESTABLISHED ME ON THE THRONE OF MY FATHER DAVID; HE HAS KEPT HIS PROMISE AND GIVEN THE KINGDOM TO ME AND MY DESCENDANTS. I swear by the living Lord that Adonijah will die this very day!”
22 “WHY DO YOU ASK ME TO GIVE ABISHAG TO HIM?” the king asked. “YOU MIGHT AS WELL ASK ME TO GIVE HIM THE THRONE TOO. After all, he is my older brother, and Abiathar the priest and Joab are on his side!”[c] 23 Then Solomon made a solemn promise in the Lord’s name, “May God strike me dead if I don’t make Adonijah pay with his life for asking this! 24 THE LORD HAS FIRMLY ESTABLISHED ME ON THE THRONE OF MY FATHER DAVID; HE HAS KEPT HIS PROMISE AND GIVEN THE KINGDOM TO ME AND MY DESCENDANTS. I swear by the living Lord that Adonijah will die this very day!”
25 So King Solomon gave orders to Benaiah, who went out and killed Adonijah.” 1 Kings 2:10-25 Good News Translation (GNT)
These verses clearly tell us that Abishag was married to King David and was his wife, otherwise, Solomon would not have put his brother to death for merely asking her hand in marriage.
For Adonijah to attempt to take his father’s wife for marriage, was a declaration of him to take the right to the throne of Solomon. As such, Solomon killed Adonijah (his brother) as the verses reveal.
Biblical scholars have also concluded reading 1 Kings 2:10-25 that Abishag was King David’s wife (or concubine)”.
We do not actually know the girl’s age at any stage.
King Talmai of Geshur, I have suggested, had become pharaoh of neighbouring Egypt due to a marital alliance with pharaoh Amenhotep I.
He then succeeded Amenhotep I as Thutmose I.
This occurred right at the end of King David’s rule.
The “Shunammite”, now as Hatshepsut – an apparent great favourite of Thutmose I, and supposedly his daughter – may have been summoned to Egypt, or may have arranged with Solomon, now king of Israel, to go there for political purposes. The ultimate intention was for marriage between King Solomon and the “Shunammite”, but only after Solomon had finished building the Temple of Yahweh (Year 11).
The new Pharaoh gave her Beersheba to rule, and then later, Gezer, as a dowry for her marriage to King Solomon.
Israel and Egypt were now united as one, with vast cultural exchanges occurring between the two.
After King Solomon had completed the Temple (Year 7) and was working on his palace, the wide-eyed Queen of Beersheba came to Jerusalem laden with the most exotic gifts, and she marvelled at everything that she saw.
King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba were thereupon married.
And this whole history of their love, from her early days at Shunem, through to her time at the palace of King David, until her wedding to King Solomon in Jerusalem, are wonderfully captured in the Song of Solomon.
When Thutmose I passed away, the couple “divorced” (I Kings 10:13), for political reasons, and she returned to Egypt as Queen Hatshepsut, where she married Thutmose II, a marriage that lasted until that pharaoh’s death.
Queen Hatshepsut, now co-ruling with the young Thutmose III, now summoned Solomon to Egypt. At this stage, he begins to fade out of the Bible, and emerge largely into Egyptian history, as the highly-powerful Senenmut (Senmut).
This is a true Golden Age for Egypt – but King Solomon has now begun to fall away from the true God.
In Year 9, Hatshepsut becomes a Pharaoh, still co-ruling with Thutmose III.
Solomon, as Senenmut, endures as an entity in Egypt until about their Year 16.
About five years later (Year 5 of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam), with Hatshepsut now also dead, Thutmose III will invade Jerusalem as the biblical “Shishak”.
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