Abishag

[ ab-uh-shag ]

noun

1. (in the Bible) a young maiden brought to David in his old age as a nurse and companion.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Abishag¹

From Late Latin Abisag, from Greek Abiság, from Hebrew Abhīsheg “My father strays”

Example Sentences

A Robert Frost fan, Heigl named her production company "Abishag" after a lesser-known Frost character in the poem "Provide, Provide."

From Salon

Aging beauty Abishag is the subject, whose story shows that while beauty and fame in Hollywood are fleeting, as with Kate and Tully, friendship sustains.

From Salon

Q: Why isn’t anyone named Job or Ham or Japheth or Abishag anymore?

From Washington Post

When one thinks of certain noble men and women—as Maurice and Kingsley, Ruskin and the Browning—devoting themselves in spite of themselves to an effete faith, one is sadly reminded of poor Abishag the Shunammite wasting and withering her healthful youth to cherish old worn-out David, “who knew her not,” who could fill her with no new life, and who was, despite her cherishing, so certainly near death.

From Project Gutenberg

When Adonijah afterwards besought Solomon to give him one of the concubines of David, Abishag the Shunamite, to wife, Solomon thought that he sought to obtain the throne by this means.

From Project Gutenberg