1 Kings 1:2
Context1:2 His servants advised 1 him, “A young virgin must be found for our master, the king, 2 to take care of the king’s needs 3 and serve as his nurse. She can also sleep with you 4 and keep our master, the king, warm.” 5
1 Kings 6:6
Context6:6 The bottom floor of the extension was seven and a half feet 6 wide, the middle floor nine feet 7 wide, and the third floor ten and a half 8 feet wide. He made ledges 9 on the temple’s outer walls so the beams would not have to be inserted into the walls. 10


[1:2] 2 tn Heb “let them seek for my master, the king, a young girl, a virgin.” The third person plural subject of the verb is indefinite (see GKC 460 §144.f). The appositional expression, “a young girl, a virgin,” is idiomatic; the second term specifically defines the more general first term (see IBHS 230 §12.3b).
[1:2] 3 tn Heb “and she will stand before the king.” The Hebrew phrase “stand before” can mean “to attend; to serve” (BDB 764 s.v. עָמַד).
[1:2] 4 tn Heb “and she will lie down in your bosom.” The expression might imply sexual intimacy (see 2 Sam 12:3 [where the lamb symbolizes Bathsheba] and Mic 7:5), though v. 4b indicates that David did not actually have sex with the young woman.
[1:2] 5 tn Heb “and my master, the king, will be warm.”
[6:6] 8 tn Heb “seven cubits.”
[6:6] 9 tn Or “offsets” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “offset ledges.”
[6:6] 10 tn Heb “so that [the beams] would not have a hold in the walls of the temple.”