David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in custody and provided them with sustenance, but didn’t go in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 3. Widowhood, or celibacy, ( Menochius.) like nuns. Grot. Salien.—David could not with propriety approach to them, ( E.) as they resembled his daughters-in-law; (Leviticus 18:15. Menochius.) and no other person could marry them, while he was still their husband. Bible.—The punishment of seclusion was very small in the East, where women seldom go out. The Jews assert, that the widows of the Hebrew kings could not marry again. Selden. Uxor. i. 10.—The like custom formerly prevailed in Spain. Coun. of Toledo. xiii. 3. A.D. 683, of Saragossa, chapter 5. A.D. 691. So great was the respect for the king or the apprehension, lest those who married their widows, should aspire to the throne. Calmet.