And the damsel [was] very fair,.... And so very agreeable to the king to be in his presence, and wait upon him, and take things of her hand, as well as lie with him:
and cherished the king; enlivened his spirits by her amiable countenance, her graceful behaviour, and tender care of him, and especially by bedding with him:
and ministered to him; serving him with her own hands whatever he took for his sustenance:
but the king knew her not; as a man knows his wife; which shows that she was his wife, and that it would not have been criminal in him had he known her; but this is observed, not to point at the chastity of David, but his feebleness, and loss of desire after women, and that the damsel remained a virgin; and that was the ground of Adonijah's request, and his hope of succeeding.