The book opens with the statement of David’s old age. To tell that he was old the English translation uses a state of being which is a verb and a noun, but in Hebrew it is one word, a word that means became old. The verse expands on that by suggesting that his life had acquired many days. Most Bible students are agreed that he was approximately seventy years old at this point. That age is at the lower range of the life span of a human being (seventy to eighty years, as suggested by the psalmist in Psalm 90:10).

We ought to remember, however, that David lived a hard life. This was true from his youth as a shepherd, which included protecting the sheep from lions and bears, to being a warrior in the army of Israel, to fleeing for his life like a fugitive from King Saul, to reigning as king during a period of unrest in which he experienced more warfare with foreign nations as well as the rebellion of his beloved son, Absalom. He may have looked much older than the real number of his years.

The verse tells us that as a result of David’s old age he could not get warm. This problem may have resulted from poor circulation of the blood. This failure to be warm was true despite the efforts to cover him with clothes. The word clothes (“begged”) in the original language has a broad use in Scripture. It is used to describe the covering that was placed over the whole of the tabernacle, as well as the garments that people wear. The same word was used to describe the clothes of the rich or the poor.

In this verse it probably refers to the coverings (blankets) that are put on a bed. This I say because of the search for a young woman to lay beside him in the bed, implying that the king was bedridden.