Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ABIGAIL

(Heb. ʾăḇîgayil, ʾăḇîgal)

1. Wife of Nabal, then David (1 Sam. 25), and mother of David’s second-born son, named variously Chileab (2 Sam. 3:3), Daniel (1 Chr. 3:1), or Daluiah (2 Sam. 3:3 LXX). Abigail accompanied David on his visit to King Achish at Gath (1 Sam. 27:3) and was later taken hostage during an Amalekite raid on David’s fortress at Ziklag (30:5). After her rescue, she went with David to Hebron (2 Sam. 2:2), where she bore him a child (2 Sam. 3:3 = 1 Chr. 3:1). Of the five references to Abigail outside 1 Sam. 25, , all but one (1 Chr. 3:1) refer to her as Nabal’s widow. In each she is closely linked to another of David’s wives, Ahinoam.

Recent literary treatments of Abigail’s characterization present her as a “model wife and modest woman” (Adele Berlin) and a “woman of ‘good sense’ ” (Athalya Brenner). A different approach emphasizes Abigail’s prophetic words in 1 Sam. 25:28-31 and presents her as “God’s chosen prophet-intermediary,” a more subversive character than normally realized (Alice Bach).

2. Sister of David (1 Chr. 2:16) and Zeruiah (2 Sam. 17:25), and mother of Amasa (2 Sam. 17:25; 1 Chr. 2:17). She was the daughter of either Jesse (1 Chr. 2:16) or Nahash (2 Sam. 17:25) and the wife of either Ithra the Israelite (2 Sam. 17:25) or Jether the Ishmaelite (1 Chr. 2:17) or Jezreelite (1 Chr. 2:17 LXX). Some scholars suggest that Ithra/Jether was Nabal’s real identity, and thus there was only one Abigail — David’s sister, who later became his wife.

Bibliography. A. Bach, “The Pleasure of Her Text,” in The Pleasure of Her Text (Philadelphia, 1990), 25-44; A. Berlin, Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narratives (Sheffield, 1983); A. Brenner, The Israelite Woman: Social Role and Literary Type in Biblical Narrative (Sheffield, 1985); J. D. Levenson and B. Halpern, “The Political Import of David’s Marriages,” JBL 99 (1980): 507-18.

Linda S. Schearing

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ABIGAIL

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)