Topical Encyclopedia
Introduction:Abigail is a prominent figure in the Hebrew Bible, known for her wisdom, beauty, and diplomatic skills. She is primarily mentioned in the First Book of Samuel, where she plays a crucial role in the narrative involving her husband Nabal and David, who would later become king of Israel.
Biblical Account:Abigail is introduced in
1 Samuel 25 as the wife of Nabal, a wealthy but harsh and foolish man from Maon, whose business was in Carmel. The Bible describes Abigail as "intelligent and beautiful" (
1 Samuel 25:3), contrasting her with her husband, who is described as "harsh and evil in his dealings."
The Encounter with David:The narrative unfolds during the time when David was fleeing from King Saul. David and his men had been protecting Nabal's shepherds and flocks in the wilderness. During the shearing season, David sent messengers to Nabal, requesting provisions as a gesture of goodwill for the protection they had provided. Nabal, however, responded with insults and refused to give them anything (
1 Samuel 25:10-11).
Upon hearing of her husband's actions, Abigail quickly took action to prevent disaster. She prepared a generous gift of food and wine and set out to meet David, without informing Nabal. When she met David, she dismounted and bowed before him, taking responsibility for the offense and pleading for mercy. Abigail's speech to David is a masterful example of diplomacy and humility. She acknowledged David's future as the leader of Israel and urged him not to shed blood in anger, which would be a burden on his conscience (
1 Samuel 25:24-31).
David's Response:David was moved by Abigail's wisdom and thanked her for preventing him from committing bloodshed. He accepted her gifts and sent her home in peace, saying, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day!" (
1 Samuel 25:32).
Nabal's Death and Abigail's Marriage to David:When Abigail returned home, she found Nabal holding a feast and too drunk to comprehend what had transpired. The next morning, she informed him of the events, and his heart failed him, becoming like a stone. About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal, and he died (
1 Samuel 25:36-38).
After Nabal's death, David sent for Abigail, asking her to become his wife. Abigail accepted and became one of David's wives, traveling with him during his time in the wilderness (
1 Samuel 25:39-42).
Legacy and Significance:Abigail is remembered as a woman of remarkable intelligence and courage. Her intervention not only saved her household but also prevented David from taking vengeance into his own hands. Her account highlights the themes of wisdom, humility, and divine providence. Abigail's actions demonstrate the power of peacemaking and the importance of wise counsel in the face of potential conflict.
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
Abigailthe father's joy
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Abigail(father, i.e.source, of joy).
- The beautiful wife of Nabal, a wealthy owner of goats and sheep in Carmel. (B.C. 1060.) When David's messengers were slighted by Nabal, Abigail supplies David and his followers with provisions, and succeeded in appeasing his anger. The days after this Nabal died, and David sent for Abigail and made her his wife. (1 Samuel 25:14) etc. By her he had a son, called Chileab in (2 Samuel 3:3) but Daniel in (1 Chronicles 3:1)
- A sister of David, married to Jether theIshmaelite , and mother, by him , of Amasa. (1 Chronicles 2:17) In (2 Samuel 17:25) forIsraelite readIshmaelite. (B.C. 1068.)
ATS Bible Dictionary
Abigail1. Formerly the wife of Nabal of Carmel, and afterwards of David. Upon receiving information of Nabal's ingratitude to David,1 Samuel 25:14, she loaded several asses with provisions, and attended by some of here domestics went out to meet him. Her manners and conversation gained for her his esteem, and as soon as the days of mourning for Nabal's death, which happened soon afterwards, were over, he made her his wife. The issue of the marriage was, as some critics suppose, two sons, Chileab and Daniel,2 Samuel 3:3;1 Chronicles 3:1; but it is most probable that these names were borne by one person.
2. A sister of David, and mother of Amasa,1 Chronicles 2:16,17.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Father (i.e., "leader") of the dance, or "of joy."
(1.) The sister of David, and wife of Jether an Ishmaelite (1 Chronicles 2:16, 17). She was the mother of Amasa (2 Samuel 17:25).
(2.) The wife of the churlish Nabal, who dwelt in the district of Carmel (1 Samuel 25:3). She showed great prudence and delicate management at a critical period of her husband's life. She was "a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance." After Nabal's death she became the wife of David (1 Samuel 25:14-42), and was his companion in all his future fortunes (1 Samuel 27:3;30:5;2 Samuel 2:2). By her David had a son called Chileab (2 Samuel 3:3), elsewhere called Daniel (1 Chronicles 3:1).
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
(
n.) A lady's waiting-maid.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
ABIGAIL; ABIGALab'-i-gal, ab'-i-gal ('abhighayil, or 'abhighal, three times, or 'abhughayil, once, or 'abhighayil, once; "father," or "cause of joy"):
(1) The wife of Nabal, a rich shepherd of southern Judea, whose home was Maon (1 Samuel 25:2, 3); shortly after Nabal's death she became the wife of David. Nabal grazed his flocks in or along the Southern Wilderness, where David and his men protected them from marauding tribes, so that not a sheep was lost. When Nabal was sheep-shearing and feasting at Carmel (in Judea), David sent messengers requesting provisions for himself and men. But Nabal, who was a churlish fellow, answered the messengers insultingly and sent them away empty-handed. David, angered by such mean ingratitude, gathered his 400 warriors and set out to destroy Nabal and all he had (1 Samuel 25:22). Meanwhile Abigail, a woman "of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance" (1 Samuel 25:3), heard of the rebuff given the men of David by her husband; and fearing what vengeance David in his wrath might work, she gathered a considerable present of food (1 Samuel 25:18), and hastened to meet the approaching soldiers. Her beautiful and prudent words, as also her fair face, so won David that he desisted from his vengeful purpose and accepted her gift (1 Samuel 25:32-35). When Abigail told Nabal of his narrow escape, he was stricken with fear, and died ten days afterward. Shortly after this David took Abigail to be his wife, although about the same time, probably a little before, he had also taken Ahinoam (1 Samuel 25:43); and these two were with him in Gath (1 Samuel 27:3). After David became king in Hebron, Abigail bore him his second son, Chileab (2 Samuel 3:3) or Daniel, as he is called in1 Chronicles 3:1.
(2) Sister of David and mother of Amasa, at one time commander of David's army (1 Chronicles 2:16, 17; Abigal2 Samuel 17:25). In the first passage she is called David's sister, along with Zeruiah; while in the second she is called the "daughter of Nahash." Several explanations of this connection with Nahash have been suggested, any one of which would be sufficient to remove contradiction:
(1) That Nahash was another name of Jesse, as inIsaiah 14:29, mish-shoresh nachash yetse' (Qimchi);
(2) That Nahash was the wife of Jesse and by him mother of Abigail, which is least probable;
(3) That Nahash, the father of Abigail and Zeruiah, having died, his widow became the wife of Jesse, and bore sons to him;
(4) That the text of2 Samuel 17:25 has been corrupted, "daughter of Nahash" having crept into the text. At all events she was the sister of David by the same mother.
Edward Mack
Strong's Hebrew
26. Abigayil -- "my father is joy," two Israelite women... 25, 26. Abigayil. 27 . "my father is joy," two Israelite women. Transliteration:
Abigayil Phonetic Spelling: (ab-ee-gah'-yil) Short Definition:
Abigail.
...Library
Abigail's Sensible Advice
... THE OLD TESTAMENTABIGAIL'S SENSIBLE ADVICE. Then David went away into the Wilderness
of Maon.... His name was Nabal, and his wife's name wasAbigail....
The Heavenly Banquet.
... of Ziklag, and took it, and burned it with fire, and departed, carrying away with
them the two wives of David, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, andAbigail, who had...
David's Deserts
...Abigail's meeting with David under the covert of the hill; her turning him from
his purpose of wild revenge by graceful compliments, by the frank, and yet most...
The History of Saul
... One of the servants of Nabal told toAbigail, Nabal's wife, how that David had sent
messengers from the desert unto his lord, and how wroth and wayward he was...
The Children's Bible
... JONATHAN'S LOVE FOR DAVID. THE COST OF A LIE. A SOLDIER WHO SPARED HIS ENEMY.ABIGAIL'S
SENSIBLE ADVICE. MAKING THE BEST OF TROUBLE. THE DEATH OF TWO BRAVE WARRIORS...
Appendix.
... quotations. * * * *. A.Abigail, Mrs., 'A Female Skirmish, &c,' 1700.
Addison, Jos., 'Works,' 4 vols. (Tickell), 1804. 'Address...
The Exile --Continued.
... We must pass over even that exquisite episode ofAbigail, whose graceful presence
and "most subtle flow of silver-paced counsel" soothed David's ruffled spirit...
Mothers, Daughters, and Wives in Israel
... In the times of the kings the praises of Israel's maidens stir the jealousy of Saul;
Abigail knows how to avert the danger of her husband's folly; the wise...
CHAP. I. -II. 3 (II. 1).
... admissible. Thus 1 Samuel 25:39, where Simson's explanation, "David sent and
ordered to speak aboutAbigail," is set aside by ver.40. The...
The Wonderful Estate of Matrimony.
... Then Ahasuerus' eye First doth quiet Esther see; To where Sara peacefully Dwells,
Tobias leadeth He; David then, with pliant will, Fetcheth prudentAbigail....
Thesaurus
Abigail (18 Occurrences)... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
ABIGAIL; ABIGAL.
... When
Abigail told Nabal of his
narrow escape, he was stricken with fear, and died ten days afterward.
...Ab'igail (16 Occurrences)
Ab'igail.Abigail, Ab'igail. Abigal . Multi-Version Concordance Ab'igail
(16 Occurrences). 1 Samuel 25:3 Now the name of the man...
Ahinoam (7 Occurrences)
... She andAbigail, the widow of Nabal, seem to have been David's only wives
prior to the beginning of his reign in Hebron. His marriage...
Abigal (1 Occurrence)
... Int. Standard Bible EncyclopediaABIGAIL; ABIGAL.... WhenAbigail told Nabal of his
narrow escape, he was stricken with fear, and died ten days afterward....
Nabal (18 Occurrences)
... One of the shepherds that stood by and saw the reception David's messengers had
met with, informedAbigail, Nabal's wife, who at once realized the danger that...
Carmelite (6 Occurrences)
... Those who are thus named are Nabal, the husband ofAbigail (1 Samuel 30:5, etc.),
and Hezro (the King James Version Hezrai), one of David's mighty men (2...
Nabal's (7 Occurrences)
... 1 Samuel 25:14 But one of the young men toldAbigail, Nabal's wife, saying, "Behold,
David sent messengers out of the wilderness to Greet our master; and he...
Jizreelitess (5 Occurrences)
... David abode with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household; David
with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jizreelitess, andAbigail the Carmelitess...
Jezreelitess (5 Occurrences)
... lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David
with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, andAbigail the Carmelitess...
Ahin'o-am (7 Occurrences)
... dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David
with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, andAbigail the Carmelitess...
Resources
Who was Abigail in the Bible? | GotQuestions.orgWhat is the story of David and Nabal? | GotQuestions.orgWho was Nabal in the Bible? | GotQuestions.orgAbigail: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
Bible Dictionary •
Bible Encyclopedia •
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