Women in the Bible – Abigail – Wife of Nabal, Who Became a Wife of David After Nabal's Death

Women in the Bible – Abigail – Wife of Nabal, Who Became a Wife of David After Nabal's Death

1 Samuel 25:2-3 (ESV) And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite.

We saw last time that the name Abigail comes from the Hebrew word ʾabîgal, which means “father (i.e. source) of joy.” We learn about this Abigail by reading the whole chapter of 1 Samuel 25. Her story is all too familiar.

Over the years I have been acquainted with other women that, who like Abigail, enable their husband’s bad behavior. On the short 1 block street where I lived as a young child there were at least three, maybe four men who were drunks. Even though I was young I remember seeing many times where the wives would intervene on behalf of their husbands to cover up their mistakes. It was a sad existence, but they did it to protect their household and their children. It was just normal life to them.

In the story cited in 1 Samuel, David (who would be king) and his men had been protecting the people of Israel without them even being aware of their presence. So was the case with Nabal. David and his men were hungry. He sent some of his men to Nabal to explain what they had been doing and asked if he would give them some food. He refused.

This infuriated David. He and his men prepared to go and smite Nabal and all of his household, killing all the men. Abigail heard of Nabal’s refusal from one of David’s young men. When she heard it she quickly gathered goods and hurried to meet David before he came to Nabal’s house.

Abigail was a good repenter. She probably had much practice going behind Nabal to clean up his messes. She knew of David’s reputation and acted quickly to prevent a catastrophic result.

1 Samuel 25:23-31 (ESV) When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. Now then, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, because the LORD has restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the LORD, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the LORD your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. And when the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”

David accepted her goods and her apology for her husband’s bad behavior, and returned home. When Abigail returned home she found her husband having a drunken party. Instead of telling him what she had done at that time, she waited until morning when he was sober. After Abigail told Nabal what she had done he apparently had a stroke or heart attack. The Bible says, “… his heart died within him and he became like a stone. He died ten days later.”

We are not told much about Abigail, like how many children she had, if any, or how long she had been married to Nabal. All we are told is “she was discerning and beautiful.” We clearly saw her discerning characteristics by the way she handled things with David. Apparently she was beautiful as described, because when David learned that Nabal had died, David sent for her to become his wife. She agreed.

We don’t know much more about this Abigail. One can imagine that she spent the rest of her years tending to David and possibly even playing a role in cleaning up some of his messes he created along the way.