Biblical Account Of Nabal's Widow
Abigail, the wife of Nabal, appears in 1 Samuel 25 as "an intelligent and beautiful woman" married to a man described as "harsh and evil in his dealings" [1]. Nabal was a wealthy Calebite sheepmaster who owned three thousand sheep and a thousand goats, dwelling at Maon in the southern Carmel region, approximately seven miles southeast of Hebron [2, 3]. The narrative unfolds around 1060–1055 BC during David's fugitive years, when he and his men provided protection to shepherds in the wilderness [3, 4].
The Crisis and Abigail's Intervention
When David's men requested provisions during Nabal's sheep-shearing feast—a customary time of generosity—Nabal responded with contempt: "Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse?" [2]. This insult provoked David to march against Nabal's household with four hundred armed men [5]. One of Nabal's servants, recognizing the danger, informed Abigail of David's messengers and their master's churlish response [10]. The servant's appeal to Abigail rather than to Nabal himself suggests her reputation for wisdom within the household.
Abigail acted swiftly, gathering provisions including bread, wine, dressed sheep, parched grain, and other foods—"a large amount of food" that exceeded what David had originally requested [12]. Meeting David as he descended a hill, she dismounted, bowed to the ground, and made a carefully crafted appeal. According to Josephus, she asked David to "not bear in mind the words of Nabal, since he knew that he resembled his name," noting that "Nabal, in the Hebrew tongue, signifies folly" [5]. Her intervention successfully turned aside David's wrath [8].
Nabal's Death and Abigail's Remarriage
Returning home, Abigail found Nabal hosting "a feast in his house like the feast of a king," drunk and merry [9]. She waited until morning to tell him what had transpired. Upon hearing the news, "his heart died within him, and he became as a stone," and approximately ten days later he died [2]. David, learning of Nabal's death, blessed God "that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil" [8]. He then sent messengers inviting Abigail to become his wife, which she accepted [6, 7]. She bore David a son called Chileab in 2 Samuel 3:3, though named Daniel in 1 Chronicles 3:1 [4]. Abigail remained David's companion through his subsequent trials, accompanying him to Gath and enduring captivity when the Amalekites raided Ziklag [7, 11].
Sources
- I Samuel “I Samuel 25:3 (BSB) — His name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Nabal — Foolish, a descendant of Caleb who dwelt at Maon (1 Sam. 25), the modern Main, 7 miles south-east of Hebron. He was "very great, and he had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats...but the man was churlish and evil in his doings." During his wanderings David came into that district, and hearing that Nabal was about to shear his sheep, he sent ten of his young men to ask "whatsoever cometh unto thy hand for thy servants." Nabal insultingly resented the demand, saying, "Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse?" (1 Sam. 25:10, 11). One of the shepherds that stood by and ”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Nabal — (fool) was a sheepmaster on the confines of Judea and the desert, in that part of the country which bore from its great conqueror the name of Caleb. (1 Samuel 25:3; 30:14) (B.C. about 1055.) His residence was on the southern Carmel, in the pasture lands of Maon. His wealth, as might be expected from his abode, consisted chiefly of sheep and goats. It was the custom of the shepherds to drive them into the wild downs on the slopes of Carmel; and it was whilst they were on one of these pastoral excursions that they met a band of outlaws, who showed them unexpecte”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “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 the Ishmaelite, and mother, by him, of Amasa. (1 Chronicles 2:17) In ”
- Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, CHAPTER 13, section 7: David. She was then met by David as she was descending a hill, who was coming against Nabal with four hundred men. When the woman saw David, she leaped down from her ass, and fell on her face, and bowed down to the ground; and entreated him not to bear in mind the words of Nabal, since he knew that he resembled his name. Now Nabal, in the Hebrew tongue, signifies folly. So she made her apology, that she did not see the messengers whom he sent. "Forgive me, therefore," said she, "and thank God, who hath hindered thee from sheddin”
- Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, CHAPTER 13, section 8: that God had justly avenged him of this man, for that Nabal had died by his own wickedness, and had suffered punishment on his account, while he had kept his own hands clean. At which time he understood that the wicked are prosecuted by God; that he does not overlook any man, but bestows on the good what is suitable to them, and inflicts a deserved punishment on the wicked. So he sent to Nabal's wife, and invited her to come to him, to live with him, and to be his wife. Whereupon she replied to those that came, that she was not ”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Abigail — Father (i.e., "leader") of the dance, or "of joy." (1.) The sister of David, and wife of Jether an Ishmaelite (1 Chr. 2:16, 17). She was the mother of Amasa (2 Sam. 17:25). (2.) The wife of the churlish Nabal, who dwelt in the district of Carmel (1 Sam. 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 Sam. 25:14-42), and was his companion in all his future fortunes (1 Sam. 27:3; 30:5”
- 1 Samuel (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Samuel 25:39: And when David heard that Nabal was dead,.... As he soon might, Maon and Carmel not being far from the wilderness where David was: he said, blessed be the Lord, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal; not that he rejoiced at the death of Nabal, simply considered, or from a private spirit of revenge; but because of the glory of divine justice, which he had shown to him in vindicating him from the reproach Nabal had cast upon him, and particularly was thankful for what follows: and hath kept his servant from evil; from slaying Nabal wit”
- 1 Samuel (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Samuel 25:36: And Abigail came to Nabal,.... Having sped with David, and taken her leave of him, she returned home to her husband Nabal: and, behold, he held a feast in his house like the feast of a king; both for the number of dishes on his table and of guests at it though only on the account of sheep shearing; but very probably there were others that were invited to this entertainment besides the shearers; covetous men are generally very profuse when they make feasts: and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: which was a very ill example for the mast”
- 1 Samuel (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Samuel 25:14: But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife,.... Not one of David's young men, as what follows shows, but one of Nabal's young men or servants, one of those David directs him to for the truth of what he said, Sa1 25:8; this was one of those that had been employed in feeding sheep in the wilderness, where David was, and knew him, but was now at Carmel, and was present when David's messengers came to Nabal, and was privy to what passed: saying, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; in a very kind and handsome manner, to ask of hi”
- 1 Samuel (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Samuel 30:5: And David's two wives were taken captives,.... Which is observed as one cause of his particular distress, and another follows in Sa1 30:6, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite: that is, who had been his wife; for he was now dead, Sa1 25:39, and was so before she was married to David; both these came with him to Gath, and were left at Ziklag when he went with Achish, and here they were taken; see Sa1 25:42.”
- 1 Samuel (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 Samuel 25:14: ABIGAIL PACIFIES HIM. (1Sa. 25:14-35) Then Abigail made haste--The prudence and address of Nabal's wife were the means of saving him and family from utter destruction. She acknowledged the demand of her formidable neighbors; but justly considering, that to atone for the insolence of her husband, a greater degree of liberality had become necessary, she collected a large amount of food, accompanying it with the most valued products of the country. bottles--goatskins, capable of holding a great quantity. parched corn--It was customary to eat parch”