EVERY WOMAN IN THE BIBLE: Scripture References: 1 Samuel 3:25-42, 27:3, 30:5, 2 Samuel 2:2, 3:3, 3:1. DATE: About 1000 B.C. NAME: Abigail [AB-uh-gail: father rejoices. ] Main Contribution: Abigail prevented David from shedding the blood of God's people and so impressed David that he later married her. Because of her good understanding of actions/consequences, Abigail might be called the earliest woman pacifist on record. Certainly of all the famous women in the OT, she was the wisest. 1 Samuel 25: 23-31 states: When Abigail saw David she quickly go off her donkey and bowed down before David with her fact to the ground. She fell at his feet and said: My lord, let the blame be on me alone. Please let your servant speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. May my lord pay no attention to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name his name is Fool, and folly goes with him. But as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my mater sent. Now since the LORD has kept you, my master, from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, may your enemies and all who intend to harm my master be like Nabal. And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my master, be given to the men who follow you. Please forgive your servant's offense for the LORD will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my master, because he fights the LORD'S battles. Let no wrongdoing be found in you as long as you live. Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my master will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the LORD your God. But the lives of your enemies He will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. When the LORD had done for my master every good thing He promised, concerning him and has appointed him
leader over Israel, my master will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the LORD has brought my master success, remember your servant. In this first picture of Abigail we come to know why David later was to have such faith in her wise counsel. From his first meeting with her David's life seems to have taken on a higher meaning and a stronger purpose. He is no longer a fugitive and outlaw but destined to become the great king of Judah and all of Israel. Abigail's quick action and her words reveal both a special intelligence and wisdom. She succeeded in turning David from his plan and so impressed him that when Nabal died of a stroke a few days later, David married Abigail. An analysis of Abigail's appeal to David shows how wise and politically astute Abigail was. The whole story begins with David on the move and hiding form Saul in the wilderness of Paran, a tract of land the runs along the southern border of Canaan, connecting the Sinaitic desert. He had an army of about 600 soldiers, who were his bodyguard from Saul. These men volunteered to help Nabal's servants protect the sheep from prowling thieves. They were located in sheep and goat country west of the Dead Sea, not far from the town of Maon, a short distance from Carmel. One of the richest men around was Nabal, Abigail's husband, who was very well off with probably 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. It is sheep-shearing season. Many guests had gathered for the sheep-shearing party. Abigail had a reputation as quite a generous/gracious hostess. Biblical record states that Abigail was a beautiful woman who was intelligent. Nabal on the other hand was a Calebite, who was churlish and evil in his doings (1 Sam. 25:3). His most cheap/miserly,/mean acts was aimed at David. David had sent 10 of his men into Nabal's compound to ask for a little food during the feasting time. David's provisions were running a little low. It was a justifiable request, and politically acceptable for the services his men had been helping Nabal's men in protecting Nabal's sheep and goats. David's men had befriended Nabal's men, so they should have been welcomed at feasting time. That was not the case! Nabal had been drinking heavily, and heard the request for some provisions. Nabal answered David's servants, Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where? (1 Sam. 25:10).
One of the servants went to Abigail and told her what Nabal had just said to David's men. She listened carefully to the shepherd, as he had confidence in David and his men. He reminded her that David and his headsmen had been like a wall of protection to Nabal's herdsmen. And he said they had come to the house in peace, asking for that to which they were entitled. Abigail was a very wise woman, she hurried with her plan because she knew what the consequences would be when a strong-minded man like David was angered. He would not let such an insult go unpunished. She also knew how irrational Nabal's reactions were when he was drunk. She did not take the time to lament over the impending danger from David, or to discuss her husband's crude, drunken behavior. She understood she had to take action. She hurried and made special foods for all David's 600 men. She did not ask for any advice from anyone, but went to work as seriously and quietly as if she had been planning the whole thing for months, and what to prepare and how to get it done in a timely fashion. She supervised the baking and packing of 200 loaves of bread. She had 5 sheep dressed and 5 measures of grain parched, and she packed 2 skins of wine, 100 clusters of raisins, and 200 cakes of figs.(1 Sam 25:18). Then she had everything mounted on donkeys, and mounted one herself. Then she signaled her helpers to ride before her with the food. She knew she had to leave quietly, so as not to have to deal with the unpleasantness of Nabal. She also knew the safety of her whole household and family was at stake. She was not far from David when she heard him talking to his men. He was very upset and was telling his men about Nabal's ingratitude and how he had returned evil for their gift of good. She also heard David say that by morning all that Nabal possessed and all in his household would be destroyed. Abigail was a brave woman, instead of turning and running away, she was unafraid, and hurried to David, and got off her donkey. In all humility she began to apologize for her husband's words and actions. She told David that Nabal was a fool. So, then she begged David to take the food she was bring for him and his men and to forgive her trespasses. She praised David telling him that evil would not be found in him so long as he lived. She also predicted that he would be prince over Israel and that his soul would be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God. She confirmed that God's word was sure and God would exalt him. In the whole supplication of Abigail that is in 1 Samuel 25:24-31, in not one word do we find her forgetting her own dignity. All the greatness which she predicted would come to David she attributed to the only source of good, God Himself. And she helped David to know he was the object of God's love and care.
In her petition Abigail typifies woman in her noblest, purest character. Her actions reveal that she was a diplomat of the highest order and that she understood men and had tolerance for their bad behavior. When she had finished her mission, she did not stay, she quickly mounted her donkey and went back over the hills. When she got home, Nabal was still feasting and drinking, she wisely did not tell him of her adventure until morning. When he heard the details of David's plan, and how near he came to being killed by David and his men and what Abigail had done to avoid such an attack, he became violently ill. Ten days later he died. David later learned of Nabal's death, and remembered the woman of good understanding who had come over the mountain on a donkey to bring food to appease his hunger. He was now free to wed Abigail, so he sent his servants, telling her he wanted her to be his wife. She accepted David's invitation for marriage. Though Abigail brought to David a rich estate and a new social position, she felt unworthy to become the wife of one whom God had singled out for His work. Abigail was just the wife that David needed, for he was willful and tempestuous, while she was humble and gentle. Probably, she helped him to learn patience and forbearance to put aside temptation. She also helped to inspire confidence in him She lived with David at Gath and also went with him to Hebron, and there she gave birth to their son Chileab, also called Daniel. There is little recorded about Abigail after her marriage to David. ABIGAIL: Close Up: All we know of Abigail is summed up in the passage that describes her brief by intense meeting with David. Yet she comes through as one of the most notable women of the OT. Abigail was wise, decisive, and yet sensitive. She clearly had great interpersonal skill, and was not only able to diffuse David's anger, but also was able to help him think through the consequences of hastily conceived intentions. She enabled David to retain his self-respect and the respect of his men. Abigail seemed intuitively to realize that David was a complex individual, she shaped her appeal to fit not only David's political goals but also his moral commitments. Abigail appealed to what was best in David's character. She helped him choose to act out those basic values.
The brief glimpse of Abigail that the Bible gives us shows a strong and independent woman. Those in Nabal's household who hurried to Abigail when their master acted foolishly, recognized these qualities in her. Abigail was a person on whom all around her could and did depend. David's brief encounter with Abigail so impressed him that when Nabal died a few days later, David was eager to take Abigail as his wife. David clearly saw Abigail as a person who could complement his own strengths and balance his weaknesses. Like other men who are secure in themselves, David found himself attracted by Abigail's obvious strengths. Only weak and insecure men are frightened of strong women. Women who have some of Abigail's qualities do themselves a disservice if they try to hide their strengths out of fear of frightening away men. ABIGAIL: An example for Today: Abigail provides us with a pattern for successful confrontation. Couples today should emulate the exchange between Abigail and David. Abigail offered advice, but in a wise and gracious way. David did not let his ego deter him from listening what she said. Abigail reminds us that women should not hide their strengths in an effort to be acceptable to men. Many weak men want women who are less intelligent and less confident than themselves. In hiding their strengths for fear they will put off potential dates or marriage, many women disguise the very qualities that might make them attractive to stronger, confident men. BIBLE BACKGOUND: WITH YOUR OWN HANDS : Two Hebrew words are translated as kill and as murder. One of the words simply describes a killing, without making a moral judgemnt. This word is used when killing in warfare or judicial execution is involved. The other Hebrew word is found in the Ten Commandments, and should be translated you shall not murder rather than you shall not kill. What the word translated murder implies is a personal killing. That is, one person takes the life of another for a personal reason, not as an impersonal act in warfare, and not as a judicial, governmental act.
Abigail knew and David knew that a person who avenges himself with his own hand commits murder, for this was definitely a personal killing. Sent from Windows Mail