Story of abigail in the bible

Story of abigail in the bible. Abigail was a biblical character quoted in the Old Testament. She was the wife of Nabal, a wealthy man from Maon, in the territory of the tribe of Judah, near Carmel. Before speaking about who Abigail was and knowing her story, we must consider another woman who appears with the same name in the biblical narrative.

She is the daughter of Nahash or Jesse and the mother of Amasa (2 Samuel 17:25; 1 Chronicles 2: 13-16). The suggestion that she was the daughter of Jesse is the most widely accepted among scholars. Therefore, she would be David’s sister. The name Abigail probably means “my father is joy,” from the original ‘avigayil.

Who was Abigail?

Abigail was a woman of God who saved her family. Her husband was a bad man, but Abigail was wise. Because of her wisdom, Abigail won the favor of the future King David. Abigail was married to a very wealthy man named Nabal. His wealth came from the many sheep and goats he owned. But despite being rich, Nabal was not generous; he was mean and foolish. Abigail, on the other hand, was intelligent and beautiful (1 Samuel 25: 2-3).

Story of abigail in the bible, image
Story of abigail in the bible, image

The Story of Abigail

The Bible describes the story of Abigail as a beautiful, dignified and sensible woman. Her husband Nabal was a harsh and ignorant man. He ended up treating David rudely. He refused to give gifts to David’s men at the time of shearing the sheep.

Abigail realized that her husband’s attitude was a thinly disguised insult to David. She knew that such an attitude put her entire household at risk, as David became angry and planned to take revenge. Abigail prepared a generous gift of bread, wine, sheep, wheat, raisins and figs, and gave it to David and his men.

With great prudence and words of reconciliation, Abigail reversed the situation. She controlled David’s anger and saved Nabal’s life. At that moment, David thanked God for having sent Abigail to meet him, because with all her wisdom she ended up preventing him from shedding blood unnecessarily and committing injustice (1 Samuel 25: 32-35).

Later, Abigail told Nabal what had happened. Then, terrified, he suffered a seizure when he realized that he had narrowly escaped death. This attack left him as paralyzed as “a stone” (1 Samuel 25:37). However, after nearly ten days, “the Lord struck Nabal,” and he came to die.

When he heard of Nabal’s death, David thanked God for preventing him from doing evil, and also for bringing Nabal’s wickedness down on his own head (1 Samuel 25:39).

Abigail’s family is in danger

At this time, David was on the run from Saul, who was jealous and did not want David to become king after him. David had gathered a band of warriors who accompanied him everywhere he fled. But to continue in this life, David’s warriors needed supplies. Normally, bands of warriors would raid unprotected places for survival but David did not do this with Nabal.

David decided to treat Nabal well. He could easily take anything he wanted from him but instead he sent a polite message asking for food (1 Samuel 25:6-8). David appealed to Nabal’s generosity and asked him to send what he could. This was not too much to ask, because David’s men had protected Nabal’s shepherds and cattle from other dangers and had not stolen anything.

Abigail and David

Upon hearing of Abigail’s widows, David quickly sent her a message asking her to become his wife (1 Samuel 25:39). Abigail accepted David’s request and, accompanied by her five servants, went to meet him and became his wife.

When David was forced to flee to Gath, the Bible records that he took Abigail with him (1 Samuel 27:3). In Hebron, Abigail bore David’s son, Kileab, his second son. Kileab is also referred to as Daniel in 1 Chronicles 3:11.

Undoubtedly Abigail was an example of a peacemaker, prudent and wise. She knew how to recognize God’s purposes for David’s life and, with her right attitude, the Lord used her to prevent evil from being committed.

But Nabal had no generosity nor good sense. He refused to help David and further insulted him (1 Samuel 25:10-11). When David received the answer, he was so angry that he vowed to take revenge on Nabal. He gathered his men together to kill all the men of Nabal’s house!