Originally posted 9/24/24
Abigail comes onto the scene in the book of Samuel. When our story begins, she is married to a man named Nabal. Nabal owned a great deal of sheep and goats. 1 Samuel 25 refered to him as a very rich man. He is married to Abigail and her description differs greatly. 1 Samuel 25:3 states, “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.” Nabal was a descendent of Caleb, however, he did not possess the same spiritual qualities. Abigail’s name means “my father is joy”. Nabal’s name means, “fool”. It is easy to predict how this story may end.
As we continue to read our passage in 1 Samuel 25:4-11, David needs to provide food for his men. “David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. And thus you shall greet him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel. Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’” When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. And Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?”
It would have been a clear violation to the practices of the time to refuse to offer hospitality to others. Nabal shows his character by refusing to help someone in need. His reputation was on full display to David’s men. When the men returned to tell David what had happened, he immediately put a plan in place. 1 Samuel 25:12-17 states, “So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this. And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage. But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.”
It is unlikely that Nabal really did not know who David was. He would have been well-known at the time. He most likely was trying to justify his poor behavior by not offering assistance. David and his men had already been protecting Nabal and his flock. It really shows the depth of Nabal’s wickedness.
Abigail heard what happened and quickly went into action. Her plan did not include her husband. She knew her husband would not agree with her plan. She was showing her devotion to God by obeying God. Had she ever intervened on her husband’s behalf before? She gathers up food and sent it ahead of her. 1 Samuel 15:18-25 states, “Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. 19 And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. 22 God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.” 23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. 24 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. 25 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.”
According to 31 Women of the Bible, “The intelligent, beautiful, and now extremely frightened Abigail swung into action. She quickly threw together a huge and lovely picnic lunch: mutton, bread, and wine, with raisins and figs for dessert. Sending this feast ahead via some of her male servants, Abigail then got ready herself and went to see if she could avert a bloodbath. She intercepted David just in time. Falling humbly at his feet, Abigail acknowledged her husband’s foolish arrogance. Then, almost in the same breath, she pleaded for David to forgive and show mercy. It was a very reasoned appeal, a moving petition. In effect, she entreated David not to descend to the level of her “worthless” husband. David’s heart was pierced by Abigail’s wise warning. He called off his attack.” p. 64
Abigail begged David’s forgiveness. In 1 Samuel 25: 32-35 says, And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand! For as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”
David forgives her and sends her home with his blessing. When Abigail returns home, she finds her husband having a feast. I cannot imagine what she is thinkings. She had just saved her husband and he is enjoying the feast like a that of a king. 1 Samuel 25:36-38 picks up the story, “And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until the morning light. 37 In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 38 And about ten days later the LORD struck Nabal, and he died.”
It is safe to say that God did not appreciate the way Nabal behaved. Nabel is dead and what happens to Abigail is interesting.
The book, 31 Women of the Bible describes it this way, “Meanwhile, Abigail returned home to find her obnoxious husband stuffing his face and drunk out of his mind. He was blissfully oblivious to how close he’d come that very day to meeting his Maker. “In the morning when Nabal sobered up, his wife told him about these events” (1 Sam 25:37). He had a stroke and died ten days later. After hearing about Nabal’s death, David wasted no time sending one of his men to Abigail to broach the subject of marriage. Would this gracious, quick-thinking woman, who had demonstrated she was just as attractive inside as she was gorgeous on the outside, be interested in becoming David’s wife? Abigail, not exactly grief-stricken, said yes without hesitation.” pp. 64-65
1 Samuel 25:39-44, “When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the LORD who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. The LORD has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent and spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40 When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.” 41 And she rose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42 And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife. 43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and both of them became his wives. 44 Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.”
Later we read that Abigail is the mother of Chileab and Daniel. 1 Chronicles 3:1, “These are the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelite; the second, Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelite, the Jezreelite; the second, Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelite,”
Abigail has many characteristics that we would do well to emulate. First and foremost, she obeyed God. Some would take issue that she was not a submissive wife. Even when we are married, our first allegiance is to God. She was a willing servant. She was able to see a problem and act quickly to solve the problem. She was also humble and a willing servant. Which of these characteristics do you possess?
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