Abigail () was an Israelite woman in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Nabal; she married the future

King David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...

after Nabal's death (

1 Samuel The Book of Samuel () is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) that constitute a theological ...

). Abigail was David's third wife, after Ahinoam and

Saul Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh c ...

's daughter,

Michal Michal (; ; ) was, according to the first Book of Samuel, a princess of the United Kingdom of Israel; the younger daughter of King Saul, she was the first wife of David (), who later became king, first of Judah, then of all Israel, maki ...

, whom Saul later married to

Palti, son of Laish Palti (or Paltiel), son of Laish, who was from Gallim, was the second husband of Michal, Saul's daughter. Where other versions read "Palti" (1 Samuel 25:44) and "Paltiel" (2 Samuel 3:15), the KJV has Phalti and Phaltiel, respectively. Michal was ...

, when David went into hiding. Abigail became the mother of one of David's sons, who is listed in the

Book of Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( , "words of the days") is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third section of the Jewish Heb ...

under the name '' Daniel'', in the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocaliz ...

of the Books of Samuel as ''Chileab,'' and in the

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

text of 2 Samuel 3:3 as Δαλουια, ''Dalouia''. Her name is spelled Abigal in in the

American Standard Version The American Standard Version (ASV), officially Revised Version, Standard American Edition, is a Bible translation into English that was completed in 1901 with the publication of the revision of the Old Testament. The revised New Testament had ...

Name

Derived from the Hebrew word ''ab,'' "father", and the Hebrew root ''g-y-l'', "to rejoice," the name Abigail has a variety of possible meanings including "my father's joy" and "source of joy".

Biblical narrative

In 1 Samuel 25, Nabal demonstrates ingratitude towards David, the son of Jesse (from the tribe of Judah), and Abigail attempts to placate David, in order to stop the future King from taking revenge. She gives him food, and speaks to him, urging him not to "have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed" (verse 31, NIV) and reminding him that

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

will make him a " lasting dynasty" (verse 28). Jon Levenson calls this an "undeniable adumbration" of Nathan's prophecy in 2 Samuel 7. Jon D. Levenson, "1 Samuel 25 as Literature and History," '' CBQ'' 40 97820. Alice Bach notes that Abigail pronounces a "crucial prophecy," and the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

regards her as one of the

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. ''

After Abigail reveals to Nabal what she has done, "God struck Nabal and he died" (v. 38), after which David married her. Abigail is described as intelligent and beautiful. The

amplifies this idea, mentioning her as being one of the "four women of surpassing beauty in the world" (the other three being

Rahab Rahab (; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible in Joshua 2:1-24, a Canaanite who resided within Jericho in the Promised Land and assisted the Israelites by hiding two men who had been sent to scout the city before their attack. In the New Testam ...

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious woma ...

, and

Esther Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...

). Being married to the wealthy Nabal, she is also a woman of high socioeconomic status. Whether David married her because he was attracted to her, or as an astute political move, or both is unclear. Abigail and David's second wife, Ahinoam the Jezreelite, accompany David and his war band as they seek refuge in Philistine territory. While David and his men are encamped near Jezreel, the women are captured by Amalekites who raided the town of Ziklag and carried off the women and children. David led the pursuit, and they were subsequently rescued. Both wives then settle with David in Hebron, where Abigail gives birth to David's second son, Chileab (also called Daniel). Escalante-abigail

Abigail is also listed as one of the seven Jewish women prophets, the other six being

Miriam Miriam (, lit. ‘rebellion’) is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The Torah refers to her as "Miria ...

, Deborah, Hannah,

, Huldah, and

. In terms of her moral character, Abraham Kuyper argues that Abigail's conduct indicates "a most appealing character and unwavering faith," but Alice Bach regards her as subversive. Adele Berlin contrasts the story of Abigail with that of Bathsheba. In one, the wife prevents David from murdering her foolish and greedy husband. In the second, David orders the death of a good man because he desires his wife. "In the Abigail story, David, the potential king, is seen as increasingly strong and virtuous, whereas in the Bathsheba story, the reigning monarch shows his flaws ever more overtly and begins to lose control of his family." Levenson and Halpern suggest that Abigail may, in fact, also be the same person as Abigail, mother of Amasa. Richard M. Davidson, however, points out that "on the basis of the final form of Old Testament canon, references to Abigail in the biblical accounts indicate two different individuals."

Generic use

Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 096

Abigail's self-styling as a '' handmaid'' led to ''Abigail'' being a traditional term for a waiting-woman, for example as the "waiting

gentlewoman A gentlewoman (from the Latin ''gentilis'', belonging to a ''gens'', and English 'woman') in the original and strict sense is a woman of good family, analogous to the Latin ''generosus'' and ''generosa''. The closely related English word "gentr ...

" in

Beaumont and Fletcher Beaumont and Fletcher were the English dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather t ...

's '' The Scornful Lady'', published in 1616.

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...

Tobias Smollett Tobias George Smollett (bapt. 19 March 1721 – 17 September 1771) was a Scottish writer and surgeon. He was best known for writing picaresque novels such as ''The Adventures of Roderick Random'' (1748), ''The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle'' ...

, and

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English writer and magistrate known for the use of humour and satire in his works. His 1749 comic novel ''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'' was a seminal work in the genre. Along wi ...

use ''Abigail'' in this generic sense, as does

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Nicholls (; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855), commonly known as Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ), was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë family, Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novel ...

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

, in '' The Abbot'', frequently refers to Lilias, Lady Avenel's maid as an "Abigail".

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope ( ; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among the best-known of his 47 novels are two series of six novels each collectively known as the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire ...

makes two references to "the abigail" (all lower case) in '' The Eustace Diamonds'', at the beginning of Chapter 42, whilst

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

makes the same reference at the start of the second chapter of Part 2 in ''

Buddenbrooks ''Buddenbrooks'' () is a 1901 novel by Thomas Mann, chronicling the decline of a wealthy north German merchant family over the course of four generations, incidentally portraying the manner of life and mores of the Hanseatic bourgeoisie in th ...

'' (published in 1901). William Rose Benet notes the notoriety of Abigail Hill, better known as "Mrs Masham", a

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...

to Queen Anne.''The Reader's Encyclopedia'', 1948, ''s.v.'' "Abigail".

George MacDonald Fraser George MacDonald Fraser (2 April 1925 – 2 January 2008) was a Scottish author and screenwriter. He is best known for a series of works that featured the character Harry Paget Flashman, Flashman. Over the course of his career he wrote eleven n ...

makes mention of "an 'abigail' fussing about the room" in his novel '' Flashman'' from '' The Flashman Papers'' series.

In art

Abigail, and especially her meeting with David, was a common subject of European artwork in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and post-Renaissance period. Artists depicting her, or them, include Antonio Molinari, Juan Antonio Escalante, and

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

. Abigail is a featured figure on Judy Chicago's installation piece '' The Dinner Party'', being represented in one of the 999 tiles of the '' Heritage Floor.''Chicago, 69.

Citations

General and cited references

* Chicago, Judy. ''The Dinner Party: From Creation to Preservation''. London: Merrell (2007). . *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abigail 10th-century BC people 10th-century BC women 11th-century BC people 11th-century BC women Christian royal saints Christian saints from the Old Testament Christian female saints from the Old Testament Christian saints in unknown century Eastern Orthodox royal saints Books of Samuel people Roman Catholic royal saints Wives of David Women in the Hebrew Bible Nonviolence advocates