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Abigail
A wise woman who averted David's revenge on her foolish husband Nabal and afterward became David's wife.
What we know — and how we know it
Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 1
Ancient writers — non-biblical testimony · 1
Scholarly — supported scholarly belief · 1
Family & lineage
Life, role & deeds
Scan by NYPL — Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)
Ancient writersJosephus retells the Nabal and Abigail episode, describing Abigail's intercession before David and her later marriage to him. This is a first-century paraphrase of the biblical narrative, not an independent witness, and provides no evidence beyond scripture itself.
Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 6.13.6-8 (§§6.295-317), the Nabal and Abigail episode; Loeb Classical Library ed., trans. R. Marcus (Harvard University Press). A first-century paraphrase of 1 Samuel 25, not an independent witness.
Name & titles
ScholarlyThe Hebrew name Abigail (אֲבִיגַיִל) is generally analyzed as a construct sentence-name meaning "my father is joy" or "my father rejoices," combining ab (father) with a root for exultation.
Standard Hebrew onomastic analysis; cf. the entry in Koehler-Baumgartner, Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, and BDB under the aby- theophoric/kinship prefix.
Where in scripture
1 SamuelFamily
In their own words — 3 recorded sayings
“And she said to her young men, Go on in front of me and I will come after you. But she said nothing to her husband Nabal.” — 1 Samuel 25:19
“And falling at his feet she said, May the wrong be on me, my lord, on me: let your servant say a word to you, and give ear to the words of your servant. Let my lord give no attention to Nabal, that good-for-nothing: for as his name is, so is he, a man without sense: but I, your servant, did not see the young men whom my lord sent. So now, my lord, by the living God and by your living soul, seeing that the Lord has kept you from the crime of blood and from taking into your hands the punishment for your wrongs, may all your haters, and those who would do evil to my lord, be like Nabal. And let…” — 1 Samuel 25:24-31
“And she got up, and going down on her face to the earth, said, See, I am ready to be a servant-girl, washing the feet of the servants of my lord.” — 1 Samuel 25:41
Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).