Abigail

Abigail (Hebrew: אֲבִיגַיִל‬, Avigayil) was the wife of Nabal; she became a wife of the future King David after Nabal's death (1 Samuel 25). Abigail was David's third wife, after Saul's daughter, Michal, whom Saul later married to Palti, son of Laish when David went into hiding, and Ahinoam. She became the mother of one of David's sons, who is listed in the Book of Chronicles under the name Daniel, in the Masoretic Text of the Books of Samuel as Chileab, and in the Septuagint text of 2 Samuel 3:3 as Δαλουια, Dalouia. Her name is spelled Abigal in 2 Samuel 17:25 in the American Standard Version. 2Name Derived from the word ab, "father", and the root g-y-l, "to rejoice," the name Abigail has a variety of possible meanings including "my father's joy" and "source of joy". 2Biblical history In 1 Samuel 25, Nabal demonstrates ingratitude towards David, 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 will make him a "lasting dynasty" (verse 28). Jon Levenson calls this an "undeniable adumbration" of Nathan's prophecy in 2 Samuel 7. Alice Bach notes that Abigail pronounces a "crucial prophecy," and the Talmud regards her as one of the Tanakh's seven female prophets. Levenson, however, suggests that she "senses the drift of history" from intelligence rather than from special revelation.After Abigail reveals to Nabal what she has done, "Yahweh struck Nabal and he died," (v.38), after which David married he