The name Abigail means “my father’s joy” or “source of joy,” and it is applied to two different women in the Scriptures, both of whom have connections to King David.
1. Abigail, The Wife of Nabal and Later David
The most prominent Abigail in the Bible is the woman described as being “a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance” (1 Samuel 25:3, KJV). Her story of wisdom and diplomacy is recorded primarily in 1 Samuel chapter 25.
The Conflict and Her Prudent Intervention
Abigail was initially the wife of Nabal the Calebite, a man of great wealth whose name literally means “fool.” Nabal lived in Carmel and was known for being “churlish and evil in his doings.” (1 Samuel 25:3, KJV).
When David and his men were in the wilderness, they had offered protection to Nabal’s shepherds and flocks. During the time of sheep-shearing, a season of feasting, David sent a courteous request for provisions from Nabal as compensation for the protection provided. Nabal arrogantly refused and insulted David:
“And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.” (1 Samuel 25:10, KJV)
Furious, David swore to destroy every male in Nabal’s household. When a servant warned Abigail, she acted swiftly and without her husband’s knowledge, preparing a large, peace-offering of food and wine and going out to meet David.
When she met David, Abigail fell on her face before him and delivered an eloquent plea, taking the blame for her foolish husband’s actions. She wisely appealed to David’s future kingship and his conscience, warning him against shedding needless blood:
“Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.” (1 Samuel 25:29, KJV)
David was persuaded by her wisdom and counsel, recognizing that God had sent her to restrain him from taking personal vengeance.
Marriage to David
Upon returning, Abigail found Nabal feasting and drunk. She waited until the next morning to tell him what she had done.
“But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.” (1 Samuel 25:37-38, KJV)
When David heard that Nabal had died, he acknowledged that the Lord had avenged his cause. David then sent for Abigail, and she became his wife, bearing him a son named Chileab (2 Samuel 3:3, KJV) or Daniel (1 Chronicles 3:1, KJV).
2. Abigail, The Sister of David
The name Abigail is also given to David’s sister, whose life is noted in the genealogical records and the events surrounding Absalom’s revolt.
“Whose sisters were Zeruiah, and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah; Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three. And Abigail bare Amasa: and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmeelite.” (1 Chronicles 2:16-17, KJV)
This Abigail was the mother of Amasa, who played a key role in the civil war between David and his son Absalom, becoming the captain of Absalom’s army.