ABIGAIL

'Abigail' ( is a female name occurring in Biblical narratives from the Books of Samuel, and reflected in the Books of Chronicles. The name ''Abigal'' occurs on one occasion^[1], and is thought by the vast majority of scholars to be an alternate spelling of ''Abigail''. There appear to be two individuals named ''Abigail'':

★ The wife of Nabal, who became a wife of David after Nabal's sudden death (see Nabal).^[1] She became the mother of one of David's sons, who is named in the Book of Chronicles as ''Daniel,''^[1] in the masoretic text of the Books of Samuel as ''Chileab,''^[1] and in the Septuagint text of the Books of Samuel as ''Daluyah.''^[5]

★ The mother of Amasa. In the Book of Chronicles, and Septuagint version of the Books of Samuel, Abigail's father is identified as being Jesse,^[1][7] and she therefore would be a sister of David, but in the masoretic text of the Books of Samuel her father is named ''Nahash;''^[1] scholars think that ''Nahash'' is a typographic error here,^[9][10] based on the appearance of the name two verses later.^[1][9] In the Book of Chronicles, Amasa's father is identified as ''Jether the Ishmaelite,''^[1] but in the Books of Samuel, Amasa's father is identified as ''Ithra the Israelite;''^[1] scholars think that the latter case is more likely.^[10]
It is possible for both these women named ''Abigail'' to be different accounts of the same woman, as textual scholars regard the account in the Books of Chronicles as ultimately deriving from the Books of Samuel, and the references there to ''Abigail'' as a sister of David occur only in the passages which textual scholars attribute to the ''court history of David,''^[16] a document which doesn't mention an ''Abigail'' as one of David's wives.
The first Abigail's self-styling as a ''handmaid''^[17] lead to ''Abigail'' being the traditional term for a waiting-woman (for example, Abigail, the ''waiting gentlewoman'', in Beaumont and Fletcher's ''The Scornful Lady'', published in 1616).

Contents

References

External links

References

1.
2.
3.
4.
5. 2 Samuel 3:3, LXX
6.
7. 2 Samuel 17:25, LXX
8.
9. ''Peake's commentary on the Bible''
10. ''Jewish Encyclopedia''
11.
12. ''Peake's commentary on the Bible''
13.
14.
15. ''Jewish Encyclopedia''
16. ''Jewish Encyclopedia'', ''Books of Samuel''
17. and following

External links

★ Avigail in the Biblical Encyclopedia Tanakh Profiles See also translations of names.