Abigail: Wife of David

Her speech, too, though towards David, is also about Christ Himself:
“Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For the Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord, and evil is not found in you throughout your days. Yet a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; and the lives of your enemies He shall sling, as from the pocket of a sling. And it shall come to pass, when the Lord has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoke concerning you, and has appointed you ruler over Israel, that this will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. But when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, ten remember your
maidservant.” (1 Samuel 25: 28-31)

Humble – bows before David in submissive deference when she first meets him, and upon
agreeing to marriage, she piously desires to wash the feet of his servants:
“Then she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, “Here is your maidservant, a
servant to “wash the feet of the servants of my lord”. (1 Samuel 25: 41), indicating another
prelude to the humble, menial act of Jesus washing the feet of His servants.

Brave – goes out against her husband to meet with the enemy of Saul – she could have died by David’s hand, been killed or at the very least beaten by her husband. Instead, shecourageously hastens to David amidst his rants against her husband.
Patient – endures the wretchedness of living with Nabal
Prophetic Influencer – She influences David, through prophesy and foretelling, that by
maintaining his integrity as a man of God he will forever retains his humanity, grace, and sovereign mercy and reputation as benevolent king and God’s anointed:
“for the Lord will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my master, because he fights the
Lord’s battles. Let no wrongdoing be found in you as long as you live. Even though someone pursues you, your life will be held securely by the Lord Your God. But the lives of your enemies He will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling.”

Respected – As David receives the mollifying gifts from her hand, he pays her the utmost compliment by lifting her in status from a bowing, inconsequential female to highly regarded, respected, and dignified woman:

“Go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded your voice and respected your person.” (1 Samuel 25: 35)

David, secretly anointed by Samuel as king of Israel, continues to evade the murderous rampage of Saul who is consumed by jealousy and relentlessly pursues David into outskirts of the kingdom and beyond. Outside of Carmel in the Desert of Maon (Paran) west of the Dead Sea and 8 miles southeast of Hebron, David asks for his kin Nabal the Calebite’s favor on the annual festival for sheep shearing to be given food for him and his 600 followers as expected gratitude for protecting Nabal’s flocks against pillage from thieving neighbors and ensuring Nabal’s continued wealth when selling the sheep’s sheared fleece and meat. The rich businessman Nabal, of the house of Caleb and aptly named a fool, is an evil, lazy, arrogant, ill-tempered, and stubborn drunkard who insults and dishonors David’s reputation as a fierce warrior by refusing his request, putting Nabal’s entire household at risk of death from David’s thirst for justified vengeance.

Enter Abigail, Nabal’s beautiful, humble, wise, disciplined and resourceful wife, who
recognizes that she and her entire household are about to be slaughtered by the man who killed the giant Goliath with a sling and stone, all because of her husband’s insolence. Unbeknownst to her husband who swore his allegiance to the house of Saul, Abigail packs up a veritable feast for David and his entourage, hurriedly meeting him in the desert in hopes of preventing the total destruction of their possessions and their lives.

Abigail here affects and influences David’s character, molding him into a man of grace and mercy, as she restrains David from avenging his hand. He is indebted to her, and she, through her calm directness, fortitude, and forthright nature, is an example of a woman whom God considers worth marrying Christ’s kingly ancestor. She is a woman who, by her influence, prevents David from committing an egregious sin and protects his reputation as the man after God’s own heart. She becomes the wings and voice of God to keep David’s hands clean from shedding the blood of innocents, thus leaving vengeance against Nabal to God where it belongs (Deut 32:35). God, incidentally, does get His vengeance against this wicked man as Nabal has a stroke during another night of drunkenness, appearing like a dead man for ten days before he dies.
Abigail recognizes and bows to David as her future king, and appeals to his merciful nature with utmost confidence in his humanity.

Proverbs 25:22 “not avenging ourselves, but heaping coals of fire on the head of the
injurious” by melting them into kindness and taking the sting out of David’s venomous rattle of savage weaponry.

She is rewarded for her goodness, faithfulness, and for her saving grace to her master and king, and humbly chooses to become his wife and the servant of his servants, washing their feet much like Christ then washes the feet of his own apostles during the night of the Last Supper. She has a son Chileab (Daniel) by him, and accompanies him to both Gath and Ziklag where she and the other wives are kidnapped by the Amalekites, and are later rescued by David in a ferocious battle.

She is the salve to her husband’s rotting nature. She is Nabal’s disciplined wife equally
opposite to her husband’s unbridled impulsiveness and hotheadedness. She is the
respecter of David against her husband’s repulsive, dishonorable disrespect. She is the calming presence to David, just as David was the calm to Saul’s distressing spirit. She does not argue, but rather persuades him with her wise, kind words that she tempers with self-control and common sense. She softens his heart with her soft, compelling words as she turns David’s sweet desire for revenge into the bitterness of gall that he promptly casts away. She persuades David to avoid any bloodguilt, which has already defined David’s restraining hand against Saul and is of supreme importance in their relationship.

Abigail, meaning “father or cause of joy” and of unknown lineage, is as beautiful on theinside as she is on the outside, despite living in a dysfunctional, miserable home of which she was doomed to endure thanks to an arranged marriage. She has poise. She has charm. She was the true treasure amongst the wealth of Nabal’s possessions and rises above hercircumstances when the perfect situation presented itself. She even takes the blame upon herself for Nabal’s horrible character and lack of response, allowing herself to be the sacrificial lamb to his sin of stubborn pride: “My Lord,” she pleaded, “let the blame be on me alone. May my lord pay no attention to
that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name – his name is Fool, and folly goes with him. But as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my master sent. Please forgive yourservant’s offense…”

The Hebrew word forgiveness that Abigail begs from David means “to lift up,” “to bear,” “or “to take away”, much as how the scapegoat during the day of atonement would bear Israel’s sins away (Lev 16:22), and which further directly foreshadows Jesus bearing and taking away the sins of the world much as David forgives Abigail for the sins of her husband. Just as Abigail becomes the bride of David, so do we become the bride of Christ.

And she fully obeys the promptings and principles of God though living with a husband who is likely an unbeliever and pagan Beliel idolator. She becomes the veritable tactful peacemaker between the commanding and intimidating King David and her husband, the fool. She also becomes the strategic owner of the southern region around Hebron at the death of her husband, which plays an important role in David’s marriage alliance to her as his kingdom becomes even more solidified as he acquires the defense system of the Judean wilderness.

The intransient and temporary bundle that is David’s invaluable, precious life belongs to and is protected by God and God alone, just as the brief passage of our life’s existence is a treasure in His hands:

“Yet a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; and the lives of your enemies He shall sling out, as from the pocket of a sling.” (1 Samuel 25:29)

She is one of eight wives, second behind Michal, Saul’s daughter.