By
Patsy Norwood © 2025 All Rights Reserved! Any and all commercial use of this study is
prohibited!
I Samuel 25: 1 – 42; 27:3; 30:1-18; II Samuel 2: 2-3; 3:3; I Chronicles 3:1
In our last
lesson, we saw Abigail lose her husband to death by the hand of God and now
it’s time for the rest of the story.
Let’s pick up with I Samuel 25: 39 …
Verse 39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said,
“Praise be to the Lord, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me
with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal’s
wrongdoing down on his own head.” Then
David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife.
Let’s break down what David did when he heard Nabal was
dead:
He praised God for championing his cause. In other words, God defended and supported
David as a result of/because of Nabal’s treatment of him. Hmmm, let that sink in, we could do a whole
other study on God defending, helping and going to battle for those who
faithfully serve Him.
He acknowledged that God had prevented him from doing
wrong.
He acknowledged that God had brought Nabal’s wrongdoing
down on his (Nabal’s ) own head and then …
He sent a marriage proposal to Abigail.
Verse 40 His servants went to Carmel and said to
Abigail, “David has sent us to you to take you to become his wife.”
David’s servants arrived in Carmel and delivered the
proposal to Abigail. Don’t you just
wonder what her first thoughts were? I
do! Was she shocked, surprised or did
she take it all in stride?
We don’t know how much time elapsed between Nabal’s
death and David hearing of it, but once he knew, David wasted no time in
sending a marriage proposal to Abigail.
Abigail had already shown David the kind of woman she
was and if we’ll remember (verses 32-34), he was impressed!
Verse 41 She bowed down with her face to the ground and
said, “I am your servant and am ready to serve you and wash the feet of my
lord’s servants.”
Abigail again shows deep humility, this time towards
David’s servants, by bowing down with her face to the ground.
She identifies herself as their servant ready to serve,
wash their feet and according to customs of the times, she was saying ‘yes’, by
her manner of reply, to David’s marriage proposal.
Verse 42 Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, attended
by her five female servants, went with David’s messengers and became his wife.
We don’t know how much time elapsed or what happened
after Abigail offered to serve and wash the feet of David’s servants, but it’s
apparent that a lot was accomplished between that moment and her next actions.
Abigail wasted no time in gathering her five female
servants to accompany her, going with David’s messengers and becoming David’s
wife. Just like that Abigail went from
widowhood to being married again … this time to a much better man.
The five female servants indicate Abigail’s wealth and
status. What else did she bring to the
marriage? What about Nabal’s property,
did that come with her? Research
suggests that it did or a portion of it anyway.
According to customs of the time, the property of the wife came under
the control of her husband. Did David
wind up with Nabal’s property and possessions?
Since nothing is said about Nabal’s sons, this is likely what happened.
Can you see the irony in this? Nabal refused David’s men food and in the end,
David wound up not only with Nabal’s food, but his wife and property as
well. Yes, we serve a God Who is able!
We’ve covered a major life changing event in Abigail’s
life, but there are a few more things Scripture tells us about her that we want
to include …
Abigal was either the second or third wife of
David. Ahinoam from Jezreel could have
been the second wife or it could have been our Abigail (Nabal’s wife). Scripture is not clear which was second and
which was third. (Michal from Maon
(Saul’s daughter) was the first. (Saul
gave her to another man while she was married to David. You can read about that in I Samuel 25:44))
We next hear of Abigail in I Samuel 27:3 where she and
Ahinoam are mentioned living with David at Gath.
In I Samuel 30:5, we see Abigail along with Ahinoam
taken captive by the Amalekites during a raid while David and his men were in
Ziklag. (You can read more about this by
reading all of chapter 30.)
In II Samuel 2:1-2, we see Abigail was in Hebron with
David when he was inaugurated as King of Judah.
In II Samuel 3:3, we read that she bore David his
second son and named him Chileab.
We find no other reference to Abigail in God’s word
thereafter, so let’s close this study out by zeroing in on what we can learn
from Abigail and her example:
Do the right thing, even when it’s hard. Abigail remained faithful to God through some
emotionally hard times.
Our families are worth the effort it takes to fight for
them.
Women have a uniqueness about them that God can use.
Trust God regardless of the circumstances.
Pray and strive for humility. (I Peter 5:5; Philippians 2:8)
Pray and strive for godly discernment in all
situations, especially difficult ones.
Choose words and actions carefully.
God will fight for His children and …
Be a peacemaker, as much as is within your control.
What are some of your thoughts on Abigail? What have you learned or been reminded of? What stood out to you and or impressed you
about Abigail?
I hope you’ve enjoyed this study; we’ll do another one
on a different woman in January 2026.
Between now and then, I’ll post shorter Bible studies, articles and or
devotions occasionally. In the meantime,
please feel free to share all of my Bible studies, etc in their entirely with
other ladies you know.
Enjoy this beautiful time of the year!
Until the next time …
patsy @ From This
Heart of Mine
~ a place for
women to gather and study God's Word ~
Sources used for
this study:
Various
translations of the Holy Bible
Various
commentaries
Several trusted
and biblically sound online sources
Dictionary of New
Testament Background, Editors: Craig A Evans & Stanley E. Porter
Archaeological
Study Bible
All the Women of
the Bible by Edith Deen
Daughters of Eve
by Lottie Beth Hobbs
Halley’s Bible Handbook by H. H. Halley
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