Abigail

Overview

Abigail was described as a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance, married to Nabal, a wealthy but harsh and surly man of Carmel. When David's men, who had protected Nabal's shepherds in the wilderness, requested provisions during a sheep-shearing feast, Nabal churlishly refused and insulted David, provoking David to swear vengeance against Nabal's entire household. Warned by a servant, Abigail acted swiftly and without consulting her husband, gathering a generous gift of food and riding out to intercept David, falling before him and delivering a speech of remarkable wisdom and humility that persuaded David to abandon his plan for bloodshed. She returned home to find Nabal drunk at a feast; when she told him what she had done the next morning, his heart 'died within him' and he became as a stone, dying ten days later. Upon hearing of Nabal's death, David sent for Abigail and took her as his wife.