Who was Abigail in the bible

Abigail was Nabal’s widow and king David’s wife. Abigail was the wife of a wealthy herder named Nabal, whose name means “fool.” While David was on the run from Saul, he spent some time in the area near Nabal’s flocks and kept them safe from potential thieves.

When the time came for Nabal’s sheep to be sheared, David sent his men to receive some payment for their services, but Nabal rebuffed them and sent them away empty-handed. When David heard about this, he was furious and gathered his men to go kill every one of Nabal’s men.

But Abigail, whom the Bible describes as discerning and beautiful, intercepted David before he reached Nabal’s men, offered him some food, and persuaded him to turn back from repaying Nabal for his affront. David immediately recognized the wisdom in Abigail’s words, turned back from his vengeance, and praised God for using Abigail to save him from doing something he would have regretted (1 Samuel 25).

When Abigail informed her husband of all that transpired between her and David, Nabal’s “heart failed him and he became like a stone” (1 Samuel 25:37). Ten days later Nabal died, and David took Abigail as his wife.

David once had to rescue Abigail and one of his other wives from the Amalekites, who had raided his town of Ziklag and carried off many people (1 Samuel 30).