2024_04_01 Insight Post- Kim Feld
This week’s reading- 1 Samuel 25:1-42, 2 Samuel 3:3
“Much more than a pretty face.”
This week’s reading gives us a little continuation of David’s story while focusing on another character, Abigail. Abigail was Nabal’s wife, whose name apparently meant “fool.” David asks for assistance in exchange for the protection he and his men gave Nabal’s shepherds. It was shearing time, which meant a celebration, so David asked for provisions for himself and his men. Nabal turns him down rather decidedly, which in turn angers David. His anger fuels a desire for vengeance. One of Nabal’s servants tells Abigail what Nabal has done, and she takes it upon herself to make things right. Several things stand out to me in this story.
First, the servant must have seen Abigail as someone with a level head and the ability to speak into the situation. The servant’s view was correct as we see Abigail jump into action. She immediately begins to gather food for David and his men.
Second, the differences between what Nabal mentioned and what Abigail provided are worlds apart. Take a look at these two verses to see the difference, beginning with Nabal’s response:
11 Should I take my bread and my water and my meat that I’ve slaughtered for my shearers and give it to a band of outlaws who come from who knows where?” (1 Samuel 25:11, NLT)
Now, let’s take a look at what Abigail pulled together:
18 Abigail wasted no time. She quickly gathered 200 loaves of bread, two wineskins full of wine, five sheep that had been slaughtered, nearly a bushel of roasted grain, 100 clusters of raisins, and 200 fig cakes. She packed them on donkeys… (1 Samuel 25:18, NLT)
Nabal mentions the food he would give his shearers, while Abigail provides a feast fit for a king.
Finally, Abigail’s courage stands out to me. She didn’t hide her actions from her husband even though the text tells us he was mean. She likely took a risk by acting without her husband’s knowledge, but she came clean with all she had done.
Nabal met an untimely end, and David took Abigail as his wife. Her actions spared David from acting out of anger, a fact that David fully realized. The text describes Abigail as “sensible and beautiful.” I also see her as courageous and decisive. She saved her family from the peril that Nabal’s foolishness put them in, and she was rewarded for it.
Abigail had no way of knowing if David would receive her gifts or if she would be killed. Her words to David clearly indicate she knew of him, but she couldn’t have known the outcome with any certainty. Yet, 1 Samuel 25:18 tells us that Abigail “wasted no time” trying to repair the damage. I am challenged and encouraged by the story of this strong woman!
Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach