Useful Bible Studies > 1 Samuel Commentary > chapter 25

Abigail becomes David’s wife

1 Samuel 25:40-44

We already knew that David admired Abigail’s character. Now the author of 1 Samuel tells us how much David liked her. He chose her as his wife.

We are sure that Abigail was very sad after the death of Nabal, her first husband. Nabal was an evil man so, almost certainly, he had been cruel to Abigail. Still, Abigail would have felt a definite sense of loss at his death. Nabal had an important place in her life; she would have felt lonely without him. Also, she would have regretted deeply that she had been unable to persuade him to change his attitudes. The death of Nabal was an awful death.

It seems that Abigail had no children yet. Therefore, after Nabal’s death, his brother had a duty to marry her (Deuteronomy 25:5). It seems that David prevented that by his decision to marry her. He did not want her to have to marry another cruel man. Instead, he chose her to be his own wife, because he loved her. Her reply to him shows that he chose well. She did not accept in order to become rich or important, but to serve other people.

David had several wives. We do not think that was a wise decision; however, God’s law permitted it. The children of David’s different wives argued and fought against each other; they caused David many troubles.

In fact, the only one of David’s first 4 sons who did not cause great trouble for him was Abigail’s son. He is called by two different names: Kileab in 2 Samuel 3:3, and Daniel in 1 Chronicles 3:1. He was born in Hebron and he was David’s second son. After the death of his oldest brother, Amnon, people would normally expect Kileab to become king after David. However, God chose Solomon to rule after David. Unlike Kileab’s younger brothers, Absalom and Adonijah, Kileab did not fight to try to become king. Perhaps he had learnt some of the good qualities that his parents, David and Abigail, had shown.

Next part: The Ziphites again cause trouble for David (1 Samuel 26:1-4)

 

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© 2014, Keith Simons.