According to the Hebrew Bible, Abigail (Hebrew: אֲבִיגַיִל‎, romanized: ʾAḇīḡayīl) was the mother of Amasa, the commander-in-chief of Absalom's army (2 Samuel 17:25).[1]

2 Samuel 17:25 refers to Abigail as a sister of Zeruiah and therefore an aunt to Joab.[2] In the Books of Chronicles (1 Chronicles 2:13–16), Abigail and Zeruiah are referred to as sisters to David.[3] The Masoretic Text of 2 Samuel 17:25 calls Abigail the daughter of Nahash. While it is possible that Jesse's wife had first married been to Nahash (and Abigail was David's half-sister), scholars think that Nahash is a typographic error,[4] based on the appearance of the name two verses later.[4][5]

According to the medieval commentator Rashi, "Nahash" refers to Jesse. Because he never sinned, he only died because of Adam's sin with the serpent, so he was called Nahash, meaning serpent.[6]

In Chronicles, Amasa's father is Jether the Ishmaelite,[7] but in the Books of Samuel, Amasa's father is Ithra the Israelite;[8] scholars think that the latter case is more likely.[citation needed]

Jon Levenson and Baruch Halpern suggest that Abigail, mother of Amasa may, in fact, be the same Abigail who became David's wife.[9] Richard M. Davidson, however, points out that "on the basis of the final form of the OT canon, references to Abigail in the biblical accounts indicate two different individuals."[10]

References

  1. ^ Hoiberg, Dale H., ed. (2010). "Abigail". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. I: A-ak Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, IL: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. pp. 32. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.
  2. ^ 2 Samuel 17:25
  3. ^ 1 Chronicles 2:13–16
  4. ^ a b Peake's commentary on the Bible
  5. ^ 2 Samuel 17:27
  6. ^ "Rashi on II Samuel 17:25". Archived from the original on 2018-06-29. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
  7. ^ 1 Chronicles 2:17
  8. ^ 2 Samuel 17:25
  9. ^ Jon D. Levenson and Baruch Halpern, "The Political Import of David's Marriages," JBL 99 [1980] 511–512.
  10. ^ Davidson, Richard M. (2007). Flame of Yahweh: A Theology of Sexuality in the Old Testament. Hendrickson. p. 444. ISBN 9781565638471.
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