Abigail (Hebrew Bible/Old Testament)

An analysis of Abigail’s speech in 1 Samuel 25:23–31 and her subsequent speaking in v. 41, using aspects of politeness, metaphor and narrative theory, indicates she is highly polite and rhetorically effective. She is portrayed in a complex manner: as a social inferior to David when she requests him; but as social superior when she talks about David’s future. Her speaking in v. 41 is especially self-abasive, but it represents thanks to David. Ultimately, Abigail acts “counterfactually” to her social standing to portray herself as an inferior to David, but wins because she gets what she wanted. Abigail’s speaking is a good example of how the ambiguity inherent in polite language allows the hearer to give what the speaker wants, yet both speaker and hearer can maintain their respective face in the process. Such an analysis as provided by the present study can also help avoid inadequate interpretations of Abigail’s intent for her speaking, and nuance other interpretative methods applied to 1 Samuel 25.

Page 1. DAVID, ABIGAIL AND BATHSHEBA, NABAL AND URIAH: TRANSFORMATIONS WITHIN A TRIANGLE George G. Nicol, St Peter's Manse, 20 Struan Drive, Inverkeithing Fife KY11 1AR In Part I of this study, I shall examine ...

In Part I, the paper offers an analysis of two narratives (1 Sam 25; 2 Sam 11) in which David is involved in a triangular relationship with another man and his wife. In the first narrative, both David and the woman (Abigail) are noble characters while the man (Nabal) behaves ignobly, but in the second these characteristics are reversed. David and the woman (Bathsheba) act badly, but the man acts well. In Part II, an attempt is made to see whether the confrontation between David and Uriah can be read coherently and consistently if it is supposed that Uriah knew what David was trying to achieve by sending him home to his wife, and David knew that Uriah knew. Although this reading allows a more complicated assessment of Uriah's character, it does not diminish the impression that he is a loyal and noble subject of the king. His loyalty, however, is married to a stern and uncompromising morality.

This article departs from the traditional view that the episode involving Balaam and his donkey (Num. 22.21–35) is an independent insertion that disrupts the Balaam narrative (Num. 22–24). Instead, the focus here is on the manner in which, within this episode, Balaam displays certain characteristics that are associated elsewhere in these three chapters with the Moabite king Balak. Comparison with two other texts, Genesis 38 and 1 Samuel 25, reveals that the presence of such a role-reversal in the donkey episode renders it an indispensable component of the larger narrative. Each of these three texts thus instantiates a trope in which a role-reversing interlude interacts closely with its surrounding context to highlight the rich human complexity of a central figure.

Abigail’s wise and independent intervention to avert the impending disaster sparked by her foolish husband saves herself and her household from slaughter and Israel’s future king from presumption and bloodguilt. An examination of the 1 Samuel 25 narrative concerning Abigail’s prophetic act of mediation, which draws David’s gratitude and Yahweh’s blessing, contributes to the understanding of the role women played in ancient Israel.