Abigail

For the Australian actress, see Abigail (actress).

Abigail (אֲבִיגַיִל / אֲבִיגָיִל "her Father's joy or, fountain of joy" ;leader of/is dance/, Standard Hebrew Avigáyil, Tiberian Hebrew ʾĂḇîḡáyil / ʾĂḇîḡāyil), once Abigal ([Samuel 2 3:3]), is a female character in the Bible. She is described as the wife of Nabal the Carmelite, whose life she saves when David wishes to kill him. On his death she became the 3rd wife of David ([Samuel 1 25]). By her David had a son, whose name appears in the Hebrew of 2 Samuel 3:3 as Chileab, in the Septuagint as Daluyah, and in [Chronicles 1 3:1] as Daniel.

The name Abigail was also borne by a sister of David ([Samuel 2 17:25]; [Chronicles 1 2:16] and following).
From the former (self-styled handmaid [Samuel 1 25:25] and following) is derived the colloquial use of the term for a waiting-woman (cf. Abigail, the waiting gentlewoman, in Beaumont and Fletcher's Scornful Lady).

References

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