ab’-i-gal, ab’-i-gal (’abhighayil, or ’abhighal, three times, or ’abhughayil, once, or ’abhighayil, once; "father," or "cause of joy"):



(2) Sister of David and mother of Amasa, at one time commander of David’s army (1Ch 2:16,17; Abigal 2Sa 17:25). In the first passage she is called David’s sister, along with Zeruiah; while in the second she is called the "daughter of Nahash." Several explanations of this connection with Nahash have been suggested, any one of which would be sufficient to remove contradiction:

(1) That Nahash was another name of Jesse, as in Isa 14:29, mish-shoresh nachash yetse’ (Qimchi);

(2) That Nahash was the wife of Jesse and by him mother of Abigail, which is least probable;

(3) That Nahash, the father of Abigail and Zeruiah, having died, his widow became the wife of Jesse, and bore sons to him;

(4) That the text of 2Sa 17:25 has been corrupted, "daughter of Nahash" having crept into the text. At all events she was the sister of David by the same mother.