Ahinoam

AHINOAM (a-hĭn'ō-ăm, Heb. ’ăhînō‘am, my brother is delight)

Wife of King Saul (1Sam.14.50).One of David’s wives, a Jezreelitess (1Sam.25.43), who lived with him at Gath (1Sam.27.3). She and Abigail were captured by the Amalekites at Ziklag (1Sam.30.5) but were rescued by David (1Sam.30.18). They were with David in Hebron (2Sam.2.2), where Ahinoam bore Amnon, his first son (2Sam.3.2).

2. A woman from Jezreel whom David married after Saul took Michal from him and gave her to another husband. Ahinoam was prob. his first wife, even though (25:39-44) his marriage to Abigail is mentioned first. Three other times they are mentioned together, and Ahinoam is always mentioned first (27:3; 30:5; 2 Sam 2:2). She was the mother of David’s first son, Amnon, and Abigail was mother of his second (2 Sam 3:2; 1 Chron 3:1).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

a-hi-no’-am, a-hin’-o-am (’achino`am, "my brother is pleasantness"):

(1) Daughter of Ahimaaz, and wife of King Saul (1Sa 14:50).

(2) The woman from Jezreel whom David married after Saul gave Michal to another husband. She and Abigail, the widow of Nabal, seem to have been David’s only wives prior to the beginning of his reign in Hebron. His marriage to Abigail is mentioned first, with some details, followed by the statement, easily to be understood in the pluperfect, that he had previously married Ahinoam (1Sa 25:39-44). Three times they are mentioned together, Ahinoam always first (1Sa 27:3; 30:5; 2Sa 2:2), and Ahinoam is the mother of David’s first son and Abigail of his second (2Sa 3:2; 1Ch 3:1). Ahinoam’s son was Amnon. The record really represents David’s polygamy as a series of bids for political influence; the names of Amnon, Absalom, Adonijah suggest that the method was not finally a success.

Willis J. Beecher