ABIGAIL Bible Study 2026

 

Beginning January 2026, I'll be hosting a study on the life of Abigail, who we first meet in 1 Samuel chapter 25. 

This godly woman features a great deal throughout the chapter, initially as the wife of Nabal, but eventually becoming the wife of King David. Abigail's kindness and courage are two of the character traits we shall be gleaning from as we study her story, but we shall also learn of her knowledge, generosity, sensibility, beauty, humility, respectfulness, honesty and sacrifice.

I have set up this page to house every section of the study for as long as it runs - perhaps a few months, or maybe a year. There will be a date & subject heading between each section, beginning here at the top of the page and gradually moving down, so if you miss any of the study just come to this page and scroll down until you find where you're up to. 

I made some Abigail notepaper as a free download, so if you'd like to write your own notes on them simply print up as many pages as you'll need. Use the link below to download the notepaper.

DOWNLOAD Abigail Notepaper

The study will begin during the second week of January. Until then, have a read through the chapter and make some notes on what stands out to you. Hopefully, we shall have some great insights to share in the comments once we get started. 

God bless!

ABIGAIL Part One: 1 Samuel 1-3

(January 7th, 2026)

Setting the scene for this chapter we learn in v1 that God’s faithful priest and prophet, Samuel, has died and been buried in Ramah. At that time David and his men have been hiding in the caves of the Engedi, to escape King Saul who is hunting David in order to take his life. You’ll note that previously in chapter 24 David spares Saul’s life because he will not murder God’s anointed. This is an important point to consider in the next chapter with the story of Abigail.

Now, leaving the strongholds of Engedi, David and his men travel to the area where a different man of aggression is to be faced. Nabal.

Nabal is very rich, with thousands of sheep and goats, and he employed many men to shepherd them. He is described in v3 as a man none of us would want to be involved with. The reason I’d like us to take a look at Nabal is to give us a reference point between the character of Nabal, and that of his wife Abigail.

Nabal: In the ancient Hebrew, the description of Nabal is less than kind – he is cruel, impudent, obstinate, stiff-necked and stubborn. An all-round nasty man indeed.

nāvāl, pronounced na-VAHL, means fool, and indeed we shall see that his character in the story ahead confirms that description.

Abigail: How very different she is to her husband. Described as a woman of good understanding and beautiful countenance, I have heard many women ask “why did she marry such a dreadful man?” Well, these were different times, and most marriages were arranged or convenient. Abigail was more than likely ‘bought’ by Nabal from her father for a mohar, or what we would call a dowry. This would commonly be 50 silver shekels as we learn in Exodus 22 and Deuteronomy 22, but could also be paid in livestock, years of service to the father-in-law (such as with Jacob, Rachel and Leah), or even foreskins, which were King Saul’s price for David to marry his daughter Michal. If the families were very rich the price would be much higher than the 50 shekels.

So, it seems fairly obvious this was how Abigail came to be Nabal’s wife. But let us not forget that God is in the details, and He had a bigger plan for Abigail’s life.

I love how the Hebrew language widens our understanding of a particular word, something our English language has lost, or may never have had. When I studied the description of Abigail last year, her character qualities became qualities I desired to focus on in my own life, knowing I had many sharp edges to be smoothed down, but also a loving Father who would show me how. Studying godly women in the Bible serves to refine our modern character, and to change us character trait, by character trait, into Christian women who represent the Word of God in action, and not just name only. 

Let’s look at the Hebrew meaning of the words which described Abigail in v3.

Good understanding – seh-kel (sekel). She had discernment, discretion, knowledge, prudence, sense, wisdom.

The same word is used in Proverbs 19:11 – “The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression.”

In Nehemiah 8:8 – “They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.”

In Proverbs 23:9 – “Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words.”

In Psalm 111:10 – “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.”

Beautiful countenance – toar (to-ar). This refers to form and appearance, the same word being used to describe Rachel in Genesis 29:17, and David in 1 Samuel 16:18

The Wise Woman:

The Bible has a lot to say about being a wise woman, such as here in Proverbs 14:1 where the scripture reads "The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands." 

To build means to 'repair, set up, make, to obtain children'...

But to pull it down (plucketh in the KJ) means to 'overthrow, ruin, break, destroy into pieces, beat down'. 

Abigail was a wise woman, not foolish, and this becomes very obvious as we continue her story in the weeks and months ahead.

Next time...

Before the next instalment of our Abigail study, read through v4-13 to learn of the aggressive situation that arose between David and Nabal.

Then focus on v14-19 because that’s when we meet this wise woman again, and our focus will be on those four verses.

Until then, God bless you all!

DOWNLOAD Part 1

ABIGAIL Part Two: 1 Samuel 25:4-19

(January 21st, 2026)

 At the end of Part One I asked that before we moved on in the study, you could read through v4-13 to learn of the aggressive situation that arose between David and Nabal, before placing our focus on v14-19, where we meet Abigail again. Today I shall quickly mention the incident with David and Nabal before moving on to Abigail.

David’s men have been living in the area where Nabal’s men were shepherding three thousand sheep. One of the young men relays to Abigail later, “they (David and his men) were very good to us…we suffered no harm, we missed nothing in the fields as long as we went with them…they were a wall to us both day and night, all the while we were keeping the sheep”. From this we know that David meant only good to Nabal and his workers, and was generous in protecting the men and the sheep from marauders.

When the time for shearing the sheep had come, David sent ten of his men to Nabal and asked that they greet him in David’s name, and request that Nabal supply them with food for the coming feast day, as they had long been watching over Nabal’s men and flocks.

Now here it gets very nasty, for Nabal not only ridicules David but refuses to give him anything, not caring at all about the protection which was freely given to his men and sheep for quite a time. 

David’s response when his men return with Nabal’s answer, was fierce, and he had four hundred of his men strap on their swords, for David’s anger was stoked and he planned to attack Nabal and all he had.

ABIGAIL: v14-19

One of Nabal’s young shepherds immediately alerts Abigail to the situation, how it came about, and how it would soon unfold to the detriment of all in Nabal’s household. The young man relays not just the facts about how David and his men had protected them in the fields, but he begins with this –

“Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them.”

This is interesting because on the surface we might wonder why David reacted so strongly at Nabal’s rejection of his request for food, but when you study the words used here, the vast contrast between the humble attitude of David’s request, and Nabal’s fiery denial of giving any help, the smoke clears a little.

David’s request in V14 – to ‘greet’ our master. Greet in Hebrew is “barak” (pronounced baw-rak) and means blessed, praise, to kneel down. From this we know that David’s men came before Nabal with a humble blessing from David, and would probably have knelt down before Nabal in their greeting.

Nabal, we are told in V14, ‘railed’ at them (the word can also be translated as reviled). Railed in Hebrew is “‘iyt” (pronounced eet) and means swooped down upon. The same word is used in 1 Samuel 14:32 when the starving soldiers ‘flew upon the spoil’ and ate the cattle raw because they were so hungry. It paints a picture of Nabal that caused me to imagine him swooping down on David’s men as though he wanted to devour them.

Now, what did I learn of Abigail in this? She listens. She did not rush the young servant who relayed all of this to her, but paid attention. She is the mistress of the household and could have turned him away; she could have distanced herself from any involvement and turned a deaf ear. I also think the young man went to her because he knew of her honest and caring character, and believed she would act to save Nabal’s household from certain destruction. And that is exactly what she did.

This is where we see Abigail living out the description of herself from V3. We learned previously that she was not just beautiful, but had good understanding – seh-kel (sekel), which means discernment, discretion, knowledge, prudence, sense, wisdom. Now all those traits, and more, come to the fore.

In V18-19 Abigail, thinking quickly and wisely, and with great generosity, has donkeys laden with food of all kinds, in large quantities, prepared and sent ahead of her to David. She did not tell her husband, but bravely sets out on her own donkey to face David and beg for Nabal and their household to be spared.

She would have had no idea about the type of reception she would receive from David, who at this stage is furious with murderous intent against everything and everyone that belonged to Nabal, but she was doing all she knew, in a short amount of time, to step in and bring a peaceful end to the matter before blood would be spilled.

I have to say, this is where my admiration and awe of Abigail shines through. She takes up such a tiny part of Scripture, and yet if she did not take these steps, the course of David’s story would have taken a different turn. More about that as we move further into the chapter…

Next time we shall look at V20-35.

DOWNLOAD Part 2