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Abigail of Maon and the Wise Woman of Abel: Speaking Truth to Power

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Abigail of Maon and the Wise Woman of Abel: Speaking Truth to Power Abigail of Maon and The Wise Woman of Abel Abigail of Maon and the Wise Woman of Abel: Speaking Truth to Power David J. Zucker, Aurora, CO, USA, and Noam Zion, Hartman Institute of Jerusalem, Israel Abstract In 1 Samuel Abigail of Maon and then in 2 Samuel the Wise Woman of Abel dare to Speak Truth to Power. Each woman employs the wisdom of a moral appeal to the male aggressor’s better inclinations to deescalate a situation where her community is seriously threatened with violent and immediate annihilation. Key words: Abigail of Maon, David, Joab, Nabal, Sheba son of Bikhri, Speaking Truth to Power, Wise Woman of Abel. On two occasions in the Books of Samuel, David or King David’s military representative, his principal general Joab, encounters resistance from a strong-minded woman defending her world. This woman speaks up and challenges the imminent and indiscriminate intent to destroy her and her whole community. David and David’s representative Joab initially seem to regard the woman and her companions as expendable, collateral damage in order to defend David’s honor and reestablish his authority over a disrespectful male figure who has threatened David’s hegemony. Into the violent male vs. male political contest a woman intervenes with only her persuasive words, with a mere appeal to reason and morality, to stop in his tracks a determined, and angry warrior ready for his assault on someone who has insulted his honor and undermined his legitimacy. First in 1 Samuel 25, Abigail of Maon, the wife of Nabal, and then again in 2 Samuel 20, the anonymous Wise Woman of Abel (Abel Beth-maacah) dare to confront and defy the intentions of armed forces bent on overrunning and destroying their worlds. Both many chapters and many years separate these two narratives. Yet each relates to the moral-cum-religious-cum-political decisions about whether (and if yes, then) how to use political violence. In both cases we will explain how the women themselves initially appear to be allied with the unrepentant male protagonists who deny 1 Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary e-Journal Volume 17 Number 2 (2020) ISSN 1209-9392 © 2021 Women in Judaism, Inc. All material in the journal is subject to copyright; copyright is held by the journal except where otherwise indicated. There is to be no reproduction or distribution of contents by any means without prior permission. Contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors. Abigail of Maon and The Wise Woman of Abel David’s claims to authority. (Abigail presents herself as equally guilty with her husband for whose life she pleads. The city of Abel apparently joined the revolt along with all the northern Israel tribes against David. They offered Sheba refuge but have not handed him over while Joab has been assiduously preparing siegeworks). These narratives portray David as a novice regional chieftain on his way up the ladder to monarchal pretensions and then as an aging veteran monarch desperately trying to hold on to royal power and maintain national unity in a series of civil wars. Text and Context Abigail of Maon (1 Sam 25): Abigail is the wife of a wealthy landowner who lives near the Judean desert. Her husband Nabal owns 3000 sheep and 1000 goats. Where Abigail is praised as intelligent and good-looking (tovat sekhel vifat toar), Nabal is characterized as a hard man and an evildoer (qasheh v’ra ma-allilim – vv. 2-3). He is also described as a person who is nasty or ill-natured (ben-b’liya-al – 1 Sam 25:17; ish ha-b’liya-al, v. 25). Coincidentally, Sheba son of Bikhri is also described with that latter phrase, ish ha-b’liya-al (2 Sam 20:1, and Joab with his brothers is described as a hard man (2 Sam 2:18; 3:39). This is early in David’s career. He is forced out of Saul’s court, and is living off the land with a group of six hundred of his followers. “David extends his protection to the region’s inhabitants—farmers and shepherds—against outlaws, services for which he demands payment (even though he was never asked to perform them).”1 When David sends a number of his young men to greet and bless Nabal with good wishes for peace expecting to be paid for their contribution to a successful season of sheep grazing, Nabal dismisses his request labeling David as a nobody. David takes great umbrage and prepares to wipe out Nabal and his household.2 Nabal’s character is so harsh, that no one can communicate with him (1 Sam 25:17). So one of Nabal’s young men goes straight to Abigail to warn her of David’s expected vengeance. Providing an objective perspective, the young man reaffirms David’s version of his loyal service to Nabal and explains that David and his followers did protect Nabal’s property from harm. David did not shame Nabal’s shepherds, while Nabal spurned and debased David’s representatives (1 Sam 2 Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary e-Journal Volume 17 Number 2 (2020) ISSN 1209-9392 © 2021 Women in Judaism, Inc. All material in the journal is subject to copyright; copyright is held by the journal except where otherwise indicated. There is to be no reproduction or distribution of contents by any means without prior permission. Contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors. Abigail of Maon and The Wise Woman of Abel 25:14-16). Abigail takes direct action without informing her husband who apparently is busy celebrating the shearing season. Abigail sends great quantities of bread, meat, and fruit to David to try and appease him (vv. 18-19). Following up in person, Abigail seeks to placate David, terming her husband a boor (the word Nabal can mean a boor, a fool, a knave, ill-natured, or a good-for- nothing).3 Rachel Adelman adds relevantly that Isaiah describes a “nabal” as one who is stingy refusing to share his food with the needy and who willingly lies in turning aside the lawful claims of the poor (like David’s servants). She refers to Isaiah 32:6, “For the villain speaks villainy [naval n’valah]… to act impiously… to leave the hungry unsatisfied and deprive the thirsty of drink.”4 Abigail throws herself at David’s feet, putting herself in imminent danger. She then proclaims her political and prophetic truths and urges David to reconsider his plan. Abigail wraps these truths in outrageous and obsequious flattery. She suggests that God has great plans for him. Alice Bach argues that “the primary theological function of Abigail is to speak the word of YHWH to David. While Nabal is ignorant of David’s true identity, Abigail recognizes David as the future king of Israel. Her prescience is a clear indication that Abigail is God’s chosen prophet-intermediary.”5 Her counsel will serve David’s long-term concerns and her own, but it also appeals to David’s image of moral leadership; he has to refrain from wanton destruction, which would tarnish his reputation. As Jan P. Fokkelman succinctly observes, the “unity of Abigail’s speech lies in the fact that she appeals to David’s self-interest; Abigail is so convincing to David because she illustrates that David will be fouling his own nest if he spills blood.”6 She concludes with a statement representing her own long-term self-interest (now separated from her plea to spare Nabal) that when David does prosper, he should remember her (vv. 25-31). “For YHWH will grant my lord [i.e., David] an everlasting house because my lord is fighting the battles of YHWH, and no wrong is found in you… [God] has appointed you ruler of Israel and let this not be a cause of stumbling and of faltering courage to my lord that you may shed blood needlessly… and when YHWH has prospered my lord, remember your maid” (1 Sam 25:28, 30-31). David listens to her and praises and thanks her elaborately; he complies with her suggestion. Upon returning home, on the next day Abigail informs Nabal what she has done. He seems to have a 3 Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary e-Journal Volume 17 Number 2 (2020) ISSN 1209-9392 © 2021 Women in Judaism, Inc. All material in the journal is subject to copyright; copyright is held by the journal except where otherwise indicated. There is to be no reproduction or distribution of contents by any means without prior permission. Contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors. Abigail of Maon and The Wise Woman of Abel stroke, or an apoplectic fit and soon dies. Shortly after this, David sends for Abigail and she quickly joins him becoming his second wife. Thus, while David’s aid to Nabal’s shepherds and his request to share in Nabal’s prosperity was ungratefully spurned, David proves himself a generous and appreciative beneficiary of Abigail’s aid when he remembers her in his time of prosperity. The Wise Woman of Abel (2 Sam 20): This episode takes place many years later. David has become king. He has had to suppress challenges to his role, including an unsuccessful revolt led by his son Absalom. Not long thereafter a troublemaker, Sheba son of Bikhri, a Benjaminite, leads a different, but ultimately unsuccessful, uprising against David. He proclaimed: “We have no portion in David, no share in Jesse’s son, every man to his tent, O Israel” (2 Sam 20:1).
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