Abigail's Story (21 page)

That Abigail was courageous goes without question. How many women would, by themselves, try to stop an army of four hundred men? Yet what has always fascinated me about Abigail is what we do not know about her. We know she came from Carmel, but we have no information about her family, or under what circumstances she was raised. We do not know why such a wise woman who possessed such exemplary communication skills was married to
a man who was as foolish as he was greedy. We also do not really know why David listened to her advice. Abigail's appeal to him was beautifully spoken, but the gist of what she says is mostly praise for David (1 Samuel 25: 23–31).

Was the future king of Israel actually manipulated by flattery from a quick-thinking, fast-talking woman? Or did Abigail pull off the very first peace talks ever initiated and negotiated by a woman? I leave that for my readers to decide.

I took many, many liberties with Abigail's story, including adapting passages from the Holy Bible and inventing a private life for David, a charismatic and important figure who is surpassed only by Moses and Abraham for the number of times he is mentioned in the Bible. I would like to remind my readers that although this novel was built on firm foundations of fact, it was designed from the ground up by pure imagination. Thus, nothing of Abigail's story should be carved in stone, or someone will probably pitch it through one of my windows.

Ann Burton
September 1, 2004

Author's note: The actual Hebrew form of the following words has very complicated accenting and punctuation. In a few cases, some of the letters used to spell these words do not exist in the English alphabet. To make the text of this novel reader-friendly, I have removed all of the accenting, punctuation marks, and non-English letters from these words.

 

Adonai: Lord, a term used in place of Yahweh or God

Adonai yireh: Lord, protect us

bahur: young unmarried man

bamot: high place or temple used for worship

bet ab: the father's house

betulah: unmarried virgin woman

dal: poor; people who have lost prosperity and family

erwat dabar: feces or other unclean matter found in a camp

ezor: undergarment worn by men

ger: outsider (plural: gerum)

gerusa: divorced women cast off by their husbands

go'el: family member designated to pay debts when other members of the family cannot

hagor: belt, worn to keep the ezor in place

horoi: stones marking the boundary of nahalah

Issah nokriyah: foreign (non-Hebrew) woman

khiton: outer garment, like a robe

kor: unit of measure, roughly equal to a donkey-load

kushtha: medicinal herb; aka Costus

lehem: bread

maneh: weight measure used as money; 1 maneh = 50 sheqels

Melekh: the anointed King, chosen by the Adonai

m'khashepah: witch or occultist

mohar: bride price, paid to a bride's family

nahalah: plot or parcel of land belonging to a family

noqed: keepers and raisers of sheep; herdsmen

pesel: graven image or idol

qahal: assembly

quern: saddle-shaped stone used for grinding

rea: neighbor

sadhin: kiltlike garment worn on the hips

Shabbat: the Sabbath

shamar: guardsmen

sheqel: weight measure used as money; 50 sheqels = 1 maneh

shofar: ram's horn, blown like a trumpet

shofet: leader (plural: shofetim)

samla: outer robe worn by women

simla: outer robe worn by men tola'at

shani: red dye made from the scarlet worm

yeled: newborn, infant

zaqen: elder

zebed: dowry, given to a bride's husband

1. The family was the foundation of rural society in Ancient Israel. Compare Abigail's family to your own: What about them is different, or similar? What advantages or disadvantages does family give to a person in today's world?
   
2. Mosaic law curtailed the activities of women like Abigail and forced them to live sheltered lives. What would it be like to live under such restrictions? What are some of the restrictions modern women encounter in your country? Are such restrictions methods to safeguard or control women?
   
3. In Abigail's time, a family member called a go'el was required by law to pay any debts that another member of the family could not. What is the equivalent of a go'el in our time? While today it is no longer a legal requirement to act as go'el,
   should family members still help each other with their debts? Why?
   
4. Shepherds appear in many stories from the Bible, and many characters from the Bible once lived as shepherds. Why are shepherds such an important and enduring symbol? Who are the shepherds of our time, and what have they done to make our lives better?
   
5. The story of David and Goliath illustrates how courage and ingenuity can often defeat strength and bravado. Can you think of other battles that have taken place between similarly mismatched opponents? Who won those battles, and why?
   
6. Half of the women who gave birth in Ancient Israel died of complications following childbirth. Today, conditions for expectant mothers in some countries are little better than they were three thousand years ago. What can be done to help these countries improve maternal and infant mortality rates? How can better education help improve the health of pregnant women?
   
7. The worshipping and making of graven images were forbidden among Abigail's people so that they would not be tempted to pay homage to false gods. What practices are taboo in your culture or religion? Why are these important? Which would you change, and why?
   
8. Abigail compares many things in her life to the making of pottery. Apply aspects of your work or hobbies to life in general. What wisdom can you draw from them? How might they help other people live better and make wiser decisions?
   
9. David was King Saul's acknowledged successor, and yet the king was jealous and suspicious of him, and tried to kill him. David, however, refused to strike back. What do you think was the reason behind Saul's behavior? Was David right in not trying to retaliate?
   
10. Abigail's story is about the price of family love, generosity, and pride. Which character from the story do you most sympathize with? Which character was most at fault? How would you have handled Abigail's dilemmas?
    

Families in Ancient Israel,
by Leo G. Perdue, Joseph Blenkinsopp, John J. Collins, and Carol Meyers, published by Westminster John Knox Press, ISBN# 0-664-25567-1

Life in Biblical Israel,
by Philip J. King and Lawrence E. Stager, published by Westminster John Knox Press, ISBN# 0-664-22148-3

The Everything Jewish History & Heritage Book,
by Richard D. Bank and Julie Gutin, published by Adams Media Corporation, ISBN# 1-58062-966-0

What Did the Biblical Writers Know & When Did They Know It: What Archaeology Can Tell Us About the Reality of Ancient Israel,
by William G. Dever, published by Wm. E. Eerdmans Publishing Company, ISBN# 0-8028-2126-X

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's Imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

 

The Penguin Putnam Inc. World Wide Web site address is
http://www.penguinputnam.com