A Character Study of Abigail 
After the death of Samuel, the story of Abigail is related in scripture. Abigail was the wife a badly behaved, harsh man named Nabal, a Calebite (1Sa 25:13). David and his men were in the wilderness and hearing of Nabal shearing his sheep (perhaps an idiom not then used but appropriate to the story nonetheless), sent a delegation to him, expecting some tribute for keeping his sheep and shepherds safe—and also for doing some of the work of shepherding themselves. Instead of tribute, Nabal disrespects David, insinuating that he was a “nobody” or at best a disobedient servant who had broken away from his master (v10). David was told of Nabal’s discourteous response and wasted no time in forming his own, 400-man comeback.
Before he could reach Nabal, the worthless fellow’s wife, Abigail, closed the gap between David and Nabal, meeting David with a tribute she had prepared. Her hope was that she might at least take the edge off David’s sword response. She might have hoped for more as well. She fell at David’s feet and took all the blame for her husband. She made no excuses for him but painted him in a bad light, poking some fun at his name (naval, a Hebrew form or perhaps the root of the word for villainy or foolishness). She as much as said that he deserves what treatment he gets but at the same time apologized for not having met David’s delegation. Had she known they were there, she assured David that they would have received a better welcome.
Abigail asked David’s forgiveness for something David must have understood was beyond her control. She further requested David to spare Nabal’s life, which would also spare David of any bloodguilt. It is to be understood, of course, that part of the bloodguilt might have been David taking the life of this innocent woman too. Though it would have been the males his troops would have sought to annihilate (v34), perhaps she too would have been hurt (at least). David granted her petition for peace with Nabal.
When Abigail returned to her home, she found Nabal drunk. “In the morning, when the wine had gone out of him” (an amusing note on the morning ritual especially after a night of drinking), Abigail informed him of all she had done with David. The inference to be drawn was that she had treated David honorably and as one man should another man—but as Nabal had failed to do. A woman had done a man’s job, done it face-to-face, and in so doing had managed to spare her husband’s worthless hide. Nabal was stricken. Perhaps it was his conscience; maybe he was shamed. Then again he might have feared that David would still arrive with his 400 swords (Abigail would not have left out the detail of how many men had been on the way to deal with Nabal.). The scripture states that Nabal’s heart turned to stone, which some translations interpret as a seizure or heart ailment. Ten days later, Nabal died.
When David heard the news, he was happy that the Lord avenged him of Nabal’s insult. he must have been especially happy now that Abigail had convinced David to allow vengeance to the Lord’s (Deut 32:35). He then sent for Abigail, the new widow, who would surely still be as beautiful and discerning (v3) as when they had met. He sent for her, not so much to look after her needs but to take her as his wife (v39). Her only delay in coming to David was to first show respect to David’s delegation—the very thing that did not occur to her late husband during their first visit to the house of Nabal. Abigail then quickly mounted a donkey, not packing anything it would seem, but a retinue of five women, and hurried to David. She immediately became one of his wives. Abigail bore a son for David, his second, whose name was Chileab. 1 Chronicles 3:1 records Chileab’s name as Daniel.
Abigail was an honorable woman who took a stab at getting herself out of a loathsome predicament. She was surrounded by morons because she was married to one and the rest did his bidding. She was trapped in a bad marriage (probably one arranged by her family) but bad as the situation was, she could still do the right thing—and sometimes doing the right thing has a way of coming back round to one’s benefit. Though she could not have known it would kill Nabal, she must have known it would shame him when he heard how she had dealt with David like a man when he had not. Instead of being rude from the supposed safety of distance, she confronted David in person. In doing so, striking as she was, perhaps she also hoped to appeal to David on a deeper, emotional level.
If she didn’t…it worked anyway.