Women with a Story to Tell: The Merry Wives of David: Ahinoam

 Abigail you may have heard of, and David you know; or at least you think you do. Maybe you know the good parts with that one big mistake with Bathsheba. There is more, though, as you will see later.

 While David was on the run, King Saul took back his daughter Michal and gave her to another man as his wife. From the devotionals for the last two weeks, we know that during this time he took a widow named Abigail as his wife. We actually know something about her.

 However, at about the same time, perhaps before or perhaps after Abigail, David took another wife named Ahinoam. Never heard of her? You are not alone.

 We do not know the circumstances. A comment following the Abigail story just says: “David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel; both of them became his wives. Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti, son of Laish, who was from Gallim” (I Samuel 25: 42-43). Elsewhere, Ahinoam is listed with Abigail, but Ahinoam’s name is first, perhaps implying that David married her first, or perhaps only that she had David’s first born son, Amnon. Remember that Michal had no children.

 Ahinoam and Abigail travelled with David and his band of young men while Saul put a price on his head and was searching for him. Jezreel is in the north of Israel, in the territory around Galilee.

David and his people sought refuge with the Philistines, specifically King Achish of Gath. Remember, Gath was the home of Goliath from David’s younger days. Gath was one of the 5 Philistine cities in a confederation, located just inland from the shores of the Mediterranean, in an area called the Shephelah or ‘foothills’ before the more mountainous area further inland. 

 Since David was Saul’s enemy, Achish figured the enemy of my enemy is my friend. He treated David well and eventually gave him and his company the town of Ziklag, which had been in Israelite hands, but at the moment had been re-conquered as a Philistine possession (I Samuel 27). 

 Once, when David was away on a military expedition with Achish, the Amalekites, a nomadic tribe from the southern desert, attacked Ziklag and carried off all the inhabitants, including David’s wives Ahinoam and Abigail (I Samuel 30). After inquiring of the Lord with an ephod that the priest Abiathar brought, David pursued the Amalekites, found them partying around the campfire, and attacked. After a long battle, he defeated them and recovered his wife, as well as all the booty and cattle that the Amalekites had stolen.

 Did David care for his wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, or was it a matter of honor? Yes, it seems that he did care, but he was also responding to his men’s anger over losing their wives and families. All were satisfied with the outcome.

 Later, when King Saul and his son Jonathan died in battle with the Philistines (David did not participate on either side), David inquired of the Lord about his next move, and he was advised to take his wives and company to the town of Hebron (II Samuel 2). There, David was proclaimed King of Israel. That made his primary wife and mother of his son, Ahinoam, the queen of Israel, though she is never named as such in Scripture.

 So, these two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, stuck by David in very difficult times when he was struggling to defend himself from Saul but refused to fight him because Saul was the Lord’s anointed. They were loyal through the trauma of being kidnapped and rescued, and through the uncertainty of the time right after King Saul’s death. 

 Ahinoam, however, probably had to suffer through the bad behavior of her son, Amnon; a story we will tell later. Amnon was the eldest son and probably in line to be king, but he chose the wrong path. Once again, grief and sorrow for Ahinoam. However, she still did not desert David. What her end was, we are not told. Her feelings are hidden.