Abiezer (Hastings' Dictionary)

1. The name of a clan (nnjij'O Jos 17" (P or R) ; i^y Jg 6") belonging to the tribe of Manasseh (Jg 6"). Consequently, in genealogical descriptions of the tribal relations, Abiezer appears as a son or descendant of Manasseh, Jos 17', 1 Ch 7", Nu 26 (P ; in this last passage the name is written lezer, ijj;'!?, LXX 'Ax'^fep). The most distinguished member of the clan was Gideon, who describes it (cf., however, Moore [Intern. Critical Comment- ary] on Jg 6") as ' the poorest in Manasseh,' Jg 6", cf. 8'. In the time of Gideon the clan was settled at Ophrah of the Abiezrites (Jg 6", cf. v."), which perhaps lay near Shechem. In any case it would be unsafe, from P's statement that Abiezer was a son of Gilead (Nu 26™ ; cf. 1 Ch 7', but cf. Jos 17), to infer that the clan was ever settled on the E. of Jordan ; cf. Dillmann on Nu 26™. 2. Abiezer the Anathothite, i.e. man of Anathoth in Benjamin (1 Ch 27"; cf. Jer 1'). was one of David's heroes, 2 S 235' = 1 Ch 11=«. According to 1 Ch 27" he was the acting military officer of David's army in the 9th month. Abiezrite is the gentilic form. G. B. Gray. ABIGAIL and (2 S 17» RV) Ablgal (Heb. gener- ally VvJV, 3 times Si'jx, once each ^'.yix, S:3;n 'father is joy,' or, perhaps, if the ' be not original, 'has rejoiced.' — 1. The discreet and beautiful wife of Nabal the Carmelite. Hearing of her husband's dismissal of David's messengers, and refusal of their request, unknown to her husband she went to meet David with provisions for him and his men, and in this way so gained David's favour that he abandoned his intended raid on Nabal. Some ten days after, Nabal died, and subsequently Abigail became David's wife: this was after David's former wife, Michal, had been given to Palti, but apparently at about the same time that he also married Ahinoam the Jezreelitess. Together with Ahinoam, Abigail shared David's life at Gath, sufl'ered captivity (from Ziklag) by the Amalekites, and wa-s speedily rescued ; later she lived with David at Hebron, and there bore a son, — Chileab (2 S 3') or Daniel (1 Ch 3') by name,— 1 S 25 ; also 27' 3(J»- " 2 S 2 3». 1 Ch 3'. 2. A sister of Zeruiah — and according to I Ch 2" also of David — who through her union with Ithra the Ishmaelite (see art. Itiira) became mother of Ama.sa. The words in 2 S 17* (vni na), which assert that she was a daughter of Nahash, are probably an intrusion from v." (rm 13 = the son of Nahash) ; cf. Wellhausen, t.;. Q. B. GRAY.