In Ancient Israel, honor constitutes a person’s identity and is defined as one’s public reputation. Honor is more associated with men and provides the basis of their social ranking. Shame, however, is more associated with women, where it can be both positive and negative. Positive shame reflects a woman’s role in procreation; a woman models her shame through domestic roles. Negative shame can occur when a wife fails to protect her husband’s honor. On the other hand, shame is not acceptable for men and their honorable statuses in society can be damaged. In 1 Samuel 25, an outlaw, David, asks a wealthy sheep farmer, Nabal, for a gift of food and water. Nabal refuses and acts as if he does not know David despite his help with his sheep. These
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They acknowledge the escalated conflict between him and Nabal but want to resolve it in a way where David comes out as the honorable man and not Nabal. In order to do this, they use Abigail to be the reason within the story and sort out the desired ending of the conflict. The scribes do not write her actions based on how a real wife in Ancient Israel would act in this type of situation; they have her act against the social norms in society so that David becomes the one who his truly honorable and Nabal be the one who looks like the fool. Abigail goes to David with the offerings he asked for in order to prevent him from having a bad reputation or bad honor among the Israelite people. By doing so, the scribes allow Abigail to reveal Nabal as the real fool and David as the honorable one within the conflict.
In the social aspect, Abigail would be seen as shaming her husband, Nabal, and, therefore, shaming herself. However, the scribes do not write the character of Abigail as being in the social context of the Israelites; they create her actions in a literary context that achieves their overall goal of David’s honor. She is only used for the purpose of resolution and not for the purpose of how a real wife should act. The scribes want God’s promise to David to be fulfilled, and the only way for that to happen is if David avoids the bloodshed he wishes to carryout, which is achieved through the use of Abigail’s
They acknowledge the escalated conflict between him and Nabal but want to resolve it in a way where David comes out as the honorable man and not Nabal. In order to do this, they use Abigail to be the reason within the story and sort out the desired ending of the conflict. The scribes do not write her actions based on how a real wife in Ancient Israel would act in this type of situation; they have her act against the social norms in society so that David becomes the one who his truly honorable and Nabal be the one who looks like the fool. Abigail goes to David with the offerings he asked for in order to prevent him from having a bad reputation or bad honor among the Israelite people. By doing so, the scribes allow Abigail to reveal Nabal as the real fool and David as the honorable one within the conflict.
In the social aspect, Abigail would be seen as shaming her husband, Nabal, and, therefore, shaming herself. However, the scribes do not write the character of Abigail as being in the social context of the Israelites; they create her actions in a literary context that achieves their overall goal of David’s honor. She is only used for the purpose of resolution and not for the purpose of how a real wife should act. The scribes want God’s promise to David to be fulfilled, and the only way for that to happen is if David avoids the bloodshed he wishes to carryout, which is achieved through the use of Abigail’s