Abigail

Abigail was the wife of Nabal, a wealthy man of Maon described bluntly as "harsh and badly behaved." When David sent men to request provisions — as was the custom given that his warriors had protected Nabal's shepherds throughout the year — Nabal refused with contempt, saying he had never heard of David. David set out with four hundred armed men intending to kill every male in Nabal's household.

Abigail, warned by a servant, moved quickly. Without telling her husband, she loaded donkeys with two hundred loaves, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, roasted grain, raisins, and fig cakes, and rode to intercept David. She dismounted, bowed low, and gave a speech of carefully calibrated wisdom — taking blame on herself, deflecting it from her husband, and prophesying that God would make David "a sure house" because he was "fighting the battles of the LORD." David blessed her for her good sense: "Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt." When Nabal heard the story the next morning, his heart died within him and he died ten days later. David then married Abigail.