David’s wives

My oldest son Woelke pointed out to me that 1-2 Samuel refer several times to David’s two wives – Ahinoam and Abigail (cf. 1 Sam 25:43). They are named – complete with their places of origin – when David goes to live with Achish (1 Sam 27:3), when the Amalekites attack Ziklag (1 Sam 30:5), when when David goes up to Hebron to receive the kingdom of Judah.

Why the repetition? There may be several things going on here.

1) The passages where these women are named link together as a story line of exile, conquest, and enthronement. The brides are named when David goes into exile in Philistia, when he defeats the Amalekites as he departs from Gath in his great exodus, and when he receives the kingdom of Judah.

2) This lends a “bridal” dimension to the story of David’s enthronement. This is consistent with the way that 1 Samuel presents kingship from the beginning. When Saul is on his way to find Samuel, he stops by a well and gets directions from a woman (1 Sam 9:11). Robert Alter sees this as an “abortive betrothal,” a portent of the failure of Saul’s reign. I think rather it is a hint of the greater betrothal that will take place on top of the mountain, when Saul is betrothed to the bride, Israel. The Song of Songs fits with this marital-political view of kingship as well; the bride is not only the land and the temple, but also the people over whom Solomon reigns. The repetition of David’s bride’s names hints at the marital dimension of his kingship as well. He is moving toward betrothal and marriage (= covenant) with the bride Israel.

3) Why two brides? Perhaps geography tells the story. Abigail is from Carmel, in Judah; Ahinoam from Jezreel, which is in the north (cf. 1 Ki 21). David will in fact “marry” two political brides in the early chapters of 2 Sam, and the Davidic house rules (for a brief time) two kingdoms. It’s an error to think that the division of the kingdom occurs suddenly after the reign of Solomon. A number of events in 1-2 Samuel show that there are tribal tensions already in the reign of David (eg, 2 Sam 19:40-43).

4) Saul’s wife was also named “Ahinoam” (1 Sam 14:50). This is suggestive, but there doesn’t seem to be any evidence one way or the other about whether David and Saul married the same Ahinoam. But see 2 Samuel 12:8.