We’re all familiar with the story of Abigail and Nabal, her wicked husband, right? But who was David’s bride, Ahinoam?
She’s actually mentioned for the first time at the end of Abigail’s story:
Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five female servants, went with David’s messengers and became his wife. David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both were his wives. 1 Samuel 25:42–43 (emphasis added)
Ahinoam–The Mother of David’s Firstborn
Ahinoam is mentioned again in 2 Samuel 3 as one of the women who gave David his first six sons:
Sons were born to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon the son of Ahinoam of Jezreel; his second, Kileab the son of Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; the third, Absalom the son of Maakah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; and the sixth, Ithream the son of David’s wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron. 2 Samuel 3:2–5 (emphasis added)
Did you notice how the phrase, “born to David in Hebron,” bookends the naming of David’s six wives and their sons. His sons are listed in order of their birth in Hebron. But 1 Samuel 25:42-43 makes it clear that David married both Ahinoam and Abigail before he went to Hebron–likely while he was still a fugitive from Saul in Judah’s wilderness. For this reason (and others), I’ve written Book #1 of King David’s Brides, BRAVE: The Story of Ahinoam, to include both Ahinoam’s story and Abigail’s.
Ahinoam–David’s First Wilderness Wife
Most of 1 Samuel tells about the prophet Samuel, King Saul’s reign, and David’s life as a fugitive, running from Saul’s murderous threats. After David’s first wife, Michal (King Saul’s daughter), helped him escape Saul’s assassins in Gibeah, the Bible’s next mention of her is to inform us that Saul annulled the marriage and gave Michal to another man, Paltiel.
As Israel’s anointed king, David could have (theoretically) married anytime and as many women as he wanted. However, as a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14), David surely would have quite carefully considered that he was breaking the Law of Moses by marrying more than one wife at a time:
“[Israel’s king] must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray.” Deuteronomy 17:17
God spoke that law to Moses hundreds of years before Samuel anointed David as Israel’s next king. But Samuel heard God rightly. David was faithful to Yahweh and would likely have known the Law. It might be understandable that he married Ahinoam after hearing news that Saul had given David’s first wife to another man. But what could justify David’s decision to marry Abigail? What could have caused David–this man after God’s own heart–to knowingly break God’s Law?
I believe David was a foreshadowing of the GRACE Yahweh displayed centuries later through Jesus, the Messiah. David sinned many times in his life, yet Yahweh still promised his descendants would eternally sit on Israel’s throne. Was it because David deserved it? No way. Rather, it was because God’s grace on David foreshadowed the immeasurable grace (unmerited favor) God would offer to the whole world through His Son, Jesus–David’s descendant who sits on God’s eternal throne.
CLICK HERE for a fuller discussion of why David might have married multiple wives.
The “Other” Ahinoam
Only one other Ahinoam appears in the Bible: King Saul’s wife. Some scholars would have us consider that David married his mother-in-law (Ewww!). Besides the fact that this, too, would have broken the Law (Lev. 18:17), it simply doesn’t make sense.
David’s Ahinoam bears his son, Amnon, in Hebron after years of scampering all over the desert. They then spend over a year’s sojourn in Gath and Ziklag–Philistine territory–which, when added to the wilderness wandering, adds up to approximately eight years.
Saul’s queen, Ahinoam, was the mother of not only David’s first wife but also of Jonathan, David’s best friend. Considering Jonathan fought his first battle early in Saul’s reign, Queen Ahinoam must have been approximately forty years older than David. She would have been well past childbearing age when David’s wives gave him sons in Hebron.
Where Is Ahinoam’s Hometown–Jezreel?
The Bible gives us only one indisputable Truth about Ahinoam–her hometown–and even that’s a little confusing. She’s mentioned six times as, “Ahinoam of Jezreel.”
When I wrote a short story about her in 2021, I didn’t have time to do a lot of research. I assumed Jezreel was a town somewhere near the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel.
I was wrong.
Upon further research for the full-length novel, Brave, I found an interesting tidbit in the Book of Joshua. God (through Joshua) began dispersing land to various tribes after the conquest of the Promised Land. Joshua assigned the following towns to the tribe of Judah in an area described as the Judean hill country.
Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, Kain, Gibeah and Timnah—ten towns and their villages. Joshua 15:55–57 (emphasis added)
David’s hometown, Bethlehem, was also part of Judah’s tribe, but it was as far north as possible–right next to the border of Saul’s tribe, Benjamin. Jezreel was in the far southern reaches of Judah nestled amid the desert hills east of the fertile plain of the Shephelah.
I was even more certain Jezreel was likely Ahinoam’s hometown when I noticed three other names cities that played an integral part in David’s wilderness story: Maon, Carmel, and Ziph. The Gibeah mentioned in 15:57 is a different town than “Gibeah of Saul” where he reigned north of Jerusalem.
Map by Stanford Campbell, 2024.
Why Give Ahinoam a Kenite Heritage?
In my 2021 short story, I’d characterized Ahinoam as a Kenite and dagger thrower simply because I thought she would need to be tough to traipse around the wilderness with David and his men. This is another area where deeper research for the novel opened up a whole new subplot, not to mention more biblical and historical authenticity to Brave: The Story of Ahinoam. I added to that some God-given imagination and had so much fun creating who Ahinoam MIGHT HAVE BEEN!
I hope you’ll stop by my blog on September 23rd to read Who Is Ahinoam, Part II, to read more about WHY I gave this feisty woman the heritage of a Kenite. Here’s a hint to pique your curiosity: read Judges 4 to find out about a woman named Jael.
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