Michal vs. Avigail

Now Michal daughter of Saul had fallen in love with David; and when this was reported to Saul, he was pleased.

Saul sent messengers to David’s home to keep watch on him and to kill him in the morning. But David’s wife Michal told him, “Unless you run for your life tonight, you will be killed tomorrow.”

Michal took. So that they would not realize that he fled, and pursue him.

Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.

As the Ark of the LORD entered the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the LORD; and she despised him for it.

"And she despised him in her heart"- She dspised him in her heard because she thought that this was not conduct for the king, especially before the ark.

David answered Michal, “It was before the LORD who chose me instead of your father and all his family and appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel! I will dance before the LORD

So to her dying day Michal daughter of Saul had no children.

§ The Gemara asks with regard to the prophetesses recorded in the baraita: Who were the seven prophetesses? The Gemara answers: Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Huldah, and Esther. The Gemara offers textual support: Sarah, as it is written: “Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah” (Genesis 11:29). And Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Iscah is in fact Sarah. And why was she called Iscah? For she saw [sakhta] by means of divine inspiration, as it is stated: “In all that Sarah has said to you, hearken to her voice” (Genesis 21:12). Alternatively, Sarah was also called Iscah, for all gazed [sokhin] upon her beauty.

To complete the discussion about the prophetesses, the Gemara cites a baraita in which the Sages taught: There were four women of extraordinary beauty in the world: Sarah, and Abigail, Rahab, and Esther. And according to the one who said that Esther was greenish in color, lacking natural beauty, only that a cord of divine grace was strung around her, remove Esther from the list and insert Vashti in her place, for she was indeed beautiful.

The man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. The woman was intelligent and beautiful, but the man, a Calebite, was a hard man and an evildoer.

Abigail quickly got together two hundred loaves of bread, two jars of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of parched corn, one hundred cakes of raisin, and two hundred cakes of pressed figs. She loaded them on asses,

I swear, my lord, as the LORD lives and as you live—the LORD who has kept you from seeking redress by blood with your own hands—let your enemies and all who would harm my lord fare like Nabal!

[Adonoy] has prevented you. Who sent me toward you to refrain you from committing bloodshed.

David said to Abigail, “Praised be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me!

When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praised be the LORD who championed my cause against the insults of Nabal and held back His servant from wrongdoing; the LORD has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.” David sent messengers to propose marriage to Abigail, to take her as his wife.

The Sages taught in a baraita: Rahab aroused impure thoughts by her name, i.e., the mere mention of her name would inspire lust for her; Yael, by her voice; Abigail, by remembering her; Michal, the daughter of Saul, by her appearance. Similarly, Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Anyone who says Rahab, Rahab, immediately experiences a seminal emission due to the arousal of desire caused by Rahab’s great beauty. Rav Naḥman said to him: I say: Rahab, Rahab, and it does not affect me. Rabbi Yitzchak said to Rav Naḥman: When I said this, I was specifically referring to one who knows her personally and recognizes her beauty. Only for one who has met Rahab in person is the mere mention of her name capable of arousing lust.

These are the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the first-born Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelite; the second Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelite;

mishna The king “shall not add many wives for himself” (Deuteronomy 17:17), but only eighteen. Rabbi Yehuda says: He may add many wives for himself, provided that they are not like those who turn his heart away from reverence for God. Rabbi Shimon says: Even if he wants to marry only one wife, if she turns his heart away, he should not marry her. If so, why is it stated: “He shall not add many wives for himself”? This teaches that even if his wives are like Abigail, who was righteous and prevented David from sin (see I Samuel, chapter 25), it is prohibited for him to have many wives.

Solomon commenced the concluding chapter of Proverbs with the words אשת חיל מי ימצא, “who can find a woman of valour?” According to the plain meaning of the text he spoke about an intelligent woman, eager and competent to discharge the duties of her household, working hard both by day and by night; this is the meaning of Proverbs 31,18: “even when her affairs thrive her lamp does not go out at night.” This woman is known far and wide for the good she does for the poor, sustaining them with the work of her own hands. This is the meaning of 31,20: “she extends her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hand to the needy.” This whole chapter teaches us both moral/ethical lessons as well as lessons in good manners. A man is to look for this kind of a woman when he wants to get married as she is the mainstay of his home to be. Together with her he can look forward to building his family. Solomon wanted to enumerate all the virtues of such a woman in alphabetical order in order to demonstrate that a woman who possesses all these virtues also symbolizes the entire Torah. Her presence is her husband’s best preparation to achieve success in his Torah study and mitzvah performance, much as the body is the preparation for the soul to attain its objectives.
This is what the sages alluded to when they said (concerning a man finding a woman) “if he has merit, she will prove an invaluable helpmate” (Yevamot 63). Addressing the same subject, Solomon said: (Proverbs 18,22) “He who found a wife has found a good thing; he will obtain favor from the Lord,” seeing the Torah had said it is not good for man to remain solitary (Genesis 2,18) Solomon, when discussing marriage, said that a woman does not deserve to be praised on account of her physical beauty, graceful mannerism. Solomon said (Proverbs 31,30) “grace is deceptive, beauty is vain, a G’d-fearing woman is the woman who is truly praiseworthy.” This is also why he concludes by saying: “acknowledge her for the fruit of her hands and let her accomplishments praise her in the gates.” It is appropriate that she be praised for what she does, not for the attributes she was endowed with at birth [something for which one should praise the Lord, not her. Ed.] We find that Abigail was the prototype for such a woman whose good virtues employed at the right time and in the right place, saved her husband and her entire household from being killed by David and his men. David himself acknowledged this when he said to her (Samuel I 25,33): ”blessed be your prudence, and blessed be you yourself for restraining me from seeking redress in blood by my own hands.“