"David is captivated by a married woman and cannot overcome his passion. In this instance, Abigail takes a determined stand against him, and thanks to her he is saved from sin. The balance of forces in this midrash is suitable for the Biblical situation, in which David has not yet ascended the throne: he has no possessions, and he flees for his life from Saul, while Abigail is a woman of high standing, established and powerful"
When I read David and Abigail's encounter in the bible, it is so plain that you would not see the time if it was day or night. But Midrash confirms, it wasn't day. Midrash explicitly explains that David was instantly attracted to her at first sight to kill her. But when Abigail speaks these lines that would make her the most sought of all women, surpassingly beautiful among all married wives, she did not come to the future king-to-be empty handed. In the bible if we read it in original Hebrew text would exactly say: 1 Samuel 25:19
"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,"
Abigail got jars of wine (these are not cheap and in small jars rather drum-like jars), 200 loaves of bread ( this means Abigail's household is really may have had a sort of bakery outlet on their time), 5 dressed sheeps (this means the sheeps has been prepared fresh ready to cook whenever David want it to be cooked), 5 seahs of parched corn ( seah means a dry measure of a third of a bath of someone with a high status, also speaks of plentiful, and parched means the act of drying the corn kernels in the best of parched earth, the process is said to be "well prepared" symbolizes the fact that God gives us what we need and it is well prepared and best in sight) 100 cakes of raisin ( again Abigail might have really a cake factory for you to produce this quantity instantly on hand, she has a lot of baking tools, handmaids and all resources to produce) and finally 200 cakes of pressed figs (showcased figs in all their seasonal glory with her favourite recipes such as cakes)
AC
Comments
Post a Comment