Wives and Almost Wives Trivia Quiz

Answer: Michal

Michal is, in my opinion, one of the most misrepresented Bible characters there is. She has often been painted as a bad girl, prideful, malicious, and even ungodly, all because of one incident where she rebuked her husband, David, for dancing (2 Samuel 6). But to label her as a villain, I think someone has to ignore her good deeds, such as when she saved David's life. Saul wanted to murder David, but she helped David to escape (1 Samuel 19). In addition, I personally feel that it is important to consider things from Michal's perspective to understand why she reacted the way she did, even if she ended up sinning anyway.

Michal was Saul's daughter, the first wife of David. David and Michal were young people at the time. Michal was in love with David (1 Samuel 18:20) and this is significant because this is the only time in the whole Bible, the Old and New Testaments, where a woman is stated to have loved a man. It's possible that other Bible women loved men. For example, Genesis states that Isaac loved Rebekah, so maybe Rebekah loved Isaac too, but the fact is that Michal is the only woman who is directly stated as loving a man. This shows that her love and passion for David was strong. Sadly, however, David didn't seem to love Michal as much as she loved him. After Michal saved his life, David took another wife, then another wife, then another wife, etc. Meanwhile, because Michal and David were living separate lives, Saul gave his daughter to another husband (1 Samuel 25:44).

After a while, David commanded Abner and one of Michal's brothers, Ish-bosheth, to bring her back to him. However, it is hard to say whether he wanted her back because he loved her, or if he simply felt entitled to her (2 Samuel 3:13-17). According to 2 Samuel 3:15-16, when Abner took her from her husband, Palti, Palti cried and followed her, until Abner told him to go home. Palti's heartbreak when Michal is ripped from him suggests that he loved her. It is possible that Michal enjoyed her new life with Palti, but alas, she was forced to return to David, only to eventually hate the man who she once dearly loved (2 Samuel 6:16).

Michal was a girl who was in love with David, but couldn't live with him, then married and lived with the loving Palti. She was taken from Palti and given back to David, and while the Bible doesn't say it, she probably was upset about David's other wives. So, this girl saw David dancing and she accused him of dancing to attract female servants (2 Samuel 6:20). He might have been dancing for God, but she didn't know that. I honestly can't blame her. I would be upset too, especially if I had been through everything she went through! David's response to her, in my opinion, also was hurtful. He said, ". . . but with the maids of whom you have spoken, with them I will be distinguished" (2 Samuel 6:22, New American Standard Bible). There might be more than one way to interpret that verse, but it always honestly rubbed me the wrong way. It's almost like he is saying that he cares more about what the maids think than what his wife thinks, the wife who saved his life even!

It's okay if people have different opinions about Michal and David's dancing. Nonetheless, I'm not the only one to view Michal with sympathy and not condemnation. Consider the article "Michal the Maligned; King David's First Wife" on WithChristianEyes.net and the article "Michal Marries for Love: Loving the Wrong Man" on WomenintheBible.net for examples of authors who feel similarly to the way I do.

The name Michal means "brook".

Answer: Abigail

According to 1 Samuel 25, Nabal was an evil and cruel, yet wealthy, man, while Abigail was beautiful and intelligent.

David heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep, and David sent young men to ask Nabal for some food. Nabal refused and he also said that he didn't even know who David or his father, Jesse, were. David then told the young men to bring their swords, planning to kill not only Nabal, but everyone in his household. Long story short, Abigail took matters into her own hands. She brought food to David and she fell at his feet. Even though she begged David to not kill Nabal, she also called him a worthless man. She didn't even call Nabal her husband--just a worthless man. I personally don't think she would have cared if only Nabal was killed. I think she was more concerned about David killing members of her family.

Nabal did die, a few days later, because God struck him one night while he was drunk. After David learned that Nabal was dead, he sent a marriage proposal to Abigail and she accepted. The same chapter states that at roughly the same time that David married Abigail, he also married Ahinoam. Meanwhile, King Saul (and yes Saul, not David, was the king during this time) gave David's first wife, Michal, to a different husband, Palti.

Although the Bible doesn't plainly say so, there is a possibility that Nabal abused Abigail. Their story provides a few hints, such as how she didn't tell him when she took the goods to David (1 Samuel 25:19). She clearly had no respect for him. I researched this and found out some other people believe​ Abigail was abused, too. The Christian website GotQuestions.org, for example, states that Nabal most likely abused her, at least emotionally.

The name Abigail means "my father is joy".

Answer: Ahinoam

Ahinoam was Amnon's mother (2 Samuel 3:2). Amnon was David's first child, apparently. Absalom later murdered Amnon because Amnon sexually violated their sister, Tamar.

Saul's wife, the mother of Jonathan and Michal, was also named Ahinoam (1 Samuel 14:50). Some Bible readers suggest that Saul's Ahinoam is the same as David's Ahinoam. However, this is controversial. The proponents get the idea from 2 Samuel 12:8, which states that God gave David's master's wives into his care. The "master" is interpreted as Saul and Ahinoam, obviously, as one of the wives. On the other hand, the names of the master's wives aren't named and it is documented that David had many wives, which also aren't named (2 Samuel 5:13). Whether Amnon's mother was really Saul's wife is unknown.

The name Ahinoam means "pleasant" or "my brother is pleasant".

Answer: Maacah

Maacah gave birth to Absalom, David's third son, as well as Tamar (2 Samuel 3 and 2 Samuel 13). Tamar wasn't David's only daughter, but the Bible doesn't record the names of his other daughters. Tamar, unfortunately, was raped by Amnon, David's son with Ahinoam, and then Absalom murdered Amnon out of revenge for his sister.

Maacah was a Gentile princess, the daughter of the king of Geshur. The name Maacah means "crushed".

There are several Bible characters named Maacah, actually, but 2 Chronicles 11 states that Absalom had a daughter named Maacah (evidently named after his mother) and Rehoboam, Solomon's son, married her. Rehoboam loved her more than he loved his other wives.

Answer: Haggith

According to 2 Samuel 3:4, Haggith was the mother of Adonijah, David's fourth son.

The Bible doesn't say much about her, but as far as her son goes, Adonijah wanted to be the king, but David already promised Bathsheba that Solomon was going to be the king. Adonijah declared himself the king, and he also wanted to marry Abishag, David's beautiful, young nurse, but eventually, Solomon became king and he had his sneaky half-brother executed. 1 Kings chapters 1 and 2 provide this narrative.

The name Haggith is Hebrew and means "festive" or "dancer". However, did you get the clues? It looks similar to "hag", which refers to an old and unattractive woman and "haggis", which is made from the heart, lungs, and liver of a sheep.

Answer: Abital

Abital is one of David's wives that we know next to nothing about. She was the mother of Shephatiah, his fifth son (2 Samuel 3:4; 1 Chronicles 3:3).

I said not to confuse her with Nabal's ex-wife or David's caregiver because all three names begin with "Abi". Nabal's ex-wife is Abigail and David's nurse is Abishag.

The name Abital means something like "my father of dew" or "my father is dew".

Answer: Eglah

Eglah is mentioned in 2 Samuel 3:5 and 1 Chronicles 3:3. She was the mother of David's sixth son, Ithream, but unfortunately, the Bible says very little about both Eglah and Ithream.

There is a Rabbinic tradition that identifies Eglah as Michal. Even though 2 Samuel 6:23 states that Michal had no children until her dying day, the tradition argues that she gave birth to Ithream on her dying day, so it doesn't conflict. Another Rabbinic explanation is that she had already given birth to Ithream before she became barren.

From a Christian perspective, there simply isn't enough information to identify Eglah as Michal, because the Bible doesn't say they are the same. The Christian website, BibleGateway.com, says that, "Unsuccessful efforts have been made to identify Eglah as another name for Michal, Saul's daughter, and David's first wife", in their article about Eglah.

The name Eglah means "heifer" or "calf".

Answer: Bathsheba

I used to believe that if David ever truly loved any of his wives, she was Bathsheba. However, now I'm not so sure. Regardless of how they felt later in life, their initial relationship was based on lust. 2 Samuel 11 proclaims that David saw Bathsheba while she was bathing herself. He thought she was gorgeous and lusted. Although certain people have portrayed her as a temptress, purposely trying to seduce the king, the text itself doesn't indicate this. She was probably simply taking a bath and she might not have even known that David was spying on her. David's servants then commanded​ Bathsheba to come to the palace, and then at some point, she sent a word to him that she was pregnant. The Bible doesn't say that she consented, and given that she was a mere woman and he was the king, she probably had no choice but to give in to his desires. This is why many scholars believe that Bathsheba was *not* an adultress or any kind of wicked woman, but that she was a victim.

The very sad part is David apparently wasn't looking for another wife or more children originally; at least not with Bathsheba. He evidently planned to have a one-night-stand with her, because she was already married to Uriah. When he learned of her pregnancy, he knew he was in deep trouble. At first, David tried to get Uriah to think that Uriah was the father, but when that didn't happen, David planned to kill Uriah. It was only after Bathsheba mourned the loss of her first husband that she became David's wife. The child Bathsheba was pregnant with died after being born, but she later gave birth to Solomon. See 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12.

Whatever might have happened in the beginning of their relationship, however, Bathsheba didn't seem to harbor any ill feelings toward him near the end of their relationship. As David lay, old and near death, Bathsheba said, "May my lord King David live forever" (1 Kings 1:31, New American Standard Bible).

The name Bathsheba means "daughter of the oath".

Answer: Abishag

According to 1 Kings, King David was a very old man, not too far from death. His servants decided it would be good to get a nurse for him. But this wasn't going to be a regular nurse--they wanted someone to keep David warm in his bed! For whatever reasons, none of David's wives seemed suitable for the job; maybe because his wives were older themselves. The servants found Abishag, a very beautiful, young virgin. She is called Abishag the Shunammite because she came from Shunem. Even though she slept in David's bed for the sake of keeping him warm, 1 Kings 1:4 makes it clear that they didn't "know" each other, to use archaic language. (To put it in modern words, they never had sex).

I say that Abishag wasn't David's wife in the regular sense because he didn't marry her for procreation or anything like that. Again, she was his virgin nurse, but some scholars do consider her to be a wife or a concubine of David. She was considered part of his harem.

1 Kings chapter 2 states that after David died, Solomon became the king. Adonijah, Solomon's half-brother who wanted to be king, asked Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, to ask King Solomon if Adonijah could have Abishag for his bride. Adonijah's request greatly angered Solomon and he actually ordered the execution of Adonijah. Why did Solomon get so upset? Did he want Abishag for himself? Maybe, but many scholars suggest that Solomon interpreted Adonijah's​ request as another way of Adonijah claiming his right to be the king. Apparently, for a man to take a member of a king's, even a deceased king's, harem is to take the throne from him.

Some scholars believe that Abishag the Shunammite is the Shulammite bride from Song of Solomon and I think this is probable myself. If so, then this would mean that Solomon married Abishag.

There are a few intriguing points to argue the identification of Abishag as the bride of Solomon:

1) Both came from Shunem. Evidently, Shunammite is synonymous with Shulammite.
2) Both were young, beautiful women (1 Kings 1:3; Song of Solomon 1:8).
3) Both were virgins (1 Kings 1:2; Song of Solomon 4:12).
4) Solomon's anger at Adonijah asking to marry Abishag. Perhaps if Adonijah marrying her was a claim to David's and therefore Solomon's throne, then maybe Solomon felt like he had the right to make Abishag his queen, given that David gave the throne to Solomon, not Adonijah.

The name Abishag means "my father strays" or "my father wanders".

Answer: Merab

1 Samuel 18:17-30 discuss how King Saul was originally going to give his older daughter, Merab, to David to be his wife. David turned down Saul's offer about Merab because he was a young, humble man at the time. In fact, David had been a simple shepherd. He didn't think that he was worthy enough to be a king's son-in-law.

Saul's younger daughter, Michal, confessed that she was actually in love with David. Saul then offered Michal to David and he accepted, not necessarily because he loved Michal, but because Saul told his servants to tell David that Saul really wanted him for a son-in-law. Saul had an ulterior motive, though. The only reason he wanted David to marry either Merab or Michal is because he planned to have David fight with the Philistines and he thought that they would kill him.

Outside of 1 Samuel 18, the only other mention of Merab is in 2 Samuel 21, and it is a heartbreaking narrative. The Israelites and the Gibeonites made a covenant, but Saul didn't honor that covenant when he was king. He killed many of the Gibeonites. When King David asked some Gibeonites what he could do to make atonement for Saul's sin, they requested that seven of Saul's descendants be hung on gallows.

David ordered that two of Saul's sons, whom his concubine, Rizpah, bore to him, along with Merab's five sons whom she had with her husband, Adriel, be executed. Just as Saul took innocent Gibeonite lives, so did Gibeonites take the lives of his innocent sons and grandsons. Read the full story in 2 Samuel 21 for more details.

The name Merab ironically means "abundant" or "increase".