Ahinoam

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Ahinoam is a Hebrew name literally meaning brother of pleasantness, thus meaning pleasant. The name is used in the Bible to refer to two individuals:

• A daughter of Ahimaaz, who became a wife of Saul^[1].
• A woman from Jezreel, who was captured by David while he was at war with Saul, and became David's wife^[2][3], and the mother of Amnon^[4].

It is possible for both these women named Ahinoam to be different accounts of the same woman, as the references to a woman called Ahinoam being Saul's wife are all ascribed by textual scholars to the account of the republican source of the Books of Samuel^[5], while in the passages ascribed to the monarchial source^[5], the only mention of a woman called Ahinoam is the description of her as a wife of David.

[edit] References

1. ^ 1 Samuel 14:50
2. ^ 1 Samuel 25:43
3. ^ 1 Samuel 27:3
4. ^ 2 Samuel 3:2
5. ^ ^{a b} Jewish Encyclopedia, Books of Samuel

This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.