Ahinoam is a Hebrew name literally meaning brother of pleasantness, thus meaning pleasant.

There are two references in the Bible to people who bear that name:

• A daughter of Ahimaaz, who became a wife of Saul^[1] and the mother of his four sons and two daughters.
• 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 that both of 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 article incorporates text from Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), a publication now in the public domain.