Chileab

Chil’eab. (like his father). A son of David by Abigail. See Abigail.

David’s son by Abigail (2Sa 3:3). Elsewhere called Daniel (1Ch 3:1).

(Hebrews Kilab´ כַּלְאָב, protected by the father, i.e. God; Sept. Κελεάβ v. r. Δαλουϊvα), the second son of king David by Abigail, Nabal’s widow (2Sa 3:3), called in the parallel passage (1Ch 3:1) by the equivalent name DANIEL SEE DANIEL (q.v.). The reason of this twofold name is uncertain; but for the rabbinical notions concerning it, and some speculations of his own, see Bochart, Hieroz. 1:603.

[Chil’eab]

Second son of David by Abigail. 2Sa 3:3: called DANIEL in 1Ch 3:1.

By: Emil G. Hirsch, Gerson B. Levi

A son of David, born to him at Hebron. His mother was Abigail, whom David married after the death of her husband Nabal, the Carmelite (II Sam. iii. 3). The parallel account in I Chron. iii. 1 gives his name as "Daniel." In II Sam. iii. 1 the Septuagint reads Δαλοΐα, and in I Chron. iii. 1 Δαμνιὴλ.) (The Alexandrine, however, reads here, too, Δαλοΐα.) It is impossible to restore the original name, although "Daniel" is much nearer than "Chileab." Berakot 4a (Bab.) gives a fanciful interpretation to the name. He was called "Chileab" because he shamed () Mephibosheth in the Law.

CHILEAB.—The second son of David by Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite (2Sa 3:3). In 1Ch 3:1 he is called Daniel.

kil´ē̇-ab (כּלאב, kil’ābh; Δαλουιά, Dalouiá, “restraint of father”): A son of David, born to him at Hebron. His mother was Abigail, whom David married after the death of her husband Nabal, the Carmelite (2Sa 3:3). In the corresponding account (1Ch 3:1) he is called “Daniel,” the meaning of which name (“God is my judge”) points to its having been given in order to commemorate God’s judgment upon Nabal (1Sa 25:39; compare Gen 30:6). Some suppose that he bore both names, but the Septuagint reading here Dalouia (1 Ch Damniḗl), and the identity of the last three letters of the Hebrew word “Chileab” with the first three of the following word, seems to indicate that the text of Samuel is corrupt.

Chileab was the second son of King David. Chileab was the first child born to him by Abigail (2 Samuel 3:3). Another name for Chileab is Daniel in 1 Chronicles 3:1.

Aquifer Open Bible Dictionary © 2026 Mission Mutual, an adaptation of the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.