There are several of this name in Scripture. Two kings of the Ammorites. (See 1 Sam. xi. 1. and 2 Sam. 17. 27.) And there was a third, Nahash, father of Abigail, (2 Sam. 17. 25.) it is somewhat singular to find persons of this name, for it is derived from Nachash, serpent. And so the serpent is called, Gen. 3: 1.
Nahash, 1
Na´hash (a serpent), a person named only in 2Sa 17:25; and as he is there described as the father of Abigail and Zeruiah, who are elsewhere called the sisters of David, this must have been either another name for Jesse, or, as some suppose, of a former husband of David’s mother.
Nahash, 2
Nahash, king of the Ammonites, noted for the barbarous terms of capitulation which he offered to the town of Jabesh-Gilead, and for his subsequent defeat by Saul [JABESH].
1. A king of the Ammonites, defeated by Saul while besieging Ramothgilead, 1Sa 11:1-15 . He, or as some think, his son of the same name, was on friendly terms with David, 2Sa 10:2 \par 2. The father of Zeruiah and Abigail, David’s half-sisters, 2Sa 17:25 1Ch 2:13-16 . Nahash, however, may have been another name for Jesse; or possibly the name of his wife.\par
Na’hash. (serpent).
1. King of the Ammonites, who dictated to the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead, that cruel alternative of the loss of their right eyes or slavery, which roused the swift wrath of Saul, and caused the destruction of the Ammonite force. 1Sa 11:2-11. (B.C. 1092). "Nahaph" would seem to have been the title of the king of the Ammonites, rather than the name of an individual. Nahash, the father of Hanun, had rendered David, some special and valuable service, which David was anxious for an opportunity of requiting. 2Sa 10:2.
2. A person mentioned once only -- 2Sa 17:25 -- in stating the parentage of Amasa, the commander-in-chief of Absalom’s army. Amasa is there said to have been the son of a certain Ithra, by Abigail, "daughter of Nahash, and sister to Zeruiah." (B.C. before 1023).
("serpent".)
1. King of Ammon. Offered the citizens of Jabesh Gilead a covenant only on condition they should thrust out their right eyes, as a reproach upon all Israel (1 Samuel 11). Saul, enraged at this cruel demand, summoned all Israel, slew, and dispersed the Ammonite host. Among the causes which led Israel to desire a king had been the terror of Nahash’s approach (1Sa 12:12). So successful had he been in his marauding campaigns that he self confidently thought it impossible any Israelite army could rescue Jabesh Gilead; so he gave them the seven days’ respite they craved, the result of which was their deliverance, and his defeat by Saul. If he perished, then the Nahash who befriended David was his son. That father and son bore the same name makes it, likely that Nahash was a common title of the kings of Ammon, the serpent being the emblem of wisdom, the Egyptian Kneph also being the eternal Spirit represented as a serpent. Jewish tradition makes the service to David consist in Nahash having protected David’s brother, when he escaped from the massacre perpetrated by the treacherous king of Moab on David’s family, who had been entrusted to him (1Sa 22:3-4).
Nahash the younger would naturally help David in his wanderings from the face of Saul, their common foe. Hence at Nahash’s death David sent a message of condolence to his son.
2. Father of the sisters Abigail and Zeruiah, whose mother on Nahash’s death married Jesse, to whom she bore David (2Sa 17:25). 1Ch 2:16 accordingly names Abigail and Zeruiah as "David’s sisters," but not as Jesse’s daughters. Nahash is made by Stanley the king of Ammon, which is not impossible, considering Jesse’s descent from Ruth a Moabitess, and also David’s connection with Nahash of Ammon; but is improbable, since if the Nahash father of Abigail were the king of Ammon it would have been stated. Jewish tradition makes Nahash that same as Jesse. But if so, how is it that only in 2Sa 17:25 "Nahash" stands for Jesse, whereas in all other places "Jesse" is named as David’s father.
Nahash (nâ’hăsh), serpent. 1. An Ammonite king. He offered to Jabesh-gilead a treaty on condition that the citizens should submit to the loss of their right eyes. This cruelty aroused the indignation of Saul, who defeated their enemies. At a subsequent period he was on friendly relations with David. 2Sa 10:2. 2. Mentioned as father of Abigail. 2Sa 17:25. Some identify him with Jesse, and others with Nahash, king of the Ammonites.
[Na’hash]
1. Ammonite king who encamped against Jabesh-gilead, and who tauntingly agreed to make its inhabitants tributary on condition that he should thrust out the right eye of each for a reproach on all Israel. Saul raised an army and the Ammonites were defeated. 1Sa 11:1-2; 1Sa 12:12. Josephus relates that Nahash had successfully oppressed the tribes on the east of the Jordan, which gave him self-confidence in making his terms to Jabesh-gilead; and says that Nahash was slain. Perhaps the same as the father of Hanun who insulted David’s ambassadors. 2Sa 10:2; 2Sa 17:27; 1Ch 19:1-2.
2. Apparently father or mother of Abigail and Zeruiah. 2Sa 17:25. In 1Ch 2:16 Abigail and Zeruiah are called the sisters of Jesse’s sons. The Rabbis say that Nahash was another name for Jesse (as in the margin); others suppose Nahash was Jesse’s wife; and again others judge that Nahash was a former husband of Jesse’s wife.
NAHASH.—1. A king of Ammon, who demanded the surrender of the men of Jabesh-gilead, with the loss of the right eye of each (1Sa 11:1 f.). So sure was he of their helplessness that he allowed them seven days’ respite in which to appeal for help. Saul, newly designated as Israel’s future king, was ploughing in the fields when the news was brought to him. He sacrificed the oxen sent parts of the sacrifice to his fellow-countrymen with a command to muster, and promptly destroyed the Ammonites. Probably this is the Nahash who was kind to Saul’s enemy David (2Sa 10:2, 1Ch 19:1), and whos son Shobi (2Sa 17:27) brought supplies to David a Mahanaim. 2. Father of David’s half-sisters, Abigai and Zeruiah, if the text of 2Sa 17:25 is correct, which is doubtful. According to Buchanan Gray, ‘daughte of Nahash’ may have crept into the text from ‘son of Nahash’ in 2Sa 17:27; cf. 1Ch 2:16.
J. H. Stevenson.
(1) The father of Abigail and Zeruiah, the sisters of David (2Sa 17:25; compare 1Ch 2:16). The text in 2 S, where this reference is made, is hopelessly corrupt; for that reason there are various explanations. The rabbis maintain that Nahash is another name for Jesse, David’s father. Others think that Nahash was the name of Jesse’s wife; but it is not probable that Nahash could have been the name of a woman. Others explain the passage by making Nahash the first husband of Jesse’s wife, so that Abigail and Zeruiah were half-sisters to King David.
(2) A king of Ammon, who, at the very beginning of Saul’s reign, attacked Jabesh-gilead so successfully, that the inhabitants sued for peace at almost any cost, for they were willing to pay tribute and serve the Ammonites (1Sa 11:1 ff). The harsh king, not satisfied with tribute and slavery, demanded in addition that the right eye of every man should be put out, as “a reproach upon Israel.” They were given seven days to comply with these cruel terms. Before the expiration of this time, Saul, the newly anointed king, appeared on the scene with an army which utterly routed the Ammonites (1Sa 11:1 ff), and, according to Josephus, killed King Nahash (Ant., VI, v, 3).
If the Nahash of 2Sa 10:2 be the same as the king mentioned in 1Sa 11:1-15, this statement of Josephus cannot be true, for he lived till the early part of David’s reign, 40 or more years latcr. It is, of course, possible that Nahash, the father of Hanun, was a son or grandson of the king defeated at Jabesh-gilead by Saul. There is but little agreement among commentators in regard to this matter. Some writers go so far as to claim that “all passages in which this name (Nahash) is found refer to the same individual.”
(3) A resident of Rabbath-ammon, the capital of Ammon 2Sa 17:27. Perhaps the same as Nahash (2), which see. His son Shobi, with other trans-Jordanic chieftains, welcomed David at Mahanaim with sympathy and substantial gifts when the old king was fleeing before his rebel son Absalom. Some believe that Shobi was a brother of Hanun, king of Ammon 2Sa 10:1.