the father of the dew; or of the shadow
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
ABITAL (father is dew).Wife of David and mother of Shephatiah (2Sa_3:4 = 1Ch_3:3).
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
2Sa_3:4; 1Ch_3:8.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Ab'ital. (father of the dew). One of David's wives. 2Sa_3:4; 1Ch_3:3.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
ab?i-tal, a-bı̄?tal (אביטל, 'ăbhı̄ṭāl, ?my father is dew?): One of the wives of King David. In the duplicated list (2Sa_3:4; 1Ch_3:3) in which the sons born to David in Hebron are mentioned and numbered, the fifth is said to be Shephatiah the son of Abital.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Abital
(Heb. Abital', אֲבַיטָל, father of dew, i.e. fresh; Sept. Α᾿βιτάλ), the fifth wife of David, by whom she had Shephatiah, during his reign in Hebron (2Sa_3:4; 1Ch_3:3), B.C. 1052.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.