Chapter Twenty-Five

Nabal and Abigail.

1 Samuel 25:1. Now Samuel was dead; and all Israel gathered together and mourned for him, and buried him in his house in Ramah. And David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. Wilderness of Paran is the northern part of the Arabian wilderness, between Palestine and Egypt, Edom and the Sinai Peninsula.

1 Samuel 25:2. And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel, a very rich man; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Maon. See note to 1 Sam 22:5. The Carmel mentioned here is a city south of Hebron.

1 Samuel 25:3. The man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail; the woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings; he was of the house of Caleb. The name Nabal means “fool.” “It is clear that this was not his real name, but a nickname given by the people. Nabal astounded those around him with the wildness and absurdity of his character, and the folk humor, concealing his actual, perhaps quite suitable to him name, fixed upon him the designation of a rogue” (Ia. Bogorodskii, “Hebrew Kings,” p. 112).

1 Samuel 25:5. And David sent ten young men, and David said to the young men: Go up to Carmel and come to Nabal and greet him in my name, 1 Samuel 25:6. And say thus: “Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have; 1 Samuel 25:7. Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds have been with us, and we did not harm them, and they lacked nothing all the time they were in Carmel; 1 Samuel 25:8. Ask your servants, and they will tell you. Therefore let the young men find favor in your sight, for we come on a good day; please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find. 1 Samuel 25:9. And David’s men went and said to Nabal in David’s name all these words, and paused. “David counted on Nabal’s gratitude for the fact that David’s soldiers, by the manner of their life similar to idle raiders from whom owners of herds suffered greatly, not only took nothing from Nabal’s herds, but also protected them from predators; they were a shield for his shepherds, as the shepherds themselves acknowledged. But Nabal showed that he deserved his nickname” (Ia. Bogorodskii, “Hebrew Kings,” p. 112).

1 Samuel 25:13. Then David said to his men: Each of you gird on his sword! And each of them girded on his sword. And David also girded on his sword; and about four hundred men went after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage. David left the injustice of Saul unpunished, sparing in him the Anointed of God and seeing in his submission to him the duty of a loyal subject (1 Sam 24:7), but could not leave unpunished the wild outburst of Nabal, for submission to Nabal could be interpreted by his supporters as mere impotence to defend his honor and rights.

1 Samuel 25:21. And David said: In vain I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, and nothing of all that belonged to him has been lost; but he has returned me evil for good; 1 Samuel 25:22. May God do thus to the enemies of David and more also, if by the morning light I leave of all that belong to Nabal so much as one male to the wall. See note to 1 Sam 25:13.

1 Samuel 25:24. And she fell at his feet and said: Upon me, my lord, is the guilt; let your servant, I pray you, speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. 1 Samuel 25:25. Let not my lord pay attention to this worthless man, to Nabal; for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I, your servant, did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 1 Samuel 25:26. Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, the Lord has restrained you from coming to bloodshed and from taking vengeance with your own hand, and now let your enemies and those who seek evil for my lord be as Nabal. 1 Samuel 25:27. Here are the gifts which your servant has brought to my lord, to give them to the young men who follow my lord. 1 Samuel 25:28. Please forgive the transgression of your servant; for the Lord will surely establish your house firm, for my lord fights the battles of the Lord, and no evil shall be found in you all your days. 1 Samuel 25:29. If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God, and the lives of your enemies He shall hurl out, as from the hollow of a sling. 1 Samuel 25:30. And when the Lord has done to my lord all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and has made you ruler over Israel, 1 Samuel 25:31. This shall not be a grief to the heart of my lord, nor a stumbling block, because of innocent blood shed, and because my lord has prevented taking vengeance with his own hand. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, remember your servant and show her mercy. Abigail begs David’s pardon for the misunderstanding that has occurred, explaining it by the innate, well-known stupidity and churlishness of Nabal; imploring David to restrain his anger, she prophesies to him in the future a firm and glorious reign, which may not be marred by the remembrance of the unjustly shed blood of the senseless Nabal and his household.

1 Samuel 25:36. And Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him; he was very drunk; and she told him nothing, great or small, until morning. “And she told him nothing” concerning what had happened, for this would have been useless at the given time, and perhaps directly harmful, considering Nabal’s ungoverned nature. * * * A fool.