The First Book of Samuel, otherwise called the First Book of the Kings
1 Samuel 25
Chapter XXV · Vol. II, pp. 666–668
1 Samuel dieth. 2 David in Paran sendeth to Nabal. 10 Provoked by Nabal's churlishness, he mindeth to destroy him. 14 Abigail understanding thereof, 18 taketh a present, 23 and by her wisdom 32 pacifieth David. 36 Nabal, hearing thereof, dieth. 39 David taketh Abigail and Ahinoam to be his wives. 44 His wife Michal is given to Phalti.
1 And Samuela died;1 and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the bwilderness of Paran.
B.C. 1057.
a ch.28.3. Ge.50.11. Nu.20.29. De.34.8. Pr.10.7.
1 The manner of the Scriptures in relating the death of the greatest characters is well worthy of remark. There is no ostentation, no fulsome panegyric; the bare event is related, and left to make its impression on the heart. David arose.—David and his band appear to have attended the funeral, Saul having privily acknowledged him as heir to the throne.—C.
b Ge.14.9; 21.21. Nu.13.3,21,26. Southward of Canaan.
2 And there was a man in Maon, cwhose possessions2 were in dCarmel;3 and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
c Ps.17.14; 73.3,4; 144.13. Job 1.3; 21.13. 2 Sa.19.32; 13.23. Ge.38.13. 2 Ki.3.4.
2 Or, business.
d Not that Jos.19.26. 1 Ki.18.19, but ch.15.12. Jos.15.55.
3 Carmel lay between Maon and Ziph (see note on ch. 23.24). It was of course an entirely different place from the mountain range which bears the same name. The ruins of the ancient town are extensive; they still bear the old name, and lie around the head and sides of a little vale which is shut in by rugged limestone rocks. Near it on the top of a ridge stands the castle, with walls ten feet thick. It is now entirely desolate.—P.
3 Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was ea woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man fwas churlish, and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of gCaleb.4
e Pr.31.10-13; 14.1.
g Nu.13.30; 14.24. 1 Ch.4.15-20.
4 Caleb signifies a dog; and the Septuagint and some other early translations render the passage as meaning that Nabal was a 'doggish man'—of a snarling irritable disposition.—C.
5 And David sent out ten young men; and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and igreet him in my name.
6 And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast.
7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now, thy shepherds which were with us we khurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.
8 Ask thy young men, and they will show thee: wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes; (for we come in la good day;) give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David.5
l Es.9.19. De.12.12,18; 14.26. Ne.8.10, i.e. the day of the sheep-shearing feast, Ge.38.12,13. 2 Sa.13.23,24.
5 David having protected the shepherds and flocks from the Arabs of the desert—at all times a predatory people—had a right to claim some compensation, which nevertheless he asks as a favour.—C.
9 And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David,6 and ceased.7
6 It is a remarkable fact that black-mail, such as was here asked by the messengers of David, is to this day claimed by the great Arab chiefs of all, or almost all, the inhabitants of villages along the southern and eastern borders of Palestine and Syria. They claim it, too, upon the very grounds urged by David. In fact, there is no safety for either sheep or shepherds except by paying the sheikhs of the nomad tribes.—P.
7 Heb. rested.
10 And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, mWho is David? and who is the son of Jesse? There nbe many servants now-a-days that break away every man from his master.
11 Shall I then take omy bread and my water, and my flesh8 that I have killed for my shearers, pand give it unto men whom I know not whence they be?9
o Ju.8.6. De.8.17. Job 31.17. Ge.21.25; 26.16.
8 Heb. slaughter.
9 This answer of Nabal, not merely conveying a refusal, but much unmerited and provoking reproach, seems fully to warrant the Septuagint translation of ver. 3. A melancholy illustration of the evils of an irritable temper and a provoking tongue, exposing its owner to extreme danger, and tempting another to extreme sin.—C.
13 And David said unto his men, rGird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: sand there went up after David about four hundred men, and two hundred abode by the stuff.1
14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed2 on them:
2 Heb. flew upon them.
15 But the men were tvery good unto us, and we were not hurt,3 neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields.
16 They were ua wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.
u Job 1.10.
17 Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such xa son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.
18 Then Abigail ymade haste, and took two hundred loaves,4 and two bottles5 of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters6 of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.
19 And she said unto her servants, Go on before me: behold, I come after you. But she ztold not her husband Nabal.
20 And it was so, as she arode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them.
a Ju.5.10; 10.4. 2 Ki.4.22,24. ver.42.
21 (Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that bthis fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him; and he chath requited me evil for good.
b Job 30.8.
c Pr.17.13. Ps.109.3,4.
22 Sod and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light7 any that pisseth against the wall.)8
d Ru.1.17. ch.14.44; 20.16.
7 David had been ungratefully treated, and sorely provoked by the reproaches of Nabal, most probably not diminished in the relation; still all this will neither excuse nor justify his rash and sinful purpose and oath: so far from it, that we soon find David himself acknowledge his sin, and thank God that held him from committing it. See ver. 33.—C.
8 Males, ver. 34. 1 Ki.14.10; 16.11; 21.21. 2 Ki.9.8.—[A phrase now indelicate, but which, in allusion either to Nabal's descent or character, in ver. 3 (see note), should, most probably, be translated, 'so much as a dog.'—C.]
23 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, fand lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground.
24 And gfell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, hupon me let this iniquity be; and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience,9 and hear the words of thine handmaid.
25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard1 this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; 2Nabal3 is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
1 Heb. lay it to his heart.
2 i.e. folly.
3 The Hebrew names of persons were all significant; and here it is used to form an excuse for Nabal. Let not Abigail be accused of speaking disrespectfully of her husband, seeing she spoke truth, and used the only argument calculated to protect him.—C.
26 Now therefore, my lord, ias the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden4 thee from coming to shed blood, and from kavenging thyself with thine own hand, now llet thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.5
i ch.20.3. 2 Ki.2.2.
4 An argument drawn from restraining grace, Abigail well judged to be the most likely to prevail with David.—Note, Grace ought to be estimated, not merely by the duty to which it guides us, but the sins from which it holds us back.—C.
k Ro.12.19,20. Ps.94.1.
l Ps.83.13-18. Je.29.22.
5 Such fools as Nabal, so that they may not be able to plan anything successful against you.—C.
27 And now this mblessing, which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that nfollow my lord.
28 I pray thee, forgive the otrespass6 of thine handmaid: for the LORD pwill certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth theq battles of the LORD, and revil hath not been found in thee all thy days.
29 Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bounds in the bundle of life7 with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he tsling out, as out of the middle8 of a sling.9
s ch.2.9. Ps.116.15; 66.9. Mat.10.30. De.33.3.
7 This is still a common mode of expression in the East. Its most evident origin is from the compact binding together of all the parts of a living body.—C.
t Je.10.18.
8 In the midst of the bow of a sling.
9 This verse ought rather to be translated as follows: 'And should any one rise up to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul, the soul of my lord will be bound up in the bundle of the living Jehovah thy God; but the soul of thine enemies will he sling away in the cup of the sling.' It is a beautiful and most insinuating speech, proving that Abigail was 'a woman of good understanding.'—P.
30 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel,
31 That this shall be uno grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then xremember thine handmaid.
32 And David ysaid to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me:
y 2 Sa.12.13; 24.13. Ps.141.5. 2 Ki.5.13,14. Pr.25.12; 28.23.
33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
34 For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee,1 except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.2
1 David acknowledges the hand of God in sending Abigail, ver. 32, and thereby keeping him back from sin.—Note, The privilege of the believer is to see the hand of God in every occurrence, and to acknowledge him as the giver of every good and perfect gift.—C.
2 See note on ver. 22.—C.
35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him,3 and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house: see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.
3 The account of the present made to David, ver. 18, coming from a 'very great' man, ver. 2, to a leader at the head of 600 soldiers, in all of which there is no money, or other precious article, marks a very simple state of society, while it also demonstrates how moderate were David's expectations for all the efficient service he and his men had rendered, ver. 15,16.—C.
36 And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held za feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he awas very drunken: wherefore she btold him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
37 But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him cthese things, that dhis heart died within him, and he became as a stone.4
c ver.10,11,21,34.
4 To become petrified with fear, is still a common expression, and the sudden effects of this passion upon the body are often most astonishing. Here it seems to have produced, as it often does, such a sudden chill, that the body became cold as a stone, and such a rigidity of the muscles, that it became fixed as a statue.—C.
38 And it came to pass, about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.
39 And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, eBlessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for fthe LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, gto take her to him to wife.5
e Ps.58.10,11. Pr.24.17,18. Mi.7.9,10. Je.50.34.
f 1 Ki.2.44. Ps.52.7. Ja.2.13. Es.7.10.
g Pr.31.10; 18.22; 19.14. ver.31.
5 He had heard that Saul, in order to cut off all his pretensions to the throne, had shamefully given his wife, Michal, Saul's daughter, to Phalti, ver. 44; for the marriage tie was not then held so sacred as it ought to have been. David was carried away by the corrupt custom of the times; but 'from the beginning it was not so.'—I.
40 And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife.
41 And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, hlet thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet6 of the servants of my lord.
A.M. 2947. B.C. 1057.
6 To wash the feet was an act of hospitality, the full import of which can be comprehended only in warm climates, where the feet of the traveller are, either altogether, or nearly bare. It was also an act of servitude, indicating the grateful humility with which Abigail received the message of one whom she expected soon to be king in Israel.—Note, Are we willing, when called by the true David, to follow his example and obey his injunction, and in humility and love to 'wash one another's feet?' Jn.13.14.—C.
42 And iAbigail hasted,7 and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of her's that went after her;8 and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.
i Ge.24.61,67. ver.20,23.
7 The whole transaction resembled the manner in which matrimonial alliances are generally contracted by princes in the East. 'The king of Abyssinia,' says Bruce, 'sends an officer to the house where the lady lives, who announces to her that it is the king's pleasure she should remove instantly to the palace.'—I.
8 Heb. at her feet.
43 David also took Ahinoam kof Jezreel; and they were also lboth of them his wives.
l Ge.2.24. Mat.19.5,8.
44 But Saul had given mMichal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which was of nGallim.
m 2 Sa.3.14,15, with ch.18.20.
n Is.10.30.
Notes
Reflections.—Was not Samuel a figure of Jesus Christ, our great Priest, Prophet, Deliverer, and Judge! How earnestly desired, and how supernatural was his birth! Early was he devoted and called to, prepared for, and employed in, his Father's service. How extensive is his office! He is the illuminated Prophet that renders our dark earth a valley of vision. He is the unparalleled Priest who, by his once offering of himself, made peace between God and men. He is the great Deliverer, that makes us free indeed. He is the sovereign Judge of all, particularly the Israel of God. How wretched the case in which he finds his church and people when he appears for their help! His sacrifice and intercession procure lasting friendship with Heaven, and noted victories and mercies on earth. How marvellous his conquest of enemies, and restoration of the treacherously abandoned worship of God! Gracious are his instructions, sharp his reproofs, and certain his predictions! By him kings reign, and princes decree justice. Candid, upright, and generous, are his whole administrations! though wickedly, and to their lasting ruin, he and his Father were rejected by his brethren of Judah, who desired a temporal deliverer; and still are by carnal professors. But how distressed their condition, till they seek the Lord and David their king! But lo, the righteous are taken away from the evil to come! Nations have reason to mourn when those who stood in the gap, to prevent the Lord's wrath, are removed by death. Alas! how often the best of men are disgraced by their children, and the best of women by their husbands! There is little happiness in wealth enjoyed by fools; and as little comfort in marriage which is made for the sake of it. It becomes the poor to use entreaties. While we feast we should distribute our bread to the hungry. One good turn deserves and requires another; but a foul tongue is the sign of a wicked heart. Scurrilous invectives are too commonly the fare of God's precious saints in this world. They have puny, if not thievish hearts, who grudge to bestow their superfluities for the relief of such as are in want. How deadly dangerous and deeply sinful are violent passions! Some one provocation may quickly exasperate that mind which has calmly borne many such in other forms: but sensible and faithful servants are a great mercy to a family, and especially that one head of it hath sense and grace, when the other is destitute of both. Soft words turn away anger; and a gift in the bosom pacifies strong wrath. But what we do in passion will afterwards be a grief to us: and it is a far greater satisfaction to forgive an offence than to revenge it. Nor ought any to be more ready to forgive injuries than those whom the Lord has marvellously protected. What thanks they deserve who keep us back from sin! And great is the mercy of God, which prevents our sin when we are upon the very point of committing it. If we have sworn to commit wickedness, it is sinful to keep our oath, but our duty bitterly to repent the taking of it. Those who are churlish to God and his people are often abundantly liberal to the devil and his agents in drunkenness, costly apparel, or the like. Sinners lost in luxury and mirth are insensible of the wrath of God which hangs over their head; while beastly drunkards render themselves incapable of profiting either by advice or correction. But quickly will death turn their riotous joys into eternal sorrows, and tear the churl from his idolized portion of earth. Saints need not avenge their own wrongs; God will do it for them in a speedy and awful manner, and render them thankful that he kept them back from usurping his prerogative. Pacific prudence and sense are excellent means to pave our way to a more exalted station: and such as are content to suffer with the people of God, shall reign with them at last. But they who sinfully multiply their wives must not expect to enjoy much of family pleasures.