But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to Greet our master; and he insulted them. But the men were very good to us, and we were not harmed, and we didn’t miss anything, as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields. They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know and consider what you will do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house; for he is such a worthless fellow that one can’t speak to him.”
Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two containers of wine, five sheep ready dressed, five seahs of parched grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. She said to her young men, “Go on before me. Behold, I am coming after you.” But she didn’t tell her husband, Nabal. As she rode on her donkey, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them.
Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him. He has returned me evil for good. God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if I leave of all that belongs to him by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall.”
When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got off her donkey, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground. She fell at his feet, and said, “On me, my lord, on me be the blame! Please let your servant speak in your ears. Hear the words of your servant. Please don’t let my lord pay attention to this worthless fellow, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; but I, your servant, didn’t see my lord’s young men, whom you sent. Now therefore, my lord, as Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, since Yahweh has withheld you from blood guiltiness, and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now therefore let your enemies, and those who seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. Now this present which your servant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For Yahweh will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fights Yahweh’s battles. Evil will not be found in you all your days. Though men may rise up to pursue you, and to seek your soul, yet the soul of my lord will be bound in the bundle of life with Yahweh your God. He will sling out the souls of your enemies, as from the hollow of a sling. It will come to pass, when Yahweh has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you prince over Israel, that this shall be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. When Yahweh has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”
David said to Abigail, “Blessed is Yahweh, the God of Israel, who sent you today to meet me! Blessed is your discretion, and blessed are you, who have kept me today from blood guiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand. For indeed, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, who has withheld me from harming you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there wouldn’t have been left to Nabal by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall.”
So David received from her hand that which she had brought him. Then he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. Behold, I have listened to your voice, and have granted your request.”
Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. Therefore she told him nothing until the morning light. In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. About ten days later, Yahweh struck Nabal, so that he died. When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed is Yahweh, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil. Yahweh has returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” David sent and spoke concerning Abigail, to take her to himself as wife. When David’s servants had come to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you, to take you to him as wife.”
She arose, and bowed herself with her face to the earth, and said, “Behold, your servant is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” Abigail hurried, and arose, and rode on a donkey, with five ladies of hers who followed her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 42 Hebrew, drove them away.
Hebrew, drove them away.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv14–42 1Sa 25:14 But one of the young men told…
1Sa 25:14 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 railed on them.
Ver. 14. And he railed on them.] Heb., He flew upon them; as a ravenous bird doth upon the prey. Or, He drove them away, sc., by his harsh and currish language wherewith he let fly at them.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42 One of the young men told Abigail; wisely considering…
One of the young men told Abigail; wisely considering the mischievous effects likely to follow so churlish a message.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv18, 32, 36 We have here an account of Abigail's prudent management…
We have here an account of Abigail's prudent management for the preserving of her husband and family from the destruction that was just coming upon them; and we find that she did her part admirably well and fully answered her character. The passion of fools often makes those breaches in a little time which the wise, with all their wisdom, have much ado to make up again. It is hard to say whether Abigail was more miserable in such a husband or Nabal happy in such a wife. A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband, to protect as well as adorn, and will do him good and not evil. Wisdom in such a case as this was better than weapons of war. 1. It was her wisdom that what she did she did quickly, and without delay; she made haste, Sa1 25:18. It was no time to trifle or linger when all was in danger. Those that desire conditions of peace must send when the enemy is yet a great way off, Luk 14:32. 2. It was her wisdom that what she did she did herself, because, being a woman of great prudence and very happy address, she knew better how to manage it than any servant she had. The virtuous woman will herself look well to the ways of her household, and not devolve this duty wholly upon others.
Abigail must endeavour to atone for Nabal's faults. Now he had been in two ways rude to David's messengers, and in them to David: He had denied them the provisions they asked for, and he had given them very provoking language. Now,
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I. By a most generous present, Abigail atones for his denial of their request. If Nabal had given them what came next to hand, they would have gone away thankful; but Abigail prepares the very best the house afforded and abundance of it (Sa1 25:18), according to the usual entertainments of those times, not only bread and flesh, but raisins and figs, which were their dried sweet-meats. Nabal grudged them water, but she took two bottles (casks or rundlets) of wine, loaded her asses with these provisions, and sent them before; for a gift pacifieth anger, Pro 21:14. Jacob thus pacified Esau. When the instruments of the churl are evil, the liberal devises liberal things, and loses nothing by it; for by liberal things shall he stand, Isa 32:7, Isa 32:8. Abigail not only lawfully, but laudably, disposed of all these goods of her husband's without his knowledge (even when she had reason to think that if he had known what she did he would not have consented to it), because it was not to gratify her own pride or vanity, but for the necessary defence of him and his family. which otherwise would have been inevitably ruined. Husbands and wives, for their common good and benefit, have a joint-interest in their worldly possessions; but if either waste, or unduly spend in any way, it is a robbing of the other.
II. By a most obliging demeanour, and charming speech, she atones for the abusive language which Nabal had given them. She met David upon the march, big with resentment, and meditating the destruction of Nabal (Sa1 25:20); but with all possible expressions of complaisance and respect she humbly begs his favour, and solicits him to pass by the offence. Her demeanour was very submissive: She bowed herself to the ground before David (Sa1 25:23) and fell at his feet, Sa1 25:24. Yielding pacifies great offences. She put herself into the place and posture of a penitent and of a petitioner, and was not ashamed to do it, when it was for the good of her house, in the sight both of her own servants and of David's soldiers. She humbly begs of David that he will give her the hearing: Let thy handmaid speak in thy audience. But she needed not thus to bespeak his attention and patience; what she said was sufficient to command it, for certainly nothing could be more fine nor more moving. No topic of argument is left untouched; every thing is well placed and well expressed, most pertinently and pathetically urged, and improved to the best advantage, with such a force of natural rhetoric as cannot easily be paralleled.
1. She speaks to him all along with the deference and respect due to so great and good a man, calls him My lord, over and over, to expiate her husband's crime in saying, "Who is David?" She does not upbraid him with the heat of his passion, though he deserved to be reproved for it; nor does she tell him how ill it became his character; but endeavours to soften him and bring him to a better temper, not doubting but that then his own conscience would upbraid him with it.
2. She takes the blame of the ill-treatment of his messengers upon herself: "Upon me, my lord, upon me, let this iniquity be, Sa1 25:24. If thou wilt be angry, be angry with me, rather than with my poor husband, and look upon it as the trespass of thy handmaid," Sa1 25:28. Sordid spirits care not how much others suffer for their faults, while generous spirits can be content to suffer for the faults of others. Abigail here discovered the sincerity and strength of her conjugal affection and concern for her family: whatever Nabal was, he was her husband.
3. She excuses her husband's fault by imputing it to his natural weakness and want of understanding (Sa1 25:25): "Let not my lord take notice of his rudeness and ill manners, for it is like him; it is not the first time that he has behaved so churlishly; he must be borne with, for it is for want of wit: Nabal is his name" (which signifies a fool), "and folly is with him. It was owing to his folly, not his malice. He is simple, but not spiteful. Forgive him, for he knows not what he does." What she said was too true, and she said it to excuse his fault and prevent his ruin, else she would not have done well to give such a bad character as this of her own husband, whom she ought to make the best of, and not to speak ill of.
4. She pleads her own ignorance of the matter: "I saw not the young men, else they should have had a better answer, and should not have gone without their errand," intimating hereby that though her husband was foolish, and unfit to manage his affairs himself, yet he had so much wisdom as to be ruled by her and take her advice.
5. She takes it for granted that she has gained her point already, perhaps perceiving, by David's countenance, that he began to change his mind (Sa1 25:26): Seeing the Lord hath withholden thee. She depends not upon her own reasonings, but God's grace, to mollify him, and doubts not but that grace would work powerfully upon him; and then, "Let all thy enemies be as Nabal, that is, if thou forbear to avenge thyself, no doubt God will avenge thee on him, as he will on all thy other enemies." Or it intimates that it was below him to take vengeance on so weak and impotent an enemy as Nabal was, who, as he would do him no kindness, so he could do him no hurt, for he needed to wish no more concerning his enemies than that they might be as unable to resist him as Nabal was. Perhaps she refers to his sparing Saul, when, but the other day, he had him at his mercy. "Didst thou forbear to avenge thyself on that lion that would devour thee, and wilt thou shed the blood of this dog that can but bark at thee?" The very mentioning of what he was about to do, to shed blood and to avenge himself, was enough to work upon such a tender gracious spirit as David had; and it should seem, by his replay (Sa1 25:33), that it affected him.
6. She makes a tender of the present she had brought, but speaks of it as unworthy of David's acceptance, and therefore desires it may be given to the young men that followed him (Sa1 25:27), and particularly to those ten that were his messengers to Nabal, and whom he had treated so rudely.
7. She applauds David for the good services he had done against the common enemies of his country, the glory of which great achievements, she hoped, he would not stain by any personal revenge: "My lord fighteth the battles of the Lord against the Philistines, and therefore he will leave it to God to fight his battles against those that affront him, Sa1 25:28. Evil has not been found in thee all thy days. Thou never yet didst wrong to any of thy countrymen (though persecuted as a traitor), and therefore thou wilt not begin now, nor do a thing which Saul will improve for the justifying of his malice against thee."
8. She foretels the glorious issue of his present troubles. "It is true a man pursues thee and seeks thy life" (she names not Saul, out of respect to his present character as king), "but thou needest not look with so sharp and jealous an eye upon every one that affronts thee;" for all these storms that now ruffle thee will be blown over shortly. She speaks it with assurance, (1.) That God would keep him safe: The soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God, that is, God shall hold thy soul in life (as the expression is, Psa 66:9) as we hold those things which are bundled up or which are precious to us, Psa 116:15. Thy soul shall be treasured up in the treasure of lives (so the Chaldee), under lock and key as our treasure is. "Thou shalt abide under the special protection of the divine providence." The bundle of life is with the Lord our God, for in his hand our breath is, and our times. Those are safe, and may be easy, that have him for their protector. The Jews understand this not only of the life that now is, but of that which is to come, even the happiness of separate souls, and therefore use it commonly as an inscription on their gravestones. "Here we have laid the body, but trust that the soul is bound up in the bundle of life, with the Lord our God." There it is safe, while the dust of the body is scattered. (2.) That God would make him victorious over his enemies. Their souls he shall sling out, Sa1 25:29. The stone is bound up in the sling, but it is in order to be thrown out again; so the souls of the godly shall be bundled as corn for the barn, but the souls of the wicked as tares for the fire. (3.) That God would settle him in wealth and power: "The Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, and no enemy thou hast can hinder it; therefore forgive this trespass," that is, "show mercy, as thou hopest to find mercy. God will make thee great, and it is the glory of great men to pass by offences."
9. She desires him to consider how much more comfortable it would be to him in the reflection to have forgiven this affront than to have revenged it, Sa1 25:30, Sa1 25:31. She reserves this argument for the last, as a very powerful one with so good a man, that the less he indulged his passion the more he consulted his peace and the repose of his own conscience, which every wise man will be tender of. (1.) She cannot but think that if he should avenge himself it would afterwards be a grief and an offence of heart to him, Many have done that in a heat which they have a thousand times wished undone again. The sweetness of revenge is soon turned into bitterness. (2.) She is confident that if he pass by the offence it will afterwards by no grief to him; but, on the contrary, it would yield him unspeakable satisfaction that his wisdom and grace had got the better of his passion. Note, When we are tempted to sin we should consider how it will appear in the reflection. Let us never do any thing for which our own consciences will afterwards have occasion to upbraid us, and which we shall look back upon with regret: My heart shall not reproach me.
10. She recommends herself to his favour: When the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid, as one that kept thee from doing that which would have disgraced thy honour, disquieted thy conscience, and made a blot in thy history. We have reason to remember those with respect and gratitude who have been instrumental to keep us from sin.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv14–42 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's…
But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife,.... Not one of David's young men, as what follows shows, but one of Nabal's young men or servants, one of those David directs him to for the truth of what he said, Sa1 25:8; this was one of those that had been employed in feeding sheep in the wilderness, where David was, and knew him, but was now at Carmel, and was present when David's messengers came to Nabal, and was privy to what passed:
saying, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; in a very kind and handsome manner, to ask of his peace and welfare, and to wish him all happiness and prosperity; or "masters" (y) master and mistress, including both Nabal and Abigail:
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and he railed on them; gave them very abusive language, represented David and his men as a parcel of scoundrels, fugitives, and runaway servants, Sa1 25:10; or "he flew at them" (z); or "upon" them, in great wrath and fury, calling them hard names, bidding them begone about their business; the allusion is to a ravenous bird, which will fly at persons when it apprehends its young in any danger.
(y) "dominus nostros", Malvenda. (z) "et involavit in eos", Coccei Lex. col. 607.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 Can not speak - But he flies into a…
Can not speak - But he flies into a passion.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv18, 20, 22, 28, 29, 37, 39 Verse 18. Took two hundred loaves] The Eastern bread…
Verse 18. Took two hundred loaves] The Eastern bread is ordinarily both thin and small; and answers to our cakes.
Two bottles of wine] That is, two goat-skins full. The hide is pulled off the animal without ripping up; the places where the legs, c., were are sewed up, and then the skin appears one large bag. This is properly the Scripture and Eastern bottle. There is one such before me.
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Five sheep] Not one sheep to one hundred men.
Clusters of raisins] Raisins dried in the sun.
Cakes of figs] Figs cured, and then pressed together. We receive the former in jars, and the latter in small barrels and both articles answer the description here given.
Now all this provision was a matter of little worth, and, had it been granted in the first instance, it would have perfectly satisfied David, and secured the good offices of him and his men. Abigail showed both her wisdom and prudence in making this provision. Out of three thousand sheep Nabal could not have missed five; and as this claim was made only in the time of sheep-shearing, it could not have been made more than once in the year: and it certainly was a small price for such important services.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv14, 18, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 35, 37, 39 1Sa 25:14-17. But one of the young men told…
1Sa 25:14-17. But one of the young men told Abigail, &c. — One of those belonging to Nabal. Who can help admiring the wisdom and fidelity of this shepherd, who admonished his mistress of the danger her family was in; as he rationally concluded from the rude abuse that had been put upon David, whose merits he honestly set forth before her. They were a wall unto us — This servant says more than David’s men had said of themselves; that they not only did them no harm, but were a guard to them against robbers and against wild beasts. A man cannot speak to him — But he flies into a passion. Nabal must have been a most brutish, churlish man, to extort such a character of himself from his own servants.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 26, 28, 29, 37, 40 Railed on them - The marginal reading, “flew upon…
Railed on them - The marginal reading, “flew upon them,” is nearer to the original.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37, 39, 41 Rejected them. Hebrew, "flew against them." Chaldean, "saw them…
Rejected them. Hebrew, "flew against them." Chaldean, "saw them with disgust."
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv14, 19, 23, 25, 26, 29, 32, 36, 37, 39 ABIGAIL PACIFIES HIM. (1Sa. 25:14-35)
ABIGAIL PACIFIES HIM. (1Sa. 25:14-35)
Then Abigail made haste--The prudence and address of Nabal's wife were the means of saving him and family from utter destruction. She acknowledged the demand of her formidable neighbors; but justly considering, that to atone for the insolence of her husband, a greater degree of liberality had become necessary, she collected a large amount of food, accompanying it with the most valued products of the country.
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bottles--goatskins, capable of holding a great quantity.
parched corn--It was customary to eat parched corn when it was fully grown, but not ripe.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 20, 22, 25, 26, 28, 29, 31, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42 16. A wall unto us both by night and…
16. A wall unto us both by night and day — This shows that David used his men not for purposes of plunder, but for the protection of the helpless. The son of Jesse therefore had a just claim on Nabal for the services he had rendered him.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41 14–22. Abigail’s wise counsel
14–22. Abigail’s wise counsel
14. to salute] Lit. to bless, as in ch. 1Sa_13:10. Cp. 2Ki_4:29, and the form of salutation in 1Sa_15:13.
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he railed on them] Lit. flew upon them; the same word as in 1Sa_14:32.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 36, 37, 38, 40 (14) But one of the young men told Abigail.—The…
(14) But one of the young men told Abigail.—The servant of Nabal—accustomed, no doubt, to his master’s wild and ungovernable displays of temper had heard the insulting words which Nabal spoke to the armed messenger of the famous outlaw captain; and probably gathering from the angry demeanour of these warlike followers of David how deadly was the insult—aware, too, how great was the power of the man thus insulted—came at once, and recounted to his mistress what had taken place. Abigail had, no doubt, often acted as peace-maker between her intemperate husband and his neighbours, and on hearing the story and how imprudently her husband had behaved, saw that no time must be lost, for with a clever woman’s wit she saw that grave consequences would surely follow the churlish refusal and the rash words, which betrayed at once the jealous adherent of Saul and the bitter enemy of the powerful outlaw.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv14, 18, 21, 23, 26, 28, 29, 32, 36, 39 ABIGAIL PACIFIES DAVID (vers. 14-35).
ABIGAIL PACIFIES DAVID (vers. 14-35).
Vers. 14-17. One of the young men. Hebrew, "a lad of the lads," i.e. one of the servants; (see on the word 1Sa_1:24) when used in this sense it has no reference to age. (see 1Sa_2:17) This man was probably some old and confidential servitor. To salute. Hebrew, "to bless". (1Sa_13:10; 2Ki_4:29) He railed on them. Literally, "flew upon them like a bird of prey." We were not hurt. Literally, "not put to shame" (see on ver. 7). The language of a people always bears witness to their character, and it is a mark of the high spirit of the Israelites that they thought less of the loss than of the disgrace of an injury. As long as we were conversant with them. Hebrew, "as long as we went about with them." In the fields. Really, "in the field," the wilderness, the common pasture land. A wall. Ie. a sure protection both against wild beasts and Amalekite and other plunderers. A son of Belial. A worthless, bad man, (see on 1Sa_1:16) so coarse and violent that it is hopeless to expostulate with him.
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Vers. 14-42. (CARMEL.)
Abigail.
Of her family and early life nothing is recorded. When first mentioned she was the wife of the wealthy and churlish Nabal. It was an ill-assorted union, probably due (like most Oriental marriages) to parental arrangement. She was distinguished by a beautiful countenance and form, and (what is not always associated therewith) by a beautiful mind and character, embodying the ideal of womanhood. (Pro_31:10-31) "Where do we find in all the heathen world a woman comparable with Abigail, the daughter of the wilderness?" She was a woman of
1. Superior intelligence, practical wisdom, prudence, tact, and good management. "Of good understanding" (ver. 3). The part she took in the affairs of her husband is evident from the servants telling her of the threatening danger (ver. 17), and her apology (ver. 25). Her discretion was also shown in her reserve (ver. 19).
2. Prompt decision, energy, and activity. "Abigail made haste," etc. (ver. 18). Not a moment was lost, and she was promptly obeyed.
3. Unaffected humility, meekness, modesty, and self-devotion. "She fell before David on her face," etc. (vers. 23, 41). Her meekness and patience must have been greatly tried by the temper of Nabal, and had doubtless previously averted many a disaster.
4. Noble generosity and sacrifice. "Two hundred loaves," etc. (ver. 18). She felt that no sacrifice was too great to save her husband and his household. "David"s men and David felt that these were not the gifts of a sordid calculation, but the offerings of a generous heart. And it won them, their gratitude, their enthusiasm, their unfeigned homage" (Robertson).
5. Conciliatory, faithful, eloquent speech, and pacifying, beneficent influence (vers. 24-31). Having taken the blame upon herself (as intercessor), and referred to her husband "with that union of playfulness and seriousness which above all things turns away wrath" (Stanley), she directed the thoughts of David to God, by the leadings of whose providence she had been sent to divert him from his purpose, utters the wish flint he to whom vengeance belongs would avenge him, humbly begs the acceptance of her offering for his young men, and beseeches his forgiveness. Then (assuming her prayer to be granted) she assures him of the brilliant future that awaited him, inasmuch as he would fulfil the purposes of Jehovah, and not his own; that, should any one seek to do him harm, Jehovah would preserve him in safety, and punish his adversaries; and that when he should be "ruler over Israel" it would be a source of comfort, and not of trouble, to him that he had not shed blood causelessly, nor taken vengeance into his own hand. Finally she says, "And Jehovah will do good to my lord, and thou wilt remember thine handmaid" (for good) the things which I have spoken" (Dathe). No dissuasions from revenge could be more effective.
When a world of men Could not prevail with all their oratory, Yet hath a woman"s kindness overruled.
"Doubtless she had not studied eloquence in the schools, but the Spirit of God alone made her such an orator. God put wisdom into her heart, and it flowed out in wise discourse" (Roos).
6 . Exalted piety; faith in the righteousness and goodness of God, his overruling providence, and the establishment of his kingdom (see the song of Hannah), devotion, spiritual insight, manifested in this appeal, and in her whole conduct. (Pro_31:26, Pro_31:30) It is not surprising that, after the death of Nabal, "David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife" (ver. 39). D.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv17, 29, 32, 38 For he is such a son of Belial, that…
1Sa_25:17
For he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.
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The bad-tempered man
In this chapter you find a perfect picture of a choleric, bad-tempered man. There is a saying that the worst temper in the house always rules, and often it is so. I have seen father and mother weakly yielding to some boorish, ill-tempered child. You have met the workman who was feared by all his fellows because he was a churl, a sullen, violent-tempered man, a modern Nabal, which means a fool. What a picture of home life is drawn for us here in this chapter. In the foreground is Nabal, the grumpy, sullen, beetle-browed, coarse-tongued, drunken husband--the prototype of hundreds of husbands of today, Who rule in their own little world with all the despotism of a Nero, and who only need a larger platform and greater power to show us how inhuman, how cruel, and how like the devil men can become. That is Nabal in low life, but you find Nabal in high life, in political life, ay! and in church life too. And then there is Abigail, Nabals wife, in the picture, and she is its redeeming feature. She is as tactful as she is beautiful, and she knew her husbands moods well, and she is always particularly gracious when the wind is in the east, and Nabal is most out of temper. Hes gey bad to live with, was the testimony of Carlyles mother, and the reading of some of the letters his wife wrote are nothing less than heart breaking. If he would only be satisfied, she said, but I have learned that when he does not find fault he is pleased, and that has to content me. Such a wife as Abigail is a crown to her husband; a daily blessing from God; but Nabal had the dark spirit within him, and never saw her worth. There are men who will go through a rose garden and never smell its sweet fragrance. Graciousness, and sweetness, and gentleness are wasted on such natures as Nabals, but let those who have to deal with these churls remember that it is always worth while to practise these virtues, if only for their own sake. Abigail did not let Nabal destroy her good temper, although her married life was little better than a martyrdom. The mind, Milton tells us, is its own place, and it can make a heaven of hell, and a hell of heaven, and Abigail, denied the love of her husband, won the love and respect of the servants, and was a shelter in the time of storm to them. Nabal, says Dr. Whyte, died of a strange disease, indebtedness to his wife. He could not brook the thought that he owed his life to the good sense of his wife and to the forbearance of David; it was wormwood and gall, and it poisoned him, and he died of a heart frozen by his own wickedness. Have there not been times when our bad temper has ruled, and we have forgotten to be either just or generous? Nabal died of a frozen heart, but he has had a resurrection in many a life. Boorishness and churlishness were not buried in Nabals grave. Temper, says Bishop Watson, is nine-tenths of religion. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, pleads the Apostle. It is the Christ mind that is the great thing, not simply doing the right thing, but doing it in the right spirit. Nabal was a rich man, but he never was a gentleman; you could not make a gentleman out of such stuff as constituted Nabals nature. Have you met him--this loud-voiced, blatant, well-dressed, overfed churl. A quaint old Methodist used to say, Never judge a man by the size of his house. A very small rabbit may live in a very big hole. Behaviour, says Emerson, is the finest of the fine arts. Manners are the garments of the spirit, the eternal clothing of the being. Even religion turns sour with some men, and that which should spell light, brightness, and cheerfulness spells instead sourness, unrighteousness, and exclusiveness. You remember how Robert Falconers grandmother hid away his fiddle, fearful lest the lad should be tempted by it into worldly things, never dreaming that God melts the heart of some by touching the bow of a fiddle with His own figures, as He speaks to others by the voice of some great preacher. He has many ways of fulfilling Himself. How this churlishness destroys the best in life, and robs it of sweetness. The prodigal came home, and his reception would have been perfect but for the one thing, and that was his brothers churlishness. Sir, said Dr. Johnson, a man has no more right to say an uncivil thing than to act one; no more right to say a rude thing to another than to knock him down. Epictetus has left us a great lesson in his famous saying, If a man is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his own fault; for God hath made all men to be happy. (Samuel Herren.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv14, 36 Abigail’s Tact and Prudence
Abigail’s Tact and Prudence
v. 14. But one of the young men, of the servants of Nabal, told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them, drove over them, flew on them in a rage.
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v. 15. But the men, namely, those of David, were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, injured, made subjects of shame and contempt, neither missed we anything as long as we were conversant with them, during all the time of their fellowship with them, when we were in the fields;
v. 16. they were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep, their presence had proved a powerful protection against the wild beasts as well as against the robbers of the desert.
v. 17. Now, therefore, know and consider what thou wilt do, Abigail was to find some way to avert a probable calamity;for evil is determined against our master and against all his household, this they might count on as firmly settled; for he, Nabal, is such a son of Belial, bad, foolish, and profitless, that a man cannot speak to him. That was the estimate in which Nabal was held by his household and by his servants.
v. 18. Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, the skins used for this purpose in the Orient, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, more than forty quarts of roasted gram, and an hundred clusters of raisins, in the form of cakes made of pressed raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, also in the pressed form, and laid them on asses.
v. 19. And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. Like Jacob, Gen 32:13-20, she sent the presents of reconciliation ahead of her. But she told not her husband Nabal, who would probably have interfered very decidedly.
v. 20. And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, probably a depression or pass between two peaks, hidden from sight at any distance, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them.
v. 21. Now, David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, in protecting his wealth in flocks, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him; and he hath requited me evil for good. David had been bitterly disappointed in his expectation of receiving any recognition whatever on the part of Nabal and had now flared up in passionate anger, which was not right.
v. 22. So and more also do God unto the enemies of David if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall, so much as a single person. David wrongly considered the act of Nabal a manifestation of enmity against the cause of Jehovah.
v. 23. And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, in an attitude of supplication and subjection, and bowed herself to the ground,
v. 24. and fell at his feet, humbling herself more and more before him, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me, let this iniquity be, the blame or guilt for this unfortunate affair; and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. He was to consider her alone as the foolish and guilty person with whom he was to deal.
v. 25. Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal, he should not take his behavior to heart; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal (fool) is his name, and folly is with him; but I, thine handmaid, saw not the young men of my lord whom thou didst send. Having drawn attention to her own person, she proceeds with her arguments.
v. 26. Now, therefore, my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, literally, "into blood-guiltiness," and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, by saving or procuring help for himself, thus making himself guilty of a serious crime, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal, sons of folly, the correlate of godlessness, which invariably brings the punishment of God upon the sinner. To these two points Abigail now adds the third argument, in offering her gift.
v. 27. And now this blessing, the present which she had sent before her, which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord, these words showing that she was a skilful diplomat. It is only now that she asks for pardon and forbearance.
v. 28. I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid, the guilt which she had taken upon herself by her own confession; for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, as a reward of his magnanimity in this case, because my lord fighteth the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days, that is, bad luck, misfortune.
v. 29. Yet a man is risen to pursue thee and to seek thy soul, or, "Should a man arise and pursue," for she delicately omits a direct reference to Saul; but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord, thy God, said of the sure protection which the children of God enjoy in the merciful fellowship of the Lord here on earth; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall He sling out, as out of the middle of a sling, the pan of the sling where the missile is placed before it is shot. It is a strong expression for the total rejection which should strike the enemies of David by the divine punishment.
v. 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, for she knew that God had chosen and called David to be king of Israel, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel,
v. 31. that this shall be no grief unto thee nor offense of heart unto my lord, a stumbling-block or vexation, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself, bloodshed and self-help being the double sin that he would have been guilty of; but when the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid, not to forget her entirely in his own prosperity.
v. 32. And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me, for David ever acknowledged himself to be under divine guidance;
v. 33. and blessed be thy advice, her tactful wisdom, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand, thus accepting the correction in the two points which she made.
v. 34. For in very deed, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light, by tomorrow morning, any that pisseth against the wall.
v. 35. So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, the presents in food, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house, without anxiety; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person, her petition had been favorably regarded by him. Like David, all believers will find many an occasion for thanking the Lord for mercifully keeping them from some severe transgression, often in the very nick of time.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 30, 32, 34, 36, 37, 39, 41 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's…
But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife
You may need to make explicit what the young man did before he spoke with Abigail. AT: "One of Nabal's servants found out what David and his men were planning to do, so he went to Nabal's wife Abigail" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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We were not harmed
This can be translated in active form. AT: "Nobody harmed us" or "We were safe" (See: Active or Passive)
did not miss anything as long as we went with them
"we did not lose anything when we were with them." David's men kept wild animals and other people from stealing Nabal's flocks.
translationWords
David
messenger
desert
lord
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv21, 26, 28, 29, 36, 37, 39 25:21 he has repaid me evil for good: Cp.…
25:21 he has repaid me evil for good: Cp. 24:17.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.