Chapter Twenty-Five
The Death of Samuel
25:1a Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah.
We are only given a half of a verse (although the author will repeat this again, see 1 Samuel 28:3), one sentence that records the death of the prophet Samuel, that all of Israel gathered and mourned for him and was buried in Ramah, his home town.
Samuel died—after a long life of piety and public usefulness, having left behind him a reputation which ranks him amongst the greatest of Scripture worthies. He stamped his own character on that of his age and country, being the foremost man, the great influential leader in the political, ecclesiastical, literary, and religious world. As a man, he was remarkable through life for his eminent holiness, his energy, and indefatigable activity, his dignified consistency, and his devotional habits, which, commencing in his childhood, grew with his growth and strengthened with his strength. As a magistrate, he embodied in all his public acts the principles of the theocratic constitution; and, called as he was to hold the reins of government at a time of newly-acquired liberty and independence from foreign domination, his uniform object was to realize amongst his countrymen the idea of the ‘chosen generation, the holy nation, the royal priesthood, the peculiar people.’[1]
Nabal Angers David
25:1b Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
David and his men then went several (over thirty) miles south to the wilderness of Paran. Most agree that Paran (not Mount Paran) refers to a large area in the west central section of the Sinai Peninsula, where Kadesh Barnea and the lower southeast portion of Judah’s territory are on its borders. However, many believe that the location should be Maon, as it is recorded in the Septuagint and the following event takes place in Carmel only a few miles from Maon.
An interesting contrast as we read that Samuel dies and David arises in this one verse, which can serve as a reminder that God’s work doesn’t end with just one man, His work always continues.
25:2 And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite.
It appears that some time has passed between the first and second verse, as we are introduced to a wealthy man from Maon named Nabal, whose name means ‘fool’ and is described as being a harsh and poorly behaved man. His wife, however, is described as being discerning (Hebrew ṭô’ḇǎṯ śě’·ḵěl, good understanding, good sense) and beautiful, named Abigail (meaning “my father’s joy”). Nabal is also identified as a Calebite.[2]
Nabal belonged to the Caleb-clan, a clan originally distinct from Judah, but afterwards incorporated in it, which had settlements in the country about Hebron (see 1 Ch. 2:42–49, where Ziph, Hebron, Tappuaḥ, Joqdeʿam [so read for Jorqoʿam], Maʿon, Beth-zur [4½ miles N. of Hebron], are specified as some of its settlements), and also in the Negeb.[3]
25:4 David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5 So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. 6 And thus you shall greet him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7 I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel. 8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ”
The time of sheep-shearing was often a time of great festivity, which included large meals and significant amount of drinking (see Genesis 31:19; 38:12-29; 2 Samuel 13:23-33). While David and his men were in this region they had regularly interacted and coexisted with the shepherds, including those employed by Nabal. They even provided protection for the shepherds and their sheep (see verse sixteen), and never caused them any trouble nor took anything from them. So when David heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep, he sent some men to greet Nabal in his name and asked him if he would allow his men to join them in their celebration meal, to provide for David and his men.
25:9 When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. 10 And Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. 11 Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?”
When David’s men relayed his request to Nabal, he responded with, “Who is David?” Nabal was a relative of David from the same tribe, and could have been associated at one time with David’s hometown Bethlehem (see 1 Chronicles 2:51). Plus, undoubtedly, David was probably to best-known name from the tribe of Judah, therefore, Nabal likely knew exactly who David was. Nabal then utters an insult that there are many servants that have broken away from their masters, implying that these men were nothing but beggars. He closes the discussion with the question, “Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?”
It is hard not to notice the number of first-person references in Nabal’s response. He is truly self-centered and unwilling to share with David and his men.
25:12 So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this. 13 And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.
When David heard Nabal’s reply, he got angry, and responded by telling his men to strap on their swords. They each did as David instructed, and four hundred of the men went with David to Carmel, while the other two hundred men stayed back to watch their belongings.
25:14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. 15 Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. 16 They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17 Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.”
Meanwhile as David and his men are en route, one of Nabal’s men informs Abigail, his wife, about how her husband railed (Hebrew yā’·‛ǎṭ, to scorn, to insult) David’s men. The man told Abigail that David’s men were very good to them, that they suffered no harm, did not miss anything when they were in the fields, they continued to be a wall around them night and day. The man then warns that there will likely be a disastrous response against Nabal as a result of his insult, something that will affect all of them and his family. He notes that Nabal is such a worthless man (Hebrew běn beliy·yǎ’·‛ǎl, click here to read further regarding this phrase) that he doesn’t listen to anyone.
25:18 Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys.
Abigail quickly gathers two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five already slaughtered and cooked sheep, five measures of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred fig cakes, and loaded everything on some donkeys.
25:19 And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them.
Abigail tells her men to go on before her, as they could reach David sooner, she will be leading the donkeys. She did not tell Nabal about anything she was doing. She went down under cover of the mountain (a ravine or hidden path) to where David and his men were coming toward her and she met them.
25:21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. 22 God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”
At some point prior to meeting Abigail, David had stated that it was a waste of time and effort guarding this man’s belongings in the wilderness, nothing was lost or stolen, but now he repays him with evil. He then makes an oath that God will punish him and do so severely if he lets any one of his males survive until morning.
Abigail Intercedes for Nabal
25:23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. 25 Let not my lord regard 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 did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent.
As soon as Abigail saw David she got down off her donkey and fell before David’s feet on her face bowing to the ground. She proclaimed that the blame of Nabal’s foolish response be on her, and asked that he listen to her. She tells David that as for Nabal, don’t listen to him, as he is foolish, just as his name claims. She then notes that she did not see or know anything about the men that David sent to talk with Nabal, but takes the responsibility of her husband’s behavior nonetheless.
25:26 Now then, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, because the LORD has restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. 27 And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord.
Abigail continues to note that now, that as surely as YHWH lives and David lives, because YHWH has kept him from murdering and taking vengeance into his own hands (see considerations below). She is stating that God had intervened to prevent David from being guilty of any needless bloodshed and that all of David’s enemies that desire to do evil to him, be like Nabal. She then offered to him the gift of food which she had prepared for him and his men.
25:28 Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the LORD, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live.
She now asks David to forgive her of her offenses (as she had asked to be held responsible for Naba[’s action, see verse twenty-four), for YHWH will certainly grant David a sure house (a long dynasty) because he is fighting the battles of YHWH (and not personal vendettas, as that is God’s role, see Deuteronomy 32:35, Romans 12:19), so that no wrongdoing can be found in him as long as he lives.
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 sling out as from the hollow of a sling.
Abigail tells David that if men rise up to pursue and kill him, like Saul, to not worry as his life is “bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the LORD your God.” While translations of this phrase vary significantly, it claims (not anticipates) that David’s life is secure in God’s hands. And that the lives of David’s enemies shall go away just as a stone is flung from a sling.
25:30 And when the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, 31 my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”
In closing, Abigail states that when YHWH has done all the things He has promised, and appoints David to being the ruler of Israel, his conscience will not be overwhelmed with any guilt for needless bloodshed avenging the actions of Nabal, so remember her at that time.
She put forward the certainty of David’s future kingdom and his secure dynasty as the basis on which David should now extend forgiveness to her on behalf of her pathetic husband. The connection between those two ideas is not immediately obvious. It lies in the unique kind of king David was to be. Since he would reign as God’s king, he must not be one who sheds blood needlessly or takes vengeance into his own hands. David must be a man who trusts God.[4]
Throughout her presentation to David, Abigail demonstrated a thorough understanding of the situation and David’s future role for the nation of Israel. Her nearly-prophetic statements (being confident in what she was saying would come true) are truly remarkable and undoubtedly impressed David.
25:32 And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand! 34 For as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.”
In response, David offers a three-fold blessing: 1) Blessed be YHWH, who sent her to meet him; 2) Blessed be her discretion (Hebrew ṭǎ·mē’, taste, perception, in context a spiritual perception); and 3) Blessed be her, Abigail, who kept him from carrying out vengeance with his own hands. He then explains that if it wasn’t for her actions, surely by next morning there would have been nothing left of Nabal and his house. The Hebrew wording of verse thirty-four here in the ESV that reads, “there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male,” literally translates to “no one left urinating against the wall,”[5]pointing to the fact that there would not be any male left alive to continue the lineage of Nabal.
35 Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”
David then takes from her everything she had brought for him and his men. He assures her that he has listened and agrees to everything she has said and tells her that he has granted her petition, his aggression towards Nabal has stopped.
25:36 And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until the morning light. 37 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. 38 And about ten days later the LORD struck Nabal, and he died.
When Abigail returned home she found Nabal drunk, so she waited until morning to inform him what she did to stop his demise. When she did tell Nabal what she did on that following day “his heart died,’ as he was struck with some form of stroke or heart attack, rendering him motionless, ten days later YHWH struck Nabal and he died.
Considerations
Did David expect remuneration for something that was not initially requested?
When this chapter is read, many question what was David expecting? His men interacted and for the most part lived with these shepherds providing protection from wildlife and any potential thief. Were they hired to provide protection? Some believe they were, but probably not. There are some that propose that David ran some form of protection racket, which again is unlikely.
During David’s stay among the shepherds they enjoyed the higher level of security and when they reported that nothing went missing during that time (see verses fifteen and twenty-one) that they were likely referring to any thefts from animals and criminals, not them. David and his men apparently provided this service free of charge out of courtesy to their neighbors. So why was David angry? David had his delegates politely request from Nabal for food to feed his men, however instead of simply saying ‘no’, he insulted both David and his men, but was David so incensed that he wanted them dead?
There may be at least one other viewpoint that is often overlooked. In the Bible we read that in the ancient Middle East there was an expectation of hospitality where travelers could rely on local people for food, water, and shelter as they journeyed through desert lands and other barren places, as it was a matter of survival. In Genesis 18:1-8 we read about Abraham and Sarah preparing a meal for God’s messengers. And then later in Deuteronomy 10:18-19 God gave the Israelites the command, “He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.” (ESV) Followed by several examples of this type of hospitality in action, including: the father-in-law caring for a Levite (see Judges 19:4-10); a man in Gibeah offering hospitality to the same Levite (see Judges 19:16-26); a prophet helping a man of God (see 1 Kings 13:11-23); the hospitality of a widow in Zarephath for Elijah (see 1 Kings 17:8-16); and the hospitality offered to Elisha by a Shunamite woman (see 2 Kings 4:8-10). In looking at these examples we see that the hospitality can either be requested or offered. Plus, there are many secular sources that reflect this same “unwritten code” of hospitality extending beyond borders and religious backgrounds. The Bible also records situations were hospitality was denied where the rise of hostility was a result (for example see Judges 8:7-9; 9:15-17).
From the perspective of acknowledging the potential existence of an ancient unwritten code of hospitality, we can then view Nabal as the host, one that could easily provide for what was requested, plus he was a relative of David, who would be, along with his men, the guest. As the guest he asked the host for food, but Nabal refused to extend hospitality. His denial could possibly be considered as an act of hostility, which is exactly how Nabal’s servants thought it was as they ran to Abigail warning her that, “harm is determined against our master and against all his house” (see verse seventeen).
While David was appropriately angry, we come back to the question, would killing Nabal be justified? Note what Abigail tells David before he is able to reach Nabal, referring to God, she said, “restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand” (verse twenty-six), she had stopped him from being guilty of his murder. Justified? Perhaps, but that would have been in direct violation of God’s command, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:18, ESV, see also Deuteronomy 24:15; 32:35). Both David and Nabal were saved that day by Abigail’s quick thinking and action.
Was Abigail a Prophetess?
Abigail’s presentation to David certainly contains truth that could be classified as being either reasoned by a brilliant observer or that of information that came from God. Although Scripture does not identify Abigail as a prophetess, she is listed as one of seven prophetesses in the Talmud’s Megillah Tractate[6] (click here to read more about ancient Jewish writings).
David Marries Abigail
25:39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the LORD who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. The LORD has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent and spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife.
After hearing that Nabal was dead, David proclaimed, “Blessed be YHWH who has judged the dispute between him and Nabal and avenged Nabal’s insult against him, and had kept him from doing wrong. And that YHWH returned the evil of Nabal back at him.” Then David sent messengers to Abigail with the invitation to be his wife.
25:40 When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.” 41 And she rose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42 And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife.
When David’s servants find Abigail at Carmel, they tell her that they are there to take her to David so that she could be his wife. In response she got up and then bowed with her face to the ground and said that she was their servant, and ready to wash the feet of David’s servants, a humbleacceptance to David’s offer. Abigail then quickly gathered her five attending servants, mounted a donkey and followed David’s servants, and got married to David.
25:43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and both of them became his wives. 44 Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.
We are told that David also married Ahinoam, not the wife of Saul (see 1 Samuel 14:50), as she is identified here as being from Jezreel. There is a debate as to whether she was David’s first wife as she is always listed first, she will be the mother of David’s firstborn son named Amnon (see 2 Samuel 3:2). We are also told that the daughter of Saul, Michal, who he had previously married, was given to Palti by her father to spite David.
Considerations
Was David wrong to marry multiple wives?
While the practice of polygamy is noted and described several times in the Bible, it is never commanded against nor condoned, however, marriage is described in the Bible as being between one man and one woman (see Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6; 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6). But it never disallowed the practice, except, that is, for kings. While the wording is often debated, Moses made it clear that kings were not to have multiple wives. Referring to future kings of the Israelites, Moses wrote God’s instructions to them including, “And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away.” (Deuteronomy 17:17a, ESV) Was it wrong for David or any of the kings (remember Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines) to have multiple wives? Yes.
Was this inappropriate? It wasn’t directly sin, because God hadn’t commanded against it. But it did go against God’s ideal, His plan for oneness in a marriage relationship. David was a man of great passions and as a part of that he had many wives. But because David never really followed God’s plan and purpose for marriage, his family life was never blessed and peaceful. Family trouble brought David some of the greatest trials of his life.[7]
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[1] Jamieson, R. (n.d.). A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments: Joshua–Esther: Vol. II (p. 199). William Collins, Sons, & Company, Limited.
[2] This is an unusual word, the root word for Caleb’s name refers to a dog and the Septuagint records that Nabal was like a dog, but in the Hebrew manuscripts we find an odd contraction that contains the Hebrew letter kaph, the Hebrew word lib (heart), and the pronoun hû. Which is why some translators will translate the last part of the verse something like, “he was as his heart” (1 Samuel 25:3b, LEB)
[3] Driver, S. R. (1913). Notes on the Hebrew text and topography of the books of Samuel (p. 196). Clarendon Press.
[4] Woodhouse, J. (2008). 1 Samuel: Looking for a leader (p. 481). Crossway Books.
[5] Bergen, R. D. (1996). 1, 2 Samuel (Vol. 7, p. 251). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[6] Neusner, J. (2011). The Babylonian Talmud: A Translation and Commentary (Vol. 7b, p. 69). Hendrickson Publishers. [14A]
[7] Guzik, D. (2013). 1 Samuel (1 Sa 25:39–44). David Guzik.