Chapter 25
Chapter 25
1. (1Sa 25:1) Samuel, the great prophet and judge over Israel, dies.
Then Samuel died; and the Israelites gathered together and lamented for him,
and buried him at his home in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the
Wilderness of Paran.
a. Then Samuel died: This great man dedicated unto the Lord and serving Him
from his youngest days, now dies. As godly as he was, it did not save him from an
earthly death because he was still a descendant of Adam. But God’s work in Israel
did not end when Samuel died. God’s work never is dependent on only one man.
b. The Israelites gathered together and lamented for him: Samuel seemed to
be unappreciated by Israel during his life (1 Samuel 8:1-7) but at least he was
honored in his death.
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2. (1Sa 25:2-3) A man named Nabal, his wife and his character.
Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel, and the man was
very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was
shearing his sheep in Carmel. The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of
his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful
appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings. And he was of the
house of Caleb.
a. And the man was very rich: The first thing we learn about this man is where
he lived (Maon, with his business in Carmel), and that he was a very rich man
(three thousand sheep and a thousand goats).
i. There are four kinds of riches. There are riches in what you have, riches in
what you do, riches in what you know, and riches in what you are – riches of
character. Nabal was a very rich man, but only rich in what he had. He had
the lowest kind of riches.
b. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel: This was the “harvest time” for a
sheep rancher. Because it was like “harvest time” sheep shearing was a time of
lavish hospitality towards others.
c. The name of the man was Nabal: This is another indication of his character,
because the name Nabal means fool. In ancient Israel names were often
connected with a person’s character. We don’t know if Nabal was given this name
or he earned it but he certainly lived up to it.
i. The fact that he was of the house of Caleb may also be a bad description
of Nabal, because Caleb means dog, and to be of the house of a dog was
no compliment. “As the word caleb signifies a dog, the Septuagint have
understood it as implying a man of a canine disposition, and translate it thus...
he was a doggish man. It is understood in the same way by the Syriac and
Arabic.” (Clarke)
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the only other women who have this Hebrew phrase applied to them are Rachel
(Genesis 29:17) and Esther (Esther 2:7).
i. How did a woman like this ever get matched up with a man like Nabal? We
can understand it in that day of arranged marriages. But there are many
Abigails today who are in that place not because the marriage was arranged
but because they chose it. “It is remarkable how many Abigails get married to
Nabals. God-fearing women, tender and gentle in the sensibilities, high-
minded and noble in their ideals, become tied in an indissoluble union with
men for whom they can have no true affinity, even if they have not an
unconquerable repugnance.” (Meyer)
ii. “May I say to you lovingly, but firmly, if such a circumstance has befallen
you, that is no reason for you to invoke the law of the country to get out of the
entanglement. Perhaps God knew that you needed the fiery trial to humble
you and make you a testimony to your partner. The Bible says you must stay
as you are. Maybe there will come to you one day, as there came to Abigail, a
new opportunity; but until then, it is for you to prove the grace and power of
the Lord in your heart to strengthen you and keep you pure.” (Redpath)
3. (1Sa 25:4-9) David asks for compensation for his valuable service to Nabal.
When David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep, David
sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, go to
Nabal, and greet him in my name. And thus you shall say to him who lives in
prosperity: ‘Peace be to you, peace to your house, and peace to all that you
have! Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds were with us,
and we did not hurt them, nor was there anything missing from them all the while
they were in Carmel. 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 comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David.'” So when
David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in
the name of David, and waited.
a. Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and your son
David: David made this request because he performed a valuable service for
Nabal, protecting his flocks when Philistine raids were common. To our modern
ears it might sound like David ran some kind of “protection racket,” but that wasn’t
the case at all. He performed a worthy, valuable service for Nabal and expected to
be compensated.
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b. Nabal was shearing his sheep: This means David waited until the right time to
ask for compensation for his services. David protected Nabal’s shepherds and
flocks a long time, but did not expect to be compensated until Nabal himself made
his money at the “harvest” of sheep shearing.
c. David sent ten young men: This shows that David made the request politely.
He did it through messengers so Nabal would not be intimidated. He sent the
messengers with a greeting full of warmth and kindness (Peace be to you), so
Nabal would not give out of fear or intimidation.
d. Your shepherds were with us... nor was there anything missing... ask your
young men, and they will tell you: This shows that David made the request
properly, carefully and patiently giving Nabal an “itemized receipt” for services
rendered.
e. For we come on a feast day: David politely reminded Nabal of the traditions of
generosity surrounding harvest and sheep shearing time.
f. Please give whatever comes to your hand: David did not demand any specific
payment from Nabal, or set a price – he simply left it up to Nabal’s generosity.
Then David’s messengers simply waited for the reply.
Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, “Who is David, and who is the
son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one
from his master. Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have
killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are
from?” So David’s young men turned on their heels and went back; and they
came and told him all these words.
a. Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? It can’t be that Nabal did not
know who David was, because David was famous throughout all Israel
(1 Samuel 18:5-7). Nabal said this as a direct insult to David – knowing who he
was, but refusing to recognize him. In our modern way of speaking, Nabal said,
“Who does he think he is?”
b. There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his
master: Nabal deepened his insult, saying that David is simply a rebellious
servant. This was completely false because David had continually (though not
perfectly) conducted himself wisely when attacked by Saul.
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Then David said to his men, “Every man gird on his sword.” So every man girded
on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men
went with David, and two hundred stayed with the supplies.
a. Then David said to his men, “Every man gird on his sword.” David received
Nabal’s response exactly the way Nabal intended it to be received: with great
insult. But Nabal is not dealing with a weak, no-account man; David was a great
soldier and warrior. In our modern way of speaking, David would have said to his
men, “Lock and load!” In a western movie, he would have said, “Mount up, boys!”
David was ready to fight.
i. This is not a high moment for David. He doesn’t respond the way the Lord
would have him respond to an insult, or even to an attack. God would have us
bear insults with love and kindness, returning their evil with our good. This is
high ground to walk on, but it is commanded by Jesus: Whoever slaps you on
your right cheek, turn the other to him also. (Matthew 5:38-39)
ii. David didn’t show Nabal the same kindness and longsuffering that he
showed to Saul. In just the previous chapter, David spared Saul’s life when
Saul not only insulted David but also actually attacked him and tried to kill
him. David was able to be kind and longsuffering to Saul, but it seems to have
been harder to do it towards someone he perceived as his equal or lower than
himself. Often, this is true measure of our character – not how we treat our
superiors, but how we treat our equals or those “beneath” us in some way or
another.
b. About four hundred men went with David: David is not coming to Nabal just
to make a statement, but to wipe him out. That is why he arms himself and his
men and why he left some men behind to watch the stuff and serve as
reinforcements.
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Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Look, David sent
messengers from the wilderness to greet our master; and he reviled them. But
the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, nor did we miss anything as
long as we accompanied them, when we were in the fields. They were a wall to us
both by night and day, all the time we were with them keeping the sheep. Now
therefore, know and consider what you will do, for harm is determined against
our master and against all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that one
cannot speak to him.”
b. The men were very good to us: Nabal’s servants told Abigail of the valuable
service David’s men performed. Abigail then knew that David and his men
deserved compensation.
c. Know and consider what you will do, for harm is determined: Nabal’s
servants read the handwriting on the wall. They knew that David would not take
such an insult (theft, actually) lying down. For their own sake and for the sake of
the household they asked Abigail to do something (consider what you will do).
d. He is such a scoundrel that one cannot speak to him: This explains why
they did not appeal directly to Nabal. The Book of Proverbs had not been written
yet, but they still knew the truth of Proverbs 17:12: Let a man meet a bear robbed
of her cubs, rather than a fool in his folly. Therefore, they made this life-or-death
appeal to Abigail.
2. (1Sa 25:18-20) Abigail prepares a present for David and his men.
Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of
wine, five sheep already dressed, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred
clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys.
And she said to her servants, “Go on before me; see, I am coming after you.” But
she did not tell her husband Nabal. So it was, as she rode on the donkey, that
she went down under cover of the hill; and there were David and his men,
coming down toward her, and she met them.
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b. Two hundred loaves of bread... two skins of wine... five sheep already
dressed... one hundred clusters of raisins: Abigail did what Nabal should have
done, but what he didn’t do.
i. The fact that Abigail was able to gather so much food so quickly shows how
wealthy Nabal was. If this much food was on hand, it makes Nabal’s
ungenerous reply to David all the worse.
3. (1Sa 25:21-22) David vows to massacre Nabal and his entire household.
Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the
wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And he has
repaid me evil for good. May God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David,
if I leave one male of all who belong to him by morning light.”
a. And he has repaid me evil for good: David was accurate, but not right in his
heart. He had the facts straight, but not his heart.
b. If I leave one male of all who belong to him by morning light: This made
David’s intention clear – he planned to massacre Nabal and all the males of his
household. This was the expected reaction (Nabal’s own servants expected it
according to 1 Samuel 25:17) but God called David to go further than what the
world expected.
Now when Abigail saw David, she hastened to dismount from the donkey, fell on
her face before David, and bowed down to the ground. So she fell at his feet and
said: “On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And please let your maidservant
speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant. Please, let not my
lord regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name,
and folly is with him. But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my
lord whom you sent. Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord lives and as your soul
lives, since the Lord has held you back from coming to bloodshed and from
avenging yourself with your own hand, now then, let your enemies and those
who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal. And now this present which your
maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow
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my lord. Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For the Lord will
certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord fights the battles
of the Lord, and evil is not found in you throughout your days. Yet a man has
risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall be bound in
the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; and the lives of your enemies He
shall sling out, as from the pocket of a sling. And it shall come to pass, when the
Lord has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken
concerning you, and has appointed you ruler over Israel, that this will 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. But when the Lord has dealt well
with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”
a. When Abigail saw David: Because of the hilly terrain (she went down under
cover of the hill, 1 Samuel 25:20), Abigail could remain hidden from David right up
until they met face to face. It also seems that Abigail saw David first, and when
David first saw her, she was humbled before him, at the head of a great train of
gifts and provisions.
i. In his angry, agitated state, something unexpected made David and his
whole company come to an immediate stop: a great procession of gifts, and at
the head of that procession, a beautiful woman bowing down before David.
This had to make a startling impression on David.
b. She hastened to dismount from the donkey, fell on her face before David,
and bowed down to the ground: Abigail made her appeal in utmost humility. She
didn’t come to David as a superior (as the beautiful, rich, and privileged often do)
or even as an equal; she came to David as his humble servant.
i. When she first heard of the crisis, she immediately went into action (Then
Abigail made haste, 1 Samuel 25:18). She knew this was an urgent situation,
so she acted with urgency.
ii. With her first words to David Abigail immediately took the blame on herself
(On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be!). Abigail didn’t do this because
she really believed she was guilty. She took the blame because she knew that
David would punish her differently than he might punish her husband Nabal.
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iv. Abigail smoothly suggested the positive outcome to David in her appeal
(the Lord has held you back from coming to bloodshed and from
avenging yourself with your own hand). She stated it in a way that almost
guided David towards her suggested outcome.
v. Abigail brought David a present (now this present), but was wise enough
to say that it was for the young men who follow David, not for David himself.
To say that it was for David would suggest that he was in this just for the
money, and that David’s insulted dignity could be bought off with money.
vi. Abigail plainly, straightforwardly, asked for forgiveness (Please forgive the
trespass of your maidservant).
vii. Despite David’s present anger and agitation – which is clearly sin – Abigail
spoke of David’s character in high terms, regarding his present unmentioned
state as an aberration (my lord fights the battles of the Lord, and evil is
not found in you throughout your days).
viii. Abigail reminded David of the Lord’s promise for his life (the Lord will
certainly make for my lord an enduring house). She guided David to look
beyond the immediate aggravating circumstances to the bigger promise of
God.
ix. Abigail asked David not to do something he would later regret, when God’s
promise was ultimately fulfilled (that this will be no grief to you... that you
have shed blood without cause). This is perhaps the single best thing that
Abigail said; she wisely asked David to consider the outcome of his present
course and how bad it would be. She asked him to let the Lord settle the
matter instead of taking vengeance into his own hands.
i. She did all this without her husbands counsel or approval (But she did not
tell her husband Nabal, 1 Samuel 25:19).
ii. She openly and severely criticized her husband to David (this scoundrel
Nabal... Nabal is his name, and folly is with him). No wife should speak this
way of her husband and no husband should speak this way of his wife.
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iii. She almost suggested to David that he kill the guilty Nabal (let your
enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal), but that he
spare the rest of the household because they were innocent (shed blood
without cause).
iv. She made herself available for David’s future consideration, perhaps in an
inappropriate way (When the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then
remember your maidservant).
e. The life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord
your God; and the lives of your enemies He shall sling out, as from the
pocket of a sling: This perhaps is the strongest point of Abigail’s appeal and she
used a wonderful turn of speech. She said, “David, you are like a bundle that the
Lord holds closely and securely to Himself. Your enemies are like rocks that the
Lord will sling away.” This invites David to act like a man who is close to the Lord.
i. David took his 400 men to do what God could do as easily as throwing a
stone out of sling. This had to remind David of a time when he really did trust
God for the victory – when he cast a stone out of a sling and killed Goliath.
Through her wise words, Abigail focused David’s attention from Nabal back
unto the Lord.
ii. Abigail’s appeal to David was so glorious because it lifted him up instead of
beating him down. David was clearly in the wrong, and Abigail wanted to
guide him into the right. But she didn’t do it by being negative, by emphasizing
to David how wrong and angry and stupid he was – though in fact he was.
Instead, Abigail emphasized David’s glorious calling and destiny, and the
general integrity of his life, and simply asked him to consider if what his
present course of action was consistent with that destiny and integrity.
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That is wrong, and they should look to Abigail as an example. Other Christian
wives have the idea of “sharply speaking submission.” They say, “I know my
husband is wrong, and God has appointed me to tell him. And boy, will I!”
That is wrong, and they should look to Abigail as an example. Abigail gives
the right example – submission that speaks, but speaks sweetly instead of
sharply.
iv. Abigail’s submission to Nabal was not outstanding but her submission to
David was. And David’s submission to the Lord was equally outstanding; by
giving up the fight, he had to trust God to take care of Nabal.
5. (1Sa 25:32-35) David thanks God for Abigail’s appeal, and receives her advice.
Then David said to Abigail: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this
day to meet me! And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you
have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with
my own hand. For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has kept me back
from hurting you, unless you had hastened and come to meet me, surely by
morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!” So David received from
her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, “Go up in peace to your
house. See, I have heeded your voice and respected your person.”
a. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel: David was on a sinful course and Abigail,
through her bold, quick, and wise appeal, stopped him from sin. He knew God
spoke to him through Abigail (who sent you this day).
i. David is being taught a good lesson – our hurt feelings never justify
disobedience. When others sin against us, we may feel justified in sinning
against them, but we are never justified by our hurt feelings.
b. You have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging
myself with my own hand: David can also thank God because Abigail
successfully reminded him of his destiny – to reign over Israel in righteousness
and integrity. If David had slaughtered Nabal and his household it would forever be
a black mark against David among Israelites. They would forever wonder if they
could really trust him. It might also seal his doom before Saul, because for the first
time David would have given Saul a legitimate reason to hunt him down as a
criminal.
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c. Blessed is your advice, and blessed are you: David was man enough and
wise enough to take counsel from a woman. He knew that the issue wasn’t
Abigail’s gender but that God used her at that time and place. David did well both
to receive her advice and to praise her for her boldness in bringing it.
d. So David received from her hand: It is important to remember that Abigail did
not come to David empty-handed. One reason her appeal was effective was
because she paid David what was owed to him. When David received it from
Abigail he acknowledged that Nabal had paid the bill and there was nothing
outstanding.
i. Here David knew the blessing of being kept from sin. It surely is a blessing
to be forgiven our sins; but it is an even greater blessing to be kept from sin.
Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there 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; therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light. So it
was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told
him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone.
Then it came about, after about ten days, that the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
a. There he was, holding a feast in his house: Nabal lived up to his name; he
was a fool. His life was in imminent danger – his wife knew it, all his servants knew
it, but he didn’t know it. He eats and gets drunk as if all were fine, and didn’t have
a care in the world.
i. In this regard, Nabal is a picture of the sinner who goes on rejecting God
without regard to God’s coming judgment. David certainly would have killed
Nabal and it is certain that God will judge the sinner who continues to reject
Him.
b. Like the feast of a king: All Nabal had to do was invite David to this
tremendous feast and Nabal’s life would have been spared. Nabal’s own greed
and foolishness was his undoing.
c. His heart died within him, and he became like stone... the Lord struck
Nabal, and he died: Abigail’s wise action saved Nabal from David and saved
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David from himself. But it could not save Nabal from God’s judgment. Nabal was
never out of God’s reach and when it was the right time, God took care of him.
i. In 1 Samuel 25:33, David was grateful that Abigail’s appeal had kept him
from avenging myself with my own hand. This proves that David did not need
to avenge himself with his own hand; God was more than able to do it.
ii. Jesus may have had Nabal in mind when He taught the Parable of the Rich
Fool (Luke 12:15-21). That parable describes a man who dies with everything
– and nothing.
iii. “All which time he lay like a block in his bed, without repentance or
confidence in God; but condemned of his own conscience, he went to his
place without noise. Let this be a warning to drunkards.” (Trapp)
So when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who
has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept His
servant from evil! For the Lord has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own
head.” And David sent and proposed to Abigail, to take her as his wife. When the
servants of David had come to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her saying,
“David sent us to you, to ask you to become his wife.” Then she arose, bowed
her face to the earth, and said, “Here is your maidservant, a servant to wash the
feet of the servants of my lord.” So Abigail rose in haste and rode on a donkey,
attended by five of her maidens; and she followed the messengers of David, and
became his wife. David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and so both of them were
his wives. But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son
of Laish, who was from Gallim.
a. For the Lord has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head: David
knew the death of Nabal was God’s judgment, which the Lord showed when David
decided to let the Lord avenge him instead of avenging himself.
b. David sent and proposed to Abigail: In 1 Samuel 25:31, Abigail asked David,
then remember your maidservant. Here, David certainly remembered her and he
took her as his wife.
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her to another man to spite David (David will get Michal back in
2 Samuel 3:13-16). So, Abigail is not really David’s second wife; she is his
“second first wife.”
c. David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and so both of them were his wives:
Though Abigail was David’s “second marriage,” with Ahinoam David took a
second wife and will add many more wives.
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