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Texts -- 1 Samuel 25:1-39 (NET)

Context
The Death of Samuel
25:1 Samuel died , and all Israel assembled and mourned him. They buried him at his home in Ramah . Then David left and went down to the desert of Paran .
David Marries Abigail the Widow of Nabal
25:2 There was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel . This man was very wealthy ; he owned three thousand sheep and a thousand goats . At that time he was shearing his sheep in Carmel . 25:3 The man’s name was Nabal , and his wife’s name was Abigail . She was both wise and beautiful , but the man was harsh and his deeds were evil . He was a Calebite. 25:4 When David heard in the desert that Nabal was shearing his sheep , 25:5 he sent ten servants , saying to them , “Go up to Carmel to see Nabal and give him greetings in my name . 25:6 Then you will say to my brother , “Peace to you and your house ! Peace to all that is yours! 25:7 Now I hear that they are shearing sheep for you. When your shepherds were with us, we neither insulted them nor harmed them the whole time they were in Carmel . 25:8 Ask your own servants ; they can tell you! May my servants find favor in your sight , for we have come at the time of a holiday . Please provide us– your servants and your son David – with whatever you can spare .” 25:9 So David’s servants went and spoke all these words to Nabal in David’s name . Then they paused . 25:10 But Nabal responded to David’s servants , “Who is David , and who is this son of Jesse ? This is a time when many servants are breaking away from their masters ! 25:11 Should I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers and give them to these men ? I don’t even know where they came from !” 25:12 So David’s servants went on their way . When they had returned , they came and told David all these things . 25:13 Then David instructed his men , “Each of you strap on your sword !” So each one strapped on his sword , and David also strapped on his sword . About four hundred men followed David up , while two hundred stayed behind with the equipment . 25:14 But one of the servants told Nabal’s wife Abigail , “David sent messengers from the desert to greet our lord , but he screamed at them. 25:15 These men were very good to us. They did not insult us, nor did we sustain any loss during the entire time we were together in the field . 25:16 Both night and day they were a protective wall for us the entire time we were with them, while we were tending our flocks . 25:17 Now be aware of this, and see what you can do . For disaster has been planned for our lord and his entire household . He is such a wicked person that no one tells him anything!” 25:18 So Abigail quickly took two hundred loaves of bread , two containers of wine , five prepared sheep , five seahs of roasted grain , a hundred bunches of raisins , and two hundred lumps of pressed figs . She loaded them on donkeys 25:19 and said to her servants , “Go on ahead of me. I will come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal . 25:20 Riding on her donkey , she went down under cover of the mountain . David and his men were coming down to meet her, and she encountered them. 25:21 Now David had been thinking , “In vain I guarded everything that belonged to this man in the desert . I didn’t take anything from him. But he has repaid my good with evil . 25:22 God will severely punish David , if I leave alive until morning even one male from all those who belong to him!” 25:23 When Abigail saw David , she got down quickly from the donkey , threw herself down before David , and bowed to the ground . 25:24 Falling at his feet , she said , “My lord , I accept all the guilt ! But please let your female servant speak with my lord! Please listen to the words of your servant ! 25:25 My lord should not pay attention to this wicked man Nabal . He simply lives up to his name ! His name means ‘fool ,’ and he is indeed foolish ! But I , your servant , did not see the servants my lord sent . 25:26 “Now , my lord , as surely as the Lord lives and as surely as you live , it is the Lord who has kept you from shedding blood and taking matters into your own hands . Now may your enemies and those who seek to harm my lord be like Nabal . 25:27 Now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the servants who follow my lord . 25:28 Please forgive the sin of your servant , for the Lord will certainly establish the house of my lord , because my lord fights the battles of the Lord . May no evil be found in you all your days ! 25:29 When someone sets out to chase you and to take your life , the life of my lord will be wrapped securely in the bag of the living by the Lord your God . But he will sling away the lives of your enemies from the sling’s pocket ! 25:30 The Lord will do for my lord everything that he promised you, and he will make you a leader over Israel . 25:31 Your conscience will not be overwhelmed with guilt for having poured out innocent blood and for having taken matters into your own hands. When the Lord has granted my lord success , please remember your servant .” 25:32 Then David said to Abigail , “Praised be the Lord , the God of Israel , who has sent you this day to meet me! 25:33 Praised be your good judgment ! May you yourself be rewarded for having prevented me this day from shedding blood and taking matters into my own hands ! 25:34 Otherwise, as surely as the Lord , the God of Israel , lives – he who has prevented me from harming you– if you had not come so quickly to meet me, by morning’s light not even one male belonging to Nabal would have remained alive!” 25:35 Then David took from her hand what she had brought to him. He said to her, “Go back to your home in peace . Be assured that I have listened to you and responded favorably .” 25:36 When Abigail went back to Nabal , he was holding a banquet in his house like that of the king . Nabal was having a good time and was very intoxicated . She told him absolutely nothing until morning’s light . 25:37 In the morning , when Nabal was sober , his wife told him about these matters . He had a stroke and was paralyzed . 25:38 After about ten days the Lord struck Nabal down and he died . 25:39 When David heard that Nabal had died , he said , “Praised be the Lord who has vindicated me and avenged the insult that I suffered from Nabal ! The Lord has kept his servant from doing evil , and he has repaid Nabal for his evil deeds .” Then David sent word to Abigail and asked her to become his wife .

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • Nabal

    [ebd] foolish, a descendant of Caleb who dwelt at Maon (1 Sam. 25), the modern Main, 7 miles south-east of Hebron. He was "very great, and he had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats...but the man was churlish and evil in his doings." Duri...
    [isbe] NABAL - na'-bal (nabhal, "foolish" or "wicked"; Nabal): A wealthy man of Maon in the highlands of Judah, not far from Hebron, owner of many sheep and goats which he pastured around Carmel in the same district. He was a churl...
    [smith] (fool) was a sheepmaster on the confines of Judea and the desert, in that part of the country which bore from its great conqueror the name of Caleb. (1 Samuel 25:3; 30:14) (B.C. about 1055.) His residence was on the southe...
    [nave] NABAL, husband of Abigail. History of, 1 Sam. 25:2-38.

  • David

    [ebd] beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother's name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam. 17:25. As to his personal ...
    [isbe] DAVID - da'-vid (dawidh, or dawidh, "beloved"; Daueid, also in New Testament, Dauid, Dabid; see Thayer's Lexicon): I. NAME AND GENEALOGY II. EARLY YEARS 1. Shepherd 2. Slinger 3. Harpist 4. Poet 5. Psalmist 6. Tribesman III....
    [nave] DAVID 1. King of Israel. Genealogy of, Ruth 4:18-22; 1 Sam. 16:11; 17:12; 1 Chr. 2:3-15; Matt. 1:1-6; Luke 3:31-38. A shepherd, 1 Sam. 16:11. Kills a lion and a bear, 1 Sam. 17:34-36. Anointed king, while a youth, by the ...

  • Abigail

    [ebd] father (i.e., "leader") of the dance, or "of joy." (1.) The sister of David, and wife of Jether an Ishmaelite (1 Chr. 2:16,17). She was the mother of Amasa (2 Sam. 17:25). (2.) The wife of the churlish Nabal, who dwelt in th...
    [smith] (father, i.e. source, of joy). The beautiful wife of Nabal, a wealthy owner of goats and sheep in Carmel. (B.C. 1060.) When David?s messengers were slighted by Nabal, Abigail supplies David and his followers with provisions,...
    [nave] ABIGAIL 1. Nabal's wife. Her wisdom and tact, and marriage to David, 1 Sam. 25; 27:3; 2 Sam. 2:2. Mother of Chileab by David, 2 Sam. 3:3; 1 Chr. 3:1. Taken captive and rescued by David, 1 Sam. 30:1-18. 2. Sister of David,...

  • Carmel

    [ebd] a park; generally with the article, "the park." (1.) A prominent headland of Central Palestine, consisting of several connected hills extending from the plain of Esdraelon to the sea, a distance of some 12 miles or more. At ...
    [isbe] CARMEL - kar'-mel (karmel, or, with article, ha-karmel, "fruit garden"; Josephus, ho Karmelos, Karmelion oros): (1) A beautifully wooded mountain range running for about 13 miles in a south-easterly direction from the promon...
    [smith] (fruitful place or park). A mountain which forms one of the most striking and characteristic features of the country of Palestine. It is a noble ridge, the only headland of lower and central Palestine, and forms its southern...
    [nave] CARMEL 1. A fertile and picturesque mountain in Palestine, Song 7:5; Isa. 33:9; 35:2; Jer. 46:18; 50:19; Amos 1:2. Forests of, 2 Kin. 19:23. Caves of, Amos 9:3; Mic. 7:14. An idolatrous high place upon; Elijah builds an a...

  • ARMY

    [ebd] The Israelites marched out of Egypt in military order (Ex. 13:18, "harnessed;" marg., "five in a rank"). Each tribe formed a battalion, with its own banner and leader (Num. 2:2; 10:14). In war the army was divided into thous...
    [isbe] ARMY - ar'-mi (chayil, "army," tsabha', "host," ma`arakhah, "army in battle array" gedhudh, "troop"): 1. The First Campaign of History 2. In the Wilderness 3. The Times after the Conquest 4. In the Early Monarchy 5. From the...
    [smith] I. JEWISH ARMY.--Every man above 20 years of age was a soldier, (Numbers 1:3) each tribe formed a regiment, with its own banner and its own leader (Numbers 2:2; 10:14) their positions in the camp or on the march were accurate...

  • ZEBAH AND ZALMUNNA

    [isbe] ZEBAH AND ZALMUNNA - ze'-ba (zebhach, "victim"), zal-mun'-a (tsalmunna`, "protection refused"): Two Midianite kings or chiefs whom Gideon slew (Jdg 8:4-21; Ps 83:11 (Hebrew text, verse 12)). The name zebhach (Zebee) is very ...

  • RACAL

    [isbe] RACAL - ra'-kal (rakhal, "trader"): A place in Judah, enumerated among "the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt," to the elders of which he sent a share of his spoils (1 Sam 30:29). The Septuagint readi...

  • SAMUEL, BOOKS OF

    [isbe] SAMUEL, BOOKS OF - || I. PLACE OF THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL IN THE HEBREW CANON II. CONTENTS OF THE BOOKS AND PERIOD OF TIME COVERED BY THE HISTORY III. SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS 1. Life of Samuel (1 Samuel 1 through 15) 2. Reign and D...

  • Decision

    [nave] DECISION. Deut. 30:19; Josh. 23:8. Josh. 24:15; 1 Sam. 12:20; 1 Kin. 18:21; Psa. 37:34; Psa. 69:13; Prov. 4:25-27; Isa. 50:7; Matt. 24:13 Mark 13:13; Matt. 10:22. Matt. 25:23; Luke 7:23 Matt. 11:6. John 8:31; John 15:4, 5, ...

  • Wife

    [nave] WIFE Called Desire of the Eyes, Ezek. 24:16. Help, Gen. 2:18, 20. Fruitful Vine, Psa. 128:3. The judgment denounced against Eve, Gen. 3:16. Relation of, to husband, Gen. 2:18, 23, 24; 1 Cor. 11:3-12. Domestic duties of,...

  • Sheep

    [ebd] are of different varieties. Probably the flocks of Abraham and Isaac were of the wild species found still in the mountain regions of Persia and Kurdistan. After the Exodus, and as a result of intercourse with surrounding nat...
    [isbe] SHEEP - shep: 1. Names: The usual Hebrew word is tso'n, which is often translated "flock," e.g. "Abel .... brought of the firstlings of his flock" (Gen 4:4); "butter of the herd, and milk of the flock" (Dt 32:14). The King J...
    [smith] Sheep were an important part of the possessions of the ancient Hebrews and of eastern nations generally. The first mention of sheep occurs in (Genesis 4:2) They were used in the sacrificial offering,as, both the adult animal,...
    [nave] SHEEP Offered in sacrifice, by Abel, Gen. 4:4; by Noah, Gen. 8:20; by Abraham, Gen. 22:13. See: Offerings. Required in the Mosaic offerings, See: Offerings. The land of Bashan adapted to the raising of, Deut. 32:14; Bozra...

  • Tact

    [nave] TACT Prov. 15:1; 25:15. In preaching, 1 Cor. 9:19-22; 2 Cor. 12:6. Of Gideon, Judg. 8:1-3. Of Saul, in managing malcontents, 1 Sam. 10:27; 11:7, 12-15. Nabal's wife, Abigail, 1 Sam. 25:18-37. In David's popular methods:...

  • Fig

    [nave] FIG Common to Palestine, Num. 13:23; Deut. 8:8; to Egypt, Psa. 105:33. Employed as a remedy, 2 Kin. 20:7; Isa. 38:21. Traffic in, Neh. 13:15. Dried and preserved, 1 Sam. 30:12. Cakes of, sent by Abigail to David, 1 Sam. ...

  • Prudence

    [nave] PRUDENCE. Job 34:3, 4; Psa. 39:1; Psa. 112:5; Prov. 6:1, 2; Prov. 8:12; Prov. 11:13, 15, 29; Prov. 12:8, 23; Prov. 13:16; Prov. 14:8, 15, 16, 18; Prov. 15:5, 22; Prov. 16:20, 21; Prov. 17:2, 18; Prov. 18:15, 16; Prov. 19:2;...

  • Intercession

    [nave] INTERCESSION. Of One Person with Another 1 Sam. 2:25 Instances of: Reuben for Joseph, Gen. 37:21, 22. Judah for Joseph, Gen. 37:26, 27. Pharaoh's chief baker for Joseph, Gen. 41:9-13, with Gen. 40:14. Jonathan for David...

  • Diplomacy

    [nave] DIPLOMACY. 1 Cor. 9:20-23 See: Tact. Instances of Of Abimelech, Gen. 21:22, 23; 26:26-31. The Gibeonites, in securing a league with the Israelites through deception, Josh. 9:3-16. Of Jephthah, with the king of Moab, uns...

  • Presents

    [nave] PRESENTS To Abraham, by Pharaoh, Gen. 12:16; by Abimelech, Gen. 20:14. To Rebecca, Gen. 24:22. To Esau, Gen. 32:13-15. To prophets, 1 Kin. 14:3; 2 Kin. 4:42. To those in adversity, Job 42:10, 11. Betrothal, Gen. 24:53. ...

  • ABIGAIL; ABIGAL

    [isbe] ABIGAIL; ABIGAL - ab'-i-gal, ab'-i-gal ('abhighayil, or 'abhighal, three times, or 'abhughayil, once, or 'abhighayil, once; "father," or "cause of joy"): (1) The wife of Nabal, a rich shepherd of southern Judea, whose home w...

  • Inhospitableness

    [nave] INHOSPITABLENESS. Instances of Toward the Israelites: Edom, Num. 20:18-21; Sihon, Num. 21:22, 23; Ammonites and Moabites, Deut. 23:3-6. Men of Gibeah toward a Levite, Judg. 19:15. Nabal toward David, 1 Sam. 25:10-17. Sa...

  • Servant

    [nave] SERVANT Distinguished as bond servant, who was a slave, and hired servant. Bond Laws of Moses concerning, Ex. 21:1-11, 20, 21, 26, 27, 32; Lev. 19:20-22; 25:6, 10, 35-55; Deut. 15:12, 14, 18; 24:7. Kidnapping forbidden, D...
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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The only unusual feature of Jair's life, other than that he came from Transjordan, was that he maintained a network of 30 cities over which his 30 sons ruled in Gilead. His name means "may [God] enlighten."An ancestor named J...
  • Naomi had experienced both blessing and loss since she had left Bethlehem. When she returned home she chose to emphasize her hardships. She had forgotten God's faithfulness and His promises to bless all Israel (Gen. 12:1-3, 7...
  • Statements in the Book of Samuel imply that someone who had witnessed at least some of the events recorded wrote it. However the original writer must have written most of it after Samuel's death (i.e., -1 Sam. 25-2 Sam. 24) a...
  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • I. Eli and Samuel chs. 1-3A. The change from barrenness to fertility 1:1-2:101. Hannah's condition 1:1-82. Hannah's vow 1:9-183. Hannah's obedience 1:19-284. Hannah's song 2:1-10B. The contrast between Samuel and Eli's sons 2...
  • The basic theme in Samuel, that blessing, and in particular fertility of all kinds, follows from faithful commitment to God's revealed will, continues in this section. However another major motif now becomes more prominent. W...
  • In chapters 21-30 we see David's forces growing stronger and stronger while Saul's forces get weaker and weaker. This is a further demonstration of the fertility theme. However these chapters also develop the motif of the pro...
  • The writer's attention focused next on Saul's activities. He used the literary device of focusing on David, then on Saul, then on David, etc. He used the same technique in chapters 1-3 with Samuel and Eli's sons to contrast S...
  • ". . . chapters 24-26 form a discrete literary unit within 1 Samuel. Chapters 24 and 26 are virtually mirror images of each other, beginning with Saul's receiving a report about David's latest hiding place (24:1; 26:1), focus...
  • "Chapter 25 is the central panel in the triptych that comprises chapters 24-26. As such it not only anchors the literary unit but also facilitates the fact that chapters 24 and 26 mirror each other."244This central chapter al...
  • Samuel's years of being a blessing to all Israel ended at this time. David took his place as God's major channel of blessing to the nation. It is appropriate that the notice of Samuel's death occurs here since Saul had just a...
  • Both Maon and Carmel (meaning "Garden Spot") stood about 14 miles west of Engedi and about 7 miles south-southeast of Hebron. The reference to Nabal's 3,000 sheep may be an allusion to Saul's 3,000 soldiers (24:2). As the sto...
  • Nabal was a political loyalist who regarded David simply as a rebel. Perhaps he felt that David was running a protection racket to finance his outlaw way of life. More probably, I think, miserly Nabal simply did not want to p...
  • Nabal's servant appealed to Abigail to reverse Nabal's orders. He testified that God had blessed Nabal's shepherds greatly through David. David's soldiers had been a wall of protection for them (v. 16). One of the characteris...
  • Abigail's approach to David was a model of tact and courage. Visualize this solitary woman riding a donkey approaching 400 armed men who were riding horses and were bent on slaughtering her household. It took immense courage ...
  • David heard the Lord's voice behind Abigail's words. Consequently he blessed the Lord, her discernment, and her. God had used David's conscience to keep him from killing Saul (24:5), and now He had used Abigail's appeal to ke...
  • When she returned home, Abigail discovered that her foolish husband was drunk from celebrating. He was totally oblivious to his mortal danger. He was feasting rather than fasting. He was behaving like a king, the ultimate aut...
  • David thanked God for vindicating him and for preventing him from doing evil. Abigail had been the instrument that God had used to do this (v. 39). It was proper for David to give thanks since he had left Nabal in the Lord's ...
  • The Ziphites betrayed David a second time (cf. 23:19). David was again hiding by the hill of Hachilah (23:19). When Saul came down from Gibeah with his 3,000 (or three military units of) soldiers, he camped near the main road...
  • Ahimelech the Hittite may have been a foreign mercenary (cf. Uriah the Hittite, 2 Sam. 11:3). The writer may have mentioned him to show the extent of David's appeal. Abishai was David's nephew, one of the sons of his sister Z...
  • Was it God's will for David to leave Israel and move to Philistia? The text does not say, but there are indications that lead me to believe that he should not have done this even though he must have felt almost forced to do s...
  • David used his opportunity to defeat and to annihilate the common enemies of Israel and the Philistines that lived to Israel's southwest. David did not leave any survivors, as the Lord had commanded (Deut. 3:18-20; Josh. 1:13...
  • David obtained an answer through the Urim and Thummim, which the high priest carried in the breastpiece of his ephod (cf. 23:2, 4, 9). God no longer responded to Saul's prayers (28:15), but He did answer David's (v. 8). David...
  • David and his men were undoubtedly very angry and ready to kill anyone who proved to have had a hand in kidnapping their family members. To his credit David did not kill this Egyptian, as he planned to kill Nabal earlier. Ins...
  • The rest of the chapter describes the distribution of plunder from this battle. The amount of space the writer devoted to this revelation shows that he intended to stress it.David returned to his 200 exhausted followers at th...
  • David also distributed some of the war plunder to the elders of Judah.293He evidently did so because he viewed the booty as coming from the enemies of all Judah, even the enemies of the Lord (v. 26). He may have also done thi...
  • The other Israelite soldiers retreated when they heard that Saul and his sons had died. This left towns in the region open for Philistine seizure. Instead of driving the native inhabitants out of the land Saul had made it pos...
  • Ackroyd, Peter R. The First Book of Samuel. Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible series. Cambridge, Eng.: University Press, 1971._____. "The Verb Love--'Aheb in the David-Jonathan Narratives--A Footnote."Vetus ...
  • Students of David's lament over Saul and Jonathan's deaths have called it the Song of the Bow (cf. v. 22).10Many people in Judah learned and sang it (v. 18). The Book of Jasher (v. 18) is no longer extant (cf. Josh. 10:13)."H...
  • Chapters 9-20 contrast with chapters 2-8 in that this later section is negative whereas the earlier one was positive. It records failure; the former records success. Compare the similar narrative of Saul's triumphs (1 Sam. 7-...
  • This second descendant of Saul demonstrated a reaction to David that was the opposite of Ziba's. Ziba had been ingratiating and submissive, but Shimei, a "reptile of the royal house of Saul,"245was insulting and defiant (cf. ...
  • Adonijah was David's fourth son (2 Sam. 3:4) and the eldest one living at this time. Evidently he believed it was more important that the eldest son succeed David, as was customary in the Near East, than that the king of Yahw...
  • 14:1 A fool (Heb. nabal) is a person who does not take God into account as he goes about living and who is therefore morally insensitive (cf. 1 Sam. 25:25). He may or may not really be an atheist, but he lives as though there...
  • 64:7-8a David's enemies had assailed him with words that they used as deadly arrows, but God would shoot them with His arrow of judgment. With it God would make them fall in battle. The NASB is a bit misleading in verse 8. Th...
  • 94:16-19 After looking everywhere for some consolation during the temporary ascendancy of the wicked, the psalmist found it only in God. If God had not strengthened him he would have died, slipped in his walk with God, and be...
  • 13:1-3 The Lord gave Ezekiel a message for the prophets who were devising messages for the Jews from their own hearts and calling them prophecies from Yahweh. He was using the word "prophet"ironically; these were not true pro...
  • 12:14 Paul repeated Jesus' instruction here (Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:27-28). To persecute means to pursue. Blessing involves both wishing God's best on people and praying for them."The principle of nonretaliation for personal inju...
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