Text -- 1 Samuel 25:36-44 (NET)

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. 25:40 So the servants of David went to Abigail at Carmel and said to her, “David has sent us to you to bring you back to be his wife.” 25:41 She arose, bowed her face toward the ground, and said, “Your female servant, like a lowly servant, will wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 25:42 Then Abigail quickly went and mounted her donkey, with five of her female servants accompanying her. She followed David’s messengers and became his wife. 25:43 David had also married Ahinoam from Jezreel; the two of them became his wives. 25:44 (Now Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Paltiel son of Laish, who was from Gallim.)

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Sa 25:36

¹ tn Heb “and the heart of Nabal was good upon him”; NASB, NRSV “Nabal’s heart was merry within him”; NIV “he was in high spirits”; NCV, TEV “was in a good mood”; CEV “was very drunk and feeling good.”

² tn Heb “and she did not tell him a thing, small or large.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 25:37

¹ tn Heb “when the wine had gone out from Nabal.”

² tn Heb “and his heart died within him and he became a stone.” Cf. TEV, NLT “stroke”; CEV “heart attack.” For an alternative interpretation than that presented above, see Marjorie O’Rourke Boyle, “The Law of the Heart: The Death of a Fool (1 Samuel 25),” JBL 120 (2001): 401-27, who argues that a medical diagnosis is not necessary here. Instead, the passage makes a connection between the heart and the law; Nabal dies for his lawlessness.

NET Notes: 1Sa 25:39

¹ tn Heb “who has argued the case of my insult from the hand of Nabal.”

² tn Heb “his servant he has held back from evil, and the evil of Nabal the Lord has turned back on his head.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 25:41

¹ tn Heb “Here is your maidservant, for a lowly servant to wash.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 25:42

¹ tn Heb “going at her feet.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 25:43

¹ tn Heb “taken.”