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! 3 The Lord has kept his servant from doing evil, and he has repaid Nabal for his evil deeds.” 4 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 5 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. 6 She followed David’s messengers and became his wife.
25:43 David had also married 7 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.)
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.
3 tn Heb “who has argued the case of my insult from the hand of Nabal.”
4 tn Heb “his servant he has held back from evil, and the evil of Nabal the
5 tn Heb “Here is your maidservant, for a lowly servant to wash.”
6 tn Heb “going at her feet.”
7 tn Heb “taken.”