1 Samuel 25:32-39

25:32 Then David said to Abigail, “Praised ¹  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 ²  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 ³  to your home in peace. Be assured that I have listened to you ⁴  and responded favorably.” ⁵ 

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 ⁶  and was very intoxicated. She told him absolutely nothing ⁷  until morning’s light. 25:37 In the morning, when Nabal was sober, ⁸  his wife told him about these matters. He had a stroke and was paralyzed. ⁹  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! ¹⁰  The Lord has kept his servant from doing evil, and he has repaid Nabal for his evil deeds.” ¹¹  Then David sent word to Abigail and asked her to become his wife.

[25:32]  ¹ tn Heb “blessed” (also in vv. 33, 39).

[25:33]  ² tn Heb “blessed.”

[25:35]  ³ tn Heb “up.”

[25:35]  ⁴ tn Heb “your voice.”

[25:35]  ⁵ tn Heb “I have lifted up your face.”

[25:36]  ⁴ 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.”

[25:36]  ⁵ tn Heb “and she did not tell him a thing, small or large.”

[25:37]  ⁵ tn Heb “when the wine had gone out from Nabal.”

[25:37]  ⁶ 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.

[25:39]  ⁶ tn Heb “who has argued the case of my insult from the hand of Nabal.”

[25:39]  ⁷ tn Heb “his servant he has held back from evil, and the evil of Nabal the Lord has turned back on his head.”