1 Samuel 25: Samuel Dies
1 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.
“Samuel died,”— “It is not said how Samuel died. The Holy Ghost hath thought it enough to record his death, without subjoining anything more. No doubt, he died in faith. In another scripture, the Holy Ghost hath said so. See Hebrews 11:13 with Hebrews 11:32. So died all the faithful! As they lived, so they died, waiting for the consolation of Israel. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the patriarchs, prophets, all looking with an eye of faith to Him, and speaking of him, to all that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Luke 2:38.” (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)— “and the Israelites gathered together and lamented for him,” putting aside all of their differences concerning politics, they lamented for one whom they all acknowledged as the prophet of all true Israelites. They beheld “the glory of a setting sun, which left its lustre bright on high.” (Joseph Sutcliffe) And then he “arose and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.” Perhaps the the Spirit led him to the wilderness of Paran, as it led Israel of old—“Then the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran,...” (Numbers 10:12) suggesting that perhaps the Spirit was still leading David. He had another Friend to lead him, even the Comforter— the Spirit of Truth.
2 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. 3 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. He was of the house of Caleb. 4 When David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep, 5 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. 6 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! 7 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. 8 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.’”
“‘Now there was a man in Maon’ — a chief town in the hill country of Judah (Jos 15:55), about nine miles south of Hebron— whose business was in Carmel— a town identified with el-Kirmil, seven miles south of Hebron. King Saul set up a memorial to his conquest of the Amalekites there (1 Sm 15:12).” (Tyndale Bible Dictionary) “And Nabal “was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.” He was obliged by the law to share with the poor of which David and his men qualified, as they “were in distress and debt, and discontented, and the scarcity of provisions.” (Matthew Henry) Moreover: "David and his men lurked in these deserts, associating with the herdsmen and shepherds of Nabal and others and doing them good offices.” (Jameison-Faussett-Brown)
“The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail.” “The Holy Ghost hath been pleased to give the names of this married couple. Perhaps, to point out thereby more strikingly, their character. Nabal, signifies in its original, a fool. And Abigail, the joy of her father. ” (Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary) “She was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings.” “The contrast between Nabal and Abigail could not be clearer. He was foolish; she was wise. He was evil; she was good. He was repulsive; she was attractive. He was arrogant; she was humble. He was ungodly; she was godly. He was antagonistic; she was peacemaking.”
(Jon D. Levenson, “1 Samuel 25 as Literature and as History”)
Nabal was “of the house of Caleb."
"This is added to aggravate his crime, that he was a degenerate branch of that noble stock of Caleb, and consequently of the tribe of Judah, as David was.” (Matthew Poole) “It is probably not accidental that having described Samuel’s death and his being buried ‘in his house’ (v. 1), Nabal is described as ‘of (the house/family) of Caleb’. In the context the second description may be seen as rather ominously pointing to the fact that Nabal too will also shortly be joining his fathers…. [Moreover] Nabal’s end as ‘a fool’ would thus seem to be intended as a kind of pre-indication of what will happen to Saul the fool.” (Peter Pett)
When David heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep, David sent ten young men to greet Nabal in his own name— that of the future anointed king of Israel. “Being of the same tribe with David [surely] he was acquainted with his anointing, with Saul’s covenant, and with David’s public and private claims for defending his country; yet this man on receiving the most respectful embassy, reproaches David as a fugitive and a traitor.” (Joseph Sutcliffe) “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!” Receive a prophet / king in the name of that man and partake in his reward, "tacitly minds him of the distress in which he and his men were.” (Wesley)
“You have shearers” and we have labored with you. — “Your shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt them, etc. ... Ask your young men, and they will tell you.” “Neighbouring tribesmen, who showed their forbearance and friendship by not attacking the flocks or disturbing the activity of sheep-shearing, and by hanging around and ‘warning off’ predators, would quite blatantly send their representatives in order to obtain some of the good things on offer, openly expecting them as an act of hospitality and a kind of return gesture of friendship. It was of advantage to both. A modern historian has written, ‘On such a festive occasion near a town or village, even in our own time, an Arab sheikh of the neighbouring desert would hardly fail to put in a word, either in person or by message, and his message both in form and substance, would be only the transcript of the message of David’. Thus David’s action was not as unusual, nor as preposterous, as it might sound to us. It was a regular method of demonstrating mutual friendship in a violent world, through which each party would see himself as benefiting from the other on a friendly basis, in return for the friendliness that the other had also shown.” (Peter Pett)
“‘Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day’ — literally "a good day"-- the harvest, which is a festival day for Israel "when men are most cheerful and liberal; when thou mayst relieve us out of thy abundance without damage to thyself; when thou art receiving the mercies of God, and therefore obliged to pity and relieve distressed and indigent persons, Deuteronomy 12:1214:26,29 15:7." (Matthew Poole) "Let us partake of thine exceedings.” (John Trapp)
Please give whatever comes to your hand "'to your servants;’ to us who have been and still are ready to serve and guard thee and thine.” (Matthew Poole) “‘We will not be our own carvers, but take thankfully what thou canst well spare us.” (John Trapp)— “and to your son David;” so he calls himself, to show that respect and affection which he bore to Nabal, as being elder and wealthier than himself, and of the same tribe with himself, and a branch of so worthy a family as Nabal’s was.” (Matthew Poole)
9 So when David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David, and waited.10 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. 11 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?
Nabal's wicked heart is made manifest by his words and his deed- his refusal to help. He will not hear the Word of prophecy concerning David, nor bless him for the sake of his need. He said that he did not know where David was from but he was of the same tribe. They were brothers in Israel. "Nabal is the picture of the rich but wretched worldling who cannot even enjoy the bounties of his lot, and is thrown into such a panic by the mere dread of losing them that he actually sinks into the grave. Under the one picture we would place the words of the Apostle in the third chapter of Philippians - ‘Whose god is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things;’ … meet for destruction.” (Expositor's Bible Commentary)
12 So David’s young men turned on their heels and went back; and they came and told him all these words. 13 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.
“‘So David's young men turned their way’,.... Their backs on Nabal, without making any reply; and though they did not return railing for railing, they treated him with silent contempt; and though they did not offer to do any injury to his person, nor to take anything away by force, yet they were determined to report this usage to David, who they doubted not would avenge the affront put on him and them:‘and went again’; to the wilderness from whence they came: ‘and came and told him [David] all these sayings; rude and reproachful ones, just as they were delivered.” (John Gill)
"‘Every man gird on his sword,’ having resolved and sworn to revenge himself of Nabal, as is expressed, 1 Samuel 25:21,22.” (Poole) “And about four hundred men went with David, and two hundred stayed with the supplies.” “So subject are God’s best saints to weak passions; they are men as others are; and man’s nature is most impatient of contempt and contumely.” (Trapp)
14 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. 15 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. 16 They were a wall to us both by night and day, all the time we were with them keeping the sheep. 17 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.”
“However intelligible David's wrath may appear in the situation in which he was placed, it was not right before God, but a sudden burst of sinful passion, which was unseemly in a servant of God. By carrying out his intention, he would have sinned against the LORD and against His people. But the Lord preserved him from this sin by the fact that, just at the right time, Abigail, the intelligent and pious wife of Nabal,heard of the affair, and was able to appease the wrath of David by her immediate and kindly interposition. / Abigail heard from one of his (Nabal's) servants what had taken place … to saluteand also what had been praiseworthy in the behaviour of David's men towards Nabal's shepherds; how they had not only done them no injury, had not robbed them of anything, but had defended them all the while.’They were a wall (i.e., a firm protection) round us by night and by day, as long as we were with them feeding the sheep,’ i.e., a wall of defence against attacks from the Bedouins living in the desert. ’And now,’ continued the servant, ‘know and see what thou doest; for evil is determined (cf. 1 Samuel 20:9) against our master and all his house: and he (Nabal) is a wicked man, that one cannot address him.’” (Keil & Delitzsch)
18 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. 19 And she said to her servants, “Go on before me; see, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
20 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. 21 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. 22 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.”
23 Now when Abigail saw David, she dismounted quickly from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and bowed down to the ground. 24 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. 25 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. 26 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. 27 And now this present which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 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. 29 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. 30 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, 31 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.”
“Abigail’s prudence and virtues seem to have acquired a higher lustre from the vices of her husband. Behold, this woman rises at midnight for the salvation of her house. See her liberal presents, and quickness of dispatch. All her house promptly obey, for prudence is obeyed with pleasure. She leaves her house in the night for David’s camp: but how is she surprised to meet the prince and his army at the foot of her own hill! Another hour of delay, and all had perished. Blessed woman: thy name deserves to be enrolled in the annals of immortality. Well hast thou saved one husband awhile from death, and gained another worth a thousand Nabals. Her speech was not less admirable than her present. She prostrated, confessed the fault, and acknowledged the errors of her husband, but in language which associated her innocence in his guilt. She does more: she predicts David’s deliverance from Saul, and his accession to the throne; for on great occasions, God gives virtuous souls a greatness of language. There is no estimating the obligation which some bad men are under to a virtuous wife.” (Joseph Sutcliffe)
32 Then David said to Abigail: “Blessed is the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 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. 34 For indeed, as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely by morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!” 35 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.”
“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 ( 1 Samuel 24:5), and now He used Abigail’s appeal to keep him from killing Nabal. Wise David, who listened to the words of a woman who was a stranger to him, contrasts with foolish Nabal, who would not listen to the words of his wise wife or his fearful servants. Thus godly Abigail, another wise person, became a blessing to David. Earlier Hebrews, a godly person, had been a blessing to her and her household. She kept him from sinning ( 1 Samuel 25:33), and in return he blessed her further by sparing the males of Nabal’s household ( 1 Samuel 25:35).” (Constable's Expository Notes)
36 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. 37 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. 38 Then it happened, after about ten days, that the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
39 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. 40 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.” 41 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.” 42 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. 43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and so both of them were his wives. 44 But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
“‘David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they became both of them his wives.’ We should probably translate as ‘had taken’ for 2 Samuel 3:2 suggests that Ahinoam was David’s first wife after Michal. She came from Jezreel which was also in the hill country of Judah (Joshua 15:55-56).
Whether consciously or unconsciously David was by this preparing the way for the future, for by these marriages he was establishing his identity among the southern tribes and their allies and gaining family rights over large areas of land. It would do him no harm once the throne of Israel/Judah became vacant. ‘And Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.’ … Having made David an outlaw, and having determined on his death, he wanted his daughter removed from such a parlous situation. Saul also probably had the aim of scotching any idea that David could claim the throne as Saul’s son-in-law.” (Peter Pett)
"Polygamy, though not agreeably to the law of nature, nor the law of God, was a custom which prevailed in those times, which good men gave into, though not to be commended for it." (John Gill)