1 AND Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
2 And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
3 Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.
4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.
5 And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name:
6 And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast.
7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.
8 Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David.
9 And when David’s young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.
10 And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.
11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?
12 So David’s young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings.
13 And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff.
14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them.
15 But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields:
16 They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.
17 Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.
18 Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.
19 And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.
20 And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them.
21 Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good.
22 So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
23 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,
24 And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.
25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
26 Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.
27 And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord.
28 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.
29 Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.
30 And it shall come to pass, when the Lord shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel;
31 That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.
32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me:
33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
34 For in very deed, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.
36 And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
37 But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
38 And it came to pass about ten days after, that the Lord smote Nabal, that he died.
39 And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the Lord, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the Lord hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife.
40 And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife.
41 And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
42 And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.
43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both of them his wives.
44 But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which was of Gallim.

1And Samuel died, and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And Dauid arose, & went downe to the wildernesse of Paran.

2And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel, and the man was very great, and hee had three thousand sheepe, and a thousand goates: and he was shearing his sheepe in Carmel.

3Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife, Abigail: and shee was a woman of good vnderstanding, and of a beautifull countenance: but the man was churlish and euill in his doings, and hee was of the house of Caleb.

4 And Dauid heard in the wildernesse, that Nabal did sheare his sheepe.

5And Dauid sent out ten yong men, and Dauid said vnto the young men, Get you vp to Carmel, and goe to Nabal, and greete him in my name;

6And thus shall ye say to him that liueth in prosperitie, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be vnto all that thou hast.

7And now, I haue heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepheards which were with vs, wee hurt them not, neither was there ought missing vnto them, all the while they were in Carmel.

8Aske thy yong men, and they will shew thee: wherefore let the yong men finde fauour in thine eyes: (for we come in a good day) giue, I pray thee, whatsoeuer commeth to thine hand, vnto thy seruants, and to thy sonne Dauid.

9And when Dauids yong men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of Dauid, and ceased.

10 And Nabal answered Dauids seruants, and said, Who is Dauid? and who is the sonne of Iesse? There bee many seruants now a daies that breake away euery man from his master.

11Shall I then take my bread and my water, and my flesh that I haue killed for my shearers, and giue it vnto men, whom I know not whence they bee?

12So Dauids yong men turned their way, and went againe, and came and told him all those sayings.

13And Dauid said vnto his men, Gird you on euery man his sword. And they girded on euery man his sword, and Dauid also girded on his sword: and there went vp after Dauid about foure hundred men, and two hundred abode by the stuffe.

14 But one of the yong men told Abigail Nabals wife, saying, Behold, Dauid sent messengers out of the wildernesse to salute our master: and he railed on them.

15But the men were very good vnto vs, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing as long as wee were conuersant with them, when we were in the fields.

16They were a wall vnto vs both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping sheepe.

17Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt doe: for euill is determined against our master, and against all his houshold: for he is such a sonne of Belial, that a man cannot speake to him.

18 Then Abigail made haste, and tooke two hundred loaues, and two bottles of wine, and fiue sheepe readie dressed, and fiue measures of parched corne, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figges, and laid them on asses.

19And she said vnto her seruants, Goe on before me, behold, I come after you: but she told not her husband Nabal.

20And it was so as she rode on the asse, that she came downe by the couert of the hill, and behold, Dauid and his men came downe against her, and she met them.

21(Now Dauid had said, Surely in vaine haue I kept all that this fellow hath in the wildernesse, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained vnto him: and he hath requited me euil for good.

22So and more also doe God vnto the enemies of Dauid, if I leaue of all that pertaine to him by the morning light, any that pisseth against the wall.)

23And when Abigail saw Dauid, she hasted, and lighted off the asse, and fell before Dauid on her face, and bowed her selfe to the ground,

24And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, vpon me let this iniquitie be, and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speake in thine audience, and heare the words of thine handmaid.

25Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, euen Nabal: for as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: But I thine handmaid saw not the yong men of my lord, whom thou didst send.

26Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord liueth, and as thy soule liueth, seeing the Lord hath withholden thee from comming to shed blood, and from auenging thy selfe with thine owne hand: now let thine enemies and they that secke euill to my lord, bee as Nabal.

27And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought vnto my lord, let it euen be giuen vnto the yong men that follow my lord.

28I pray thee, forgiue the trespasse of thine handmaide: for the Lord will certainely make my lord a sure house, because my lord fighteth the battels of the Lord, and euill hath not bene found in thee all thy dayes.

29Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seeke thy soule: but the soule of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God, and the soules of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.

30And it shall come to passe when the Lord shal haue done to my lord, according to all the good that hee hath spoken concerning thee, and shall haue appointed thee ruler ouer Israel;

31That this shall bee no griefe vnto thee, nor offence of heart vnto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causelesse, or that my lord hath auenged himselfe: But when the Lord shall haue dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmayd.

32 And Dauid sayd to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me.

33And blessed bee thy aduice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from comming to shed blood, and from auenging my selfe with mine owne hand.

34For in very deed, as the Lord God of Israel liueth, which hath kept mee backe from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not bene left vnto Nabal, by the morning light, any that pisseth against the wall.

35So Dauid receiued of her hand that which shee had brought him, and sayd vnto her, Goe vp in peace to thine house; See, I haue hearkened to thy voyce, and haue accepted thy person.

36 And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he held a feast in his house like the feast of a king; & Nabals heart was merry within him, for hee was very drunken: wherefore shee tolde him nothing, lesse or more, vntill the morning light.

37But it came to passe in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.

38And it came to passe about ten dayes after, that the Lord smote Nabal, that he died.

39 And when Dauid heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the Lord, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproch from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his seruant from euil: for the Lord hath returned the wickednesse of Nabal vpon his owne head. And Dauid sent, and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife.

40And when the seruants of Dauid were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake vnto her, saying, Dauid sent vs vnto thee, to take thee to him to wife.

41And shee arose, and bowed her selfe on her face to the earth, and sayd, Beholde, let thine handmayd bee a seruant to wash the feet of the seruants of my lord.

42And Abigail hasted, and rose, and rode vpon an asse, with fiue damosels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers of Dauid, and became his wife.

43Dauid also tooke Ahinoam of Iezreel, and they were also both of them his wiues.

44 But Saul had giuen Michal his daughter, Dauids wife, to Phalti the sonne of Laish, which was of Gallim.

I == Gen 21:21 ; Num 20:29 ; Deut 34:8 ; 1st Sam 28:3 ; Ps 120:5

 

II == Josh 15:55 ; 1st Sam 23:24

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IV == Gen 38:13 ; 2nd Sam 13:23

 

 

VI == 1st chr 12:18 ; Ps 122:7 ; Luke 10:5

 

 

VII == 1st Sam 25:15 , 21

 

 

VIII == Neh 8:10 ; Est 9:19

 

 

 

 

 

 

X == Judg 9:28 ; Ps 73:7-8 ; 123:3-4

 

 

XI == Judg 8:6

 

 

 

 

XIII == 1st Sam 30:24

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XV == 1st Sam 25:7

 

 

XVI == Ex 14:22 ; Job 1:10

 

XVII == Deut 13:13 ; Judg 19:22 ; 1st Sam 20:7

 

XVIII == Gen 32:13 ; Prov 18:16 ; 21:14

 

 

 

XIX == Gen 32:16 , 20

 

XX == Ps 109:5 ; Prov 17:13

 

 

 

 

 

 

XXII == Ruth 1:17 ; 1st Sam 3:17 ; 20:13 , 16 ; 25:34 : 2nd Kings 9:8

XXIII == Josh 15:18 ; Josh 15:18 ; Judg 1:14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XXVI == Gen 20:6 ; 1st Sam 25:33 ; 2nd Sam 18:32 ; 2nd Kings 2:2 ; Rom 12:19

XXVII == Gen 33:11 ; 1st Sam 30:26 ; 2nd Kings 5:15

 

XXVIII == 1st Sam 18:17 ; 24:11 ; 2nd sam 7:11 , 27 ; 1st Kings 9:5 ; 1st Chr 17:10 , 25

XXIX == Jer 10:18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XXXII == Gen 24:27 ; Ex 18:10 ; Ps 41:13 ; 72:18 ; Luke 1:68

XXXIII == 1st Sam 25:26

XXXIV == 1st Sam 22 , 26

 

 

 

 

XXXV == Gen 19:21 ; 1st Sam 20:42 ; 2nd Sam 15:9 ; 2nd Kings 5:19 ; Luke 7:50 ; 8:48

XXXVI == 2nd Sam 13:23

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XXXIX == 1st Sam 25:26 , 32 , 34 ; 1st Kings 2:44 ; Ps 7:16 ; Prov 22:23

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XLI == Ruth 2:10 , 13 ; Prov 15:33

 

 

 

 

 

XLIII == Josh 15:56 ; 1st Sam 27:3 ; 30:5

XLIV == 2nd Sam 3:14-15 ; Isa 10:30

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Samuel died, and all Israel gathered to mourn him; they buried him at his home in Ramah.Then David went down to the desert of Maon.

2 There was a man of Maon who had property in Carmel; he was very wealthy, owning three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. At this time he was present for the shearing of his flock in Carmel.

3 The man was named Nabal, his wife, Abigail. The woman was intelligent and attractive, but Nabal himself, a Calebite, was harsh and ungenerous in his behavior.

4 When David heard in the desert that Nabal was shearing his flock,

5 he sent ten young men, instructing them: "Go up to Carmel. Pay Nabal a visit and greet him in my name.

6 Say to him, 'Peace be with you, my brother, and with your family, and with all who belong to you.

7 I have just heard that shearers are with you. Now, when your shepherds were with us, we did them no injury, neither did they miss anything all the while they were in Carmel.

8 Ask your servants and they will tell you so. Look kindly on these young men, since we come at a festival time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can manage.'"

9 When David's young men arrived, they delivered this message fully to Nabal in David's name, and then waited.

10 But Nabal answered the servants of David: "Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? Nowadays there are many servants who run away from their masters.

11 Must I take my bread, my wine, my meat that I have slaughtered for my own shearers, and give them to men who come from I know not where?"

12 So David's young men retraced their steps and on their return reported to him all that had been said.

13 Thereupon David said to his men, "Let everyone gird on his sword." And so everyone, David included, girded on his sword. About four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.

14 But Nabal's wife Abigail was informed of this by one of the servants, who said: "David sent messengers from the desert to greet our master, but he flew at them screaming.

15 Yet these men were very good to us. We were done no injury, neither did we miss anything all the while we were living among them during our stay in the open country.

16 For us they were like a rampart night and day the whole time we were pasturing the sheep near them.

17 Now, see what you can do, for you must realize that otherwise evil is in store for our master and for his whole family. He is so mean that no one can talk to him."

18 Abigail quickly got together two hundred loaves, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of pressed raisins, and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on asses.

19 She then said to her servants, "Go on ahead; I will follow you." But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

20 As she came down through a mountain defile riding on an ass, David and his men were also coming down from the opposite direction. When she met them,

21 David had just been saying: "Indeed, it was in vain that I guarded all this man's possessions in the desert, so that he missed nothing. He has repaid good with evil.

22 May God do thus and so to David, if by morning I leave a single male alive among all those who belong to him."

23 As soon as Abigail saw David, she dismounted quickly from the ass and, falling prostrate on the ground before David, did him homage.

24 As she fell at his feet she said: "My lord, let the blame be mine. Please let your handmaid speak to you, and listen to the words of your handmaid.

25 Let not my lord pay attention to that worthless man Nabal, for he is just like his name. Fool is his name, and he acts the fool. I, your handmaid, did not see the young men whom my lord sent.

26 Now, therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as you live, it is the LORD who has kept you from shedding blood and from avenging yourself personally. May your enemies and those who seek to harm my lord become as Nabal!

27 Accept this present, then, which your maidservant has brought for my lord, and let it be given to the young men who follow my lord.

28 Please forgive the transgression of your handmaid, for the LORD shall certainly establish a lasting dynasty for my lord, because your lordship is fighting the battles of the LORD, and there is no evil to be found in you your whole life long.

29 If anyone rises to pursue you and to seek your life, may the life of my lord be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the LORD your God; but may he hurl out the lives of your enemies as from the hollow of a sling.

30 And when the LORD carries out for my lord the promise of success he has made concerning you, and appoints you as commander over Israel,

31 you shall not have this as a qualm or burden on your conscience, my lord, for having shed innocent blood or for having avenged yourself personally. When the LORD confers this benefit on your lordship, remember your handmaid."

32 David said to Abigail: "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today.

33 Blessed be your good judgment and blessed be you yourself, who this day have prevented me from shedding blood and from avenging myself personally.

34 Otherwise, as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come so promptly to meet me, by dawn Nabal would not have had a single man or boy left alive."

35 David then took from her what she had brought him and said to her: "Go up to your home in peace! See, I have granted your request as a personal favor."

36 When Abigail came to Nabal, there was a drinking party in his house like that of a king, and Nabal was merry because he was very drunk. So she told him nothing at all before daybreak the next morning.

37 But then, when Nabal had become sober, his wife told him what had happened. At this his courage died within him, and he became like a stone.

38 About ten days later the LORD struck him and he died.

39 On hearing that Nabal was dead, David said: "Blessed be the LORD, who has requited the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, and who restrained his servant from doing evil, but has punished Nabal for his own evil deeds." David then sent a proposal of marriage to Abigail.

40 When David's servants came to Abigail in Carmel, they said to her, "David has sent us to you that he may take you as his wife."

41 Rising and bowing to the ground, she answered, "Your handmaid would become a slave to wash the feet of my lord's servants."

42 She got up immediately, mounted an ass, and followed David's messengers, with her five maids following in attendance upon her. She became his wife,

43 and David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. Thus both of them were his wives; but Saul gave David's wife Michal, Saul's own daughter, to Palti, son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

v 1. Samuel died, but David dared not go with the rest of Israel to mourn him. He took his men to the wilderness of Paran which is the southernmost portion of the land. It is bordered by the gulf of Aqaba on the east, and on the west, Kedesh-barnea, and the Wilderness of Zin along the road to Egypt.

v 2,3. Maon of 23:24 is in this area, and David spent considerable time there in which he helped guard Nabal’s flocks from enemies and predators. Nabal was as miserly and rude as his wife, Abigail was generous and lovely.

v 4-9. Sheep shearing was a time of celebration, so David sent 10 young men to request if in exchange for their good treatment given his flocks and shepherds, Nabal would extend the celebration by giving some gift by them to the name of David.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 10--13. Nabal not only refused, but insinuated that David was just another rebel run away from his master. He knew different, from Abigail’s comment, v 28,29. When David heard his response he left 200 men to guard and girded 400 to attack Nabal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 14-17. One of Nabal’s young men ran and told Abigail what had happened, how helpful David had been to them , how worthless Nabal was, and that evil would follow unless she did something. Nabal means “fool”.

 

 

 

 

 

v 18,19. In haste she sent servants with 200 loaves, 2 skins of wine, 5 dressed sheep, 5 measures of parched grain, 100 clusters of raisins, 200 cakes of figs, then she followed after, all without telling Nabal.

 

 

v 20-31. David had said he would kill every male of Nabal’s household because Nabal had given him evil for good, but when Abigail met David, she dismounted and fell on her face at his feet petitioning him. First she pointed out Nabal’s name means “fool”, and that is what he was. She explained that she had not seen David’s men and the Lord had withheld David from shedding blood to this point. She asks him to accept her gift and asks for forgiveness. She knows David will be king and is being pursued unjustly, so when the Lord has overcome his enemies and placed him as king, he will not grieve that he had avenged himself by blood without cause, but will earnestly remember her (what she had done).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 32-35. David blessed her and her advice in keeping him from shedding blood, because before morning he would have killed every male of Nabal’s household. He accepted her gift and her person and bid her return home in peace.

 

 

 

 

 

v 36-38. Nabal got very drunk at the shearing celebration, so Abigail didn’t tell him what she had done till he was sober next morning. When she told him, he must have become so angry that he had a stroke, and 10 days later, another and died.

 

 

v 39-43. When David heard Nabal was dead, he thanked the Lord that he had been kept from evil. David talked to her about marriage, then sent servants to get her. She came in total humility bringing five of her servant girls with her and became his wife. David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel as a wife. Saul was so bitter against David that he gave Michal, David’s wife to another man. It may be David had already heard of this, influencing him into a life of polygamy.