This chapter gives an account of the death of Samuel, and of the ill treatment David met with from Nabal; it begins with the death of Samuel, which was greatly lamented in Israel, 1 Sam. 25:1; it draws the character of Nabal, and his wife, 1 Sam. 25:2, 1 Sam.

And Samuel died In the interval, when Saul and David were parted, and before they saw each other again; according to the Jewish chronology [[6]], Samuel died four months before Saul; but other Jewish writers say [[7]] he died seven months before; Abarbinel thinks it was a year or two before; which…

And there was a man in Maon A city of the tribe of Judah, from whence the wilderness had its name before mentioned; of which place, see ; though Ben Gersom takes it to signify a dwelling place; and that this is observed to show, that he did not dwell in a city, but had his habitation where his…

Now the name of the man was Nabal Which signifies a “fool”; one would think his parents should not give him this name, though it is a name proper enough to men in common; and Kimchi thinks this was a nickname, which men gave him agreeably to his genius and conduct, and which is not improbable: and…

And David heard in the wilderness In the wilderness of Paran, where he was, and a wilderness it was to him, being in want of food, as the following relation shows: that Nabal did shear his sheep; when there was generally good living, and so a proper person, and a proper time, for David to apply for…

And David sent out ten young men Such persons, and such a number of them, he sent to show honour and reverence to Nabal: and David said, unto the young men, get ye up to Carmel; which lay higher than the wilderness, in which he was: and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name; ask him of his peace…

And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity That lives, while others, as David and his men, might be rather said to starve than live; they lived in great meanness, but he in great abundance, and therefore in a capacity to give to others, and particularly to relieve them: or the sense is,…

And now I have heard that thou hast shearers Men employed in shearing his sheep, which was a time of feasting and gladness, and therefore David sent his young men to him at this time with his compliments upon it; and in order to obtain what he intended by this message to him, he observes the…

Ask thy young men, and they will show thee The shepherds before mentioned, who kept their flocks hard by them: wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes; the ten young men David sent to Nabal: for we are come in a good day; a day in which Nabal made a feast for his shearers, as was…

And when David’s young men came To Carmel: they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David; they delivered their message punctually and exactly, in the very words, or however according to the purport of them, in David’s name, as he enjoined them: and ceased: from speaking,…

And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said In a very haughty manner, in great wrath, just as churlish covetous persons do, when they do not care to give what is asked of them: who is David? and who is the son of Jesse; his two questions, which relate to the same person, do not well agree…

Shall I then take my bread, and my water Which include all food and liquors, everything eatable and drinkable; and “water” may be particularly mentioned, because very scarce in the wilderness, and so precious; though the Septuagint version has “wine” instead of “water”: and my flesh which I have…

So David’s young men turned their way Their backs on him, 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…

And David said unto his men Provoked to the last degree to have such a rude churlish answer returned to such a civil and humble message as he had sent: gird you on every man his sword; and prepare to march and chastise Nabal for his insolence: and they girded on every man his sword; in obedience to…

But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife Not one of David’s young men, as what follows shows, but one of Nabal’s young men or servants, one of those David directs him to for the truth of what he said, ; this was one of those that had been employed in feeding sheep in the wilderness,…

But the men were very good unto us Very kind and civil, yea, very useful and serviceable, even all the messengers David sent and Nabal railed on, yea, all David’s men, and therefore deserved better treatment than they met with from Nabal: and we were not hurt; neither by them nor others: neither…

They were a wall unto us both by night and day Protecting and defending them against the Philistines, who, as they robbed the threshing floors of Keilah, would have plundered the flocks of Nabal; or it may be rather against the incursions of the Arabs in the wilderness of Paran, the posterity of…

Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do For the preservation of her family: for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household; which he concluded, either from something that dropped from David’s messengers, as they turned away from Nabal; or from the martial spirit…

Then Abigail made haste As the case required, her family being in imminent danger: and took two hundred loaves; of bread; of what size or weight they were is not said; though it may be reasonably concluded they were pretty large, since they are not called cakes, but loaves, and since they were to…

And she said to her servants, go on before me With the present, the sight of which she wisely considered would in a great measure pacify David, and prepare him to hear patiently what she had to say to him: behold, I come after you; signifying it would not be long before she came up to them, and…

And it was so, as she rode on the ass After her servants: that she came down, by the covert of the hill; by the side of it, which was covered with bushes, and she rode among them, in a way that led through them, and so was not seen by David and his men; or by the shadow of the hill, toward the…

Now David had said When the messengers returned and told him how they had been used by Nabal; or he “said” [[2]], or was saying within himself, or to his men, what follows, just as Abigail met him: surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness; which shows that lie was in a…

So and more also do God unto the enemies of David Give them as much health and prosperity, as much wealth and riches, as Nabal has, and much more: if I leave of all that pertain to him, by the morning light, any that pisseth against the wall; which is generally understood of a dog, that he, would…

And when Abigail saw David Whom she either knew personally, or rather supposed who he was by the number of men that followed him: she hasted, and alighted off the ass; on which she rode: and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground; in respect to, and reverence of, so great a…

And fell at his feet As an humble supplicant, having a favour to ask of him; it is very probable David was on foot: and said, upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be; which her husband had been guilty of; she desires it might be transferred from him to her, and be reckoned as if done by her;…

Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal He is a worthless man, it must be owned, a weak foolish man, rather to be despised than regarded by him; what either he says or does is unworthy of the notice of any, and much less of so great a person as David was: for as his name…

Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth Which is an oath, and respects either what goes before, that she never saw the young men that were sent to Nabal, or to what follows, the providence of God in preventing David from shedding blood, which she was sure of by an impulse…

And now this blessing, which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord The present, consisting of the things mentioned in ; which came as a blessing from God, and with good will from her: let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord; the servants of David: in the original it is, “that…

I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid The trespasses, as the Targum, either the sin of her husband, she had taken upon herself, or her boldness in troubling him with her petitions and solicitations, and even with the present she had brought: for the Lord will certainly make my lord a…

Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul His life, to take it away, meaning Saul, whom she chose not to name, because he was king: but the soul of my lord shall be bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God; should be dear unto the Lord, precious in his esteem, and be…

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, &c.] Performed his promise, especially with respect to his kingdom, as follows: and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel; that is, actually raised him to be, and…

This shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord It would give him no trouble, nor distress of mind, or sit uneasy on his conscience: either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself; which she suggests it might do, if he had shed the blood of…

And David said to Abigail Having heard her out, and being overcome with her rhetoric and powerful arguments: blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me; who put it into her heart to come out and meet him, and endeavour to avert him from his bad design, which his heart…

And blessed be thy advice Thanks be to God, and to thee for it, being wise, good, and seasonable; or “thy taste” [[6]], thy good sense, knowledge, as the Targum, discretion, prudence, and understanding: and blessed be thou which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood; he came out with a…

For in very deed, as the Lord God of Israel liveth An oath for the confirmation of what he was about to say: which hath kept me back from hurting thee: from doing any ill to her family, as he intended, though not to her person, his resolution being only to slay the males; but that would have been…

So David received of her hand that which she had brought him Her present, ; and which he kindly took for his own use, as well as for his men; for it was a present for a prince: and said to her, go up in peace to thine house; in peace of mind, having her request granted, and nothing to fear from…

And Abigail came to Nabal Having sped with David, and taken her leave of him, she returned home to her husband Nabal: and, behold, he held a feast in his house like the feast of a king; both for the number of dishes on his table and of guests at it though only on the account of sheep shearing; but…

But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal When he had slept, and was become sober, and so capable of attending to and understanding what might be related to him: and his wife had told him these things; recorded in this chapter, before observed: that his heart died…

And it came to pass, about ten days after After he had lain in this stupid and senseless manner for ten days: that the Lord smote Nabal, that he died; with some disease or increased the grief of his heart, and the fears of his mind that he died therewith.

And when David heard that Nabal was dead As he soon might, Maon and Carmel not being far from the wilderness where David was: he said, blessed be the Lord, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal; not that he rejoiced at the death of Nabal, simply considered, or from a…

And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, &c.] For though Nabal lived in Maon, yet having possessions in Camel, he had no doubt an house there also; and here Abigail was, and perhaps chose to be after his death, rather than at Maon: they spake unto her; delivered the message to…

And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, &c.] As she did before David, ; and did as she would have done had he been present, considering his messengers as representing him and therefore showed the same respect and reverence and did the same honour, as if he had been there in…

And Abigail hasted and arose She had no objection nor hesitation in her mind about marrying David but at once consented, and immediately prepared for her journey, having as high an opinion, and as great an esteem of David, as he of her; and though she was rich and he peer this was no obstacle in…

And David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel A city in the tribe of Judah, ; that is, he took her to wife, and as it seems before Abigail became his wife; see (2 Sam. 3:2, 2 Sam.

But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti the son of Laish Or “for Saul”, &c. [[8]]; which is a reason for his marrying again, but no reason for marrying more wives than one.