1 Samuel 25:3

3 And the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance; but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was a Calebite.

1 Samuel 25:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 25:3

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 the name of his wife Abigail;
which signifies "my father's joy", he delighting in her for her wit and beauty, as follows:

and [she was] a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful
countenance;
she was not only of a good understanding in things natural, civil, and domestic, but in things spiritual, as her speech to David shows, and which, with her external form, completed her character, and greatly recommended her; which is the character Aelianus

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 gives of Aspasia, wise and fair:

but the man [was] churlish and evil in his doings;
morose and ill natured in the temper and disposition of his mind, and wicked in his conversation, and fraudulent and oppressive in his dealings with men:

and he [was] of the house of Caleb;
or he was a Calebite ^F23, a descendant of that great and good man Caleb the son of Jephunneh; which was an aggravation of his wickedness, that he should be the degenerate plant of such a noble vine: some interpret it, he was as his heart, as his heart was bad, so was he; some men, their outside is better than their inside; but this man was no hypocrite, he was as bad outwardly as he was inwardly: the word "Caleb" sometimes signifies a dog; hence the Septuagint version renders it, a doggish man, a cynic; and to the same purpose are the Syriac and Arabic versions; and so some Jewish writers interpret it; but the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, supply it as we do, that he was of the house or family of Caleb, and so of the tribe of Judah, as David was.

F21 Var. Hist. l. 12. c. 1.
F23 (wblk) "keri" (yblk) "Calibita", Pagninus, Montanus; "Calebita" Tigurine version, Junius & Tremcilius, Piscator.

1 Samuel 25:3 In-Context

1 And Samuel died; and all Israel were gathered together, and lamented him; and they buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

2 And there was a man at Maon, whose business was at Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep at Carmel.

3 And the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance; but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was a Calebite.

4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.

5 Then David sent out ten young men; and David said to the young men, Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit. 'hard.'
• [b]. Meaning, 'fool,' 'ungodly,' 'impious:' see 2Sam. 3.33; Ps. 14.1; Prov. 30.22, &c.