1 Samuel 25:17-27

17 And now know and consider what thou wilt do, for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household; and he is such a son of Belial, that one cannot speak to him.

18 And Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two skin-bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched [corn], and a hundred raisin-cakes, and two hundred fig-cakes, and laid them on asses.

19 And she said to her young men, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

20 And as she was riding on the ass, and coming down by the covert of the hill, behold, David and his men came down opposite to her; and she met them.

21 Now David had said, Surely, in vain have I kept all that this [man] had in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that was his; and he has requited me evil for good.

22 So and more also do God to the enemies of David, if I leave of all that is his by the morning light any male.

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 the iniquity be; but let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine ears, and hear the words of thy handmaid.

25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; and I thy handmaid did not see the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.

26 And now, my lord, [as] Jehovah liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, seeing Jehovah has restrained thee from coming with bloodshed, 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 thy bondmaid has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men that follow my lord.

1 Samuel 25:17-27 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 25

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, 1Sa 25:1; it draws the character of Nabal, and his wife, 1Sa 25:2,3; records a message of David to him, by his young men, desiring he would send him some of his provisions made for his sheep shearers, 1Sa 25:4-9; and Nabal's ill-natured answer to him reported by the young men, which provoked David to arm against him, 1Sa 25:10-13,21,22; and this being told Abigail, the wife of Nabal, and a good character given of David and his men, and of the advantage Nabal's shepherds had received from them, and the danger his family was in through his ingratitude, 1Sa 25:14-17; she prepared a present to pacify David, went with it herself, and addressed him in a very handsome, affectionate, and prudent manner, 1Sa 25:18-31; and met with a kind reception, 1Sa 25:32-35; and the chapter is closed with an account of the death of Nabal, and of the marriage of Abigail to David, 1Sa 25:32-44.

Footnotes

• [a]. See ver. 3.
• [b]. Or 'impiety.' The Hebrew word is from the same root as the name 'Nabal.'
• [c]. Lit. 'saving' or 'delivering,' also in vers. 31,33.