1 Samuel 25:19-29

19 Then she said to the servants, "You go on ahead and I will follow you." But she said nothing to her husband.

20 She was riding her donkey around a bend on a hillside when suddenly she met David and his men coming toward her.

21 David had been thinking, "Why did I ever protect that fellow's property out here in the wilderness? Not a thing that belonged to him was stolen, and this is how he pays me back for the help I gave him!

22 May God strike me dead if I don't kill every last one of those men before morning!"

23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly dismounted and threw herself on the ground

24 at David's feet, and said to him, "Please, sir, listen to me! Let me take the blame.

25 Please, don't pay any attention to Nabal, that good-for-nothing! He is exactly what his name means - a fool! I wasn't there when your servants arrived, sir.

26 It is the Lord who has kept you from taking revenge and killing your enemies. And now I swear to you by the living Lord that your enemies and all who want to harm you will be punished like Nabal.

27 Please, sir, accept this present I have brought you, and give it to your men.

28 Please forgive me, sir, for any wrong I have done. The Lord will make you king, and your descendants also, because you are fighting his battles; and you will not do anything evil as long as you live.

29 If anyone should attack you and try to kill you, the Lord your God will keep you safe, as someone guards a precious treasure. As for your enemies, however, he will throw them away, as someone hurls stones with a sling.

1 Samuel 25:19-29 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]. [One ancient translation] me; [Hebrew] my enemies.
• [b]. a fool: [This is the meaning of the Hebrew name Nabal.]
• [c]. you will not do anything evil; [or] no evil will happen to you.