1 Samuel 25:19-29

19 And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told nothing to her husband Nabal.

20 And it was so as she rode on the ass that she came down a secret part of the mountain, 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 has in the wilderness so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him, and he has returned unto me evil for good.

22 Let God do so and more also unto the enemies of David if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that piss against the wall.

23 And when Abigail saw David, she hastened 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 thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thy audience; and hear the words of thy handmaid.

25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, take to heart this man of Belial, even Nabal, for as his name is, so is he; Nabal {Heb. fool} is his name, and folly is with him; but I, thy handmaid, did not see the servants of my lord whom thou didst send.

26 Now, therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives and as thy soul lives, seeing the LORD has withheld thee from coming to shed blood and from avenging thyself with thy own hand, now let thy enemies and those that seek evil to my lord be as Nabal.

27 And now this blessing which thy handmaid has brought unto my lord, let it be given unto the servants that follow my lord.

28 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thy handmaid, for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house because my lord fights the battles of the LORD, and evil has 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 he shall hurl forth the souls of thine enemies as out of the middle of 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.