1 Samuel 25:19

19 And she said to her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.

1 Samuel 25:19 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 25:19

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 overtook them:

but she told not her husband Nabal;
neither the danger he and his family were in through his conduct, nor the preparations she had made to prevent it; knowing his perverse and obstinate disposition, that it would take up too much time to reason with him, and persuade him, and bring him into proper measures; and which may be observed to excuse the conduct of Abigail in doing what she did, and taking and disposing of her husband's gods, without his knowledge and leave; the case required haste, and it was done to preserve him and his family from imminent ruin; and besides, he might not be in a fit condition to be spoken to, being drunk with passion, or with wine, or both, see ( 1 Samuel 25:36 ) ; and no doubt she was directed by the Spirit of God to do what she did; and this being an extraordinary case, is not to be drawn into an example.

1 Samuel 25:19 In-Context

17 Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do: for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he [is such] a son of Belial, that [a man] cannot speak to him.

18 Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched [corn], and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid [them] on asses.

19 And she said to her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.

20 And it was [so], [as] she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and behold, David and his men came down over against her; and she met them.

21 (Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this [man] hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that [pertained] to him: and he hath requited me evil for good.