1 Samuel 25:41

41 And she arose and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thy handmaid be a bondwoman to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.

1 Samuel 25:41 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 25:41

And she arose, and bowed herself on [her] face to the earth,
&c.] As she did before David, ( 1 Samuel 25:23 ) ; and did as she would have done had he been present, considering his messengers as representing him and therefore showed the same respect and reverence and did the same honour, as if he had been there in person: and said;
expressed herself in such language as if David had been before her: behold, [let] thine handmaid [be] a servant to wash the feet of the
servants of my lord;
which she said through her great humility, this being one of the meanest services she could be put to; intimating, that she was so far from being worthy to be the wife of such a man that she was only fit and it would be honour enough to her to perform the meanest services to those that waited upon him; or her sense is that it would be enough for her to be the wife of one of David's servants, and not his; it being the business of a wife, as Ben Gersom observes to wash the feet of her husband.

1 Samuel 25:41 In-Context

39 And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be Jehovah, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil; but Jehovah has returned Nabal's evil upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her as his wife.

40 And the servants of David came to Abigail to Carmel, and spoke to her, saying, David has sent us to thee, to take thee as his wife.

41 And she arose and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thy handmaid be a bondwoman to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.

42 And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that followed her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.

43 David had also taken Ahinoam of Jizreel; and they became, even both of them, his wives.