1 Samuel 25:18-28

18 Avigayil wasted no time in taking 200 loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already prepared, six quarts of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins and 200 fig cakes, and having them loaded on donkeys.

19 Then she said to her young men, "Go on ahead of me, and I'll come along after you." But she didn't tell her husband Naval.

20 She was riding her donkey down past the hiding-place in the mountain, when David and his men descended toward her, and she met them.

21 David had said, "What a waste it has been guarding everything this fellow has in the desert, so that nothing of his was missing! He has repaid me bad for good!"

22 Then he swore, "May God do the same and more to David's enemies if I leave alive even one male of everything he owns."

23 When Avigayil saw David, she hurried to dismount from her donkey, fell on her face in front of David and bowed down to the ground.

24 Having fallen at his feet, she said, "It's all my fault, my lord, all my fault! Please let your servant speak in your ears, and listen to what your servant says.

25 Please! My lord shouldn't pay any attention to this worthless fellow Naval, because he's just like his name -'Naval' means 'boor,' and his boorishness stays with him. But I, your servant, did not see my lord's men, whom you sent.

26 Therefore, my lord, as ADONAI lives, and as you live, inasmuch as ADONAI has kept you from the guilt of shedding blood and from taking vengeance into your own hands - therefore, may your enemies and anyone seeking your harm be [as worthless] as Naval.

27 Meanwhile, let this present which your servant has brought to my lord be given to the men in my lord's service.

28 And please forgive the offense your servant has caused; because ADONAI will certainly establish my lord's dynasty, for my lord fights ADONAI's battles, and nothing bad has been found in you all your life long.

1 Samuel 25:18-28 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.