1 Samuel 25:26-36

26 Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withheld thee from coming to shed blood and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies and those who seek evil for my lord be as Nabal.
27 And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men who follow my lord.
28 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid; for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.
29 Yet a man has 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 the souls of thine enemies, them shall He sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.
30 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that He hath spoken concerning thee and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel,
31 that this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offense of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causelessly or that my lord hath avenged himself. But when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid."
32 And David said to Abigail: "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me!
33 And blessed be thy advice and blessed be thou, who hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
34 For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, who hath kept me back from hurting thee, unless thou hadst hastened and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any who urinates against the wall."
35 So David received from her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, "Go up in peace to thine house. See, I have hearkened to thy voice and have accepted thy person."
36 And Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, he held a feast in his house like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken; therefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.

1 Samuel 25:26-36 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.

Third Millennium Bible (TMB), New Authorized Version, Copyright 1998 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD 57237. All rights reserved.