Samuel died, and all Israel gathered and made lament for him; and they buried him in Ramah, his home.David went down to the wilderness of Paran.aParan Septuagint reads “Maon,” cf. v. 2 and 23.24, 25.
There was a man in Maon whose possessions were in Carmel. The man was very wealthy; he owned three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. At the time, he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
The man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. The woman was intelligent and beautiful, but the man, a Calebite, was harsh and an evildoer.
Word-by-Word Analysis
ושם
346
האיש
316
נבל
82
ושם
346
אשתו
707
אבגיל
46
והאשה
317
טובתשכל
767
ויפת
496
תאר
601
והאיש
322
קשה
405
ורע
276
מעללים
220
והוא
18
כלבו
58
כלבי
62
I Samuel 25:4
Gematria: 1365
וישמעדודבמדברכיגזזנבלאתצאנו
David was in the wilderness when he heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep.
I hear that you are now doing your shearing. As you know, your shepherds have been with us; we did not harm them, and nothing of theirs was missing all the time they were in Carmel.
Ask your young men and they will tell you. So receive these young men graciously, for we have come on a festive occasion. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can.’”
Word-by-Word Analysis
שאל
331
אתנעריך
751
ויגידו
39
לך
50
וימצאו
153
הנערים
375
חן
58
בעיניך
162
כיעליום
186
טוב
17
בנו
58
תנהנא
506
את
401
אשר
501
תמצא
531
ידך
34
לעבדיך
136
ולבנך
108
לדוד
44
I Samuel 25:9
Gematria: 1524
ויבאונערידודוידברואלנבלככלהדבריםהאלהבשםדודוינוחו
David’s young men went and delivered this message to Nabal in the name of David. When they stopped speaking,
Should I then take my bread and my water,cwater Septuagint reads “wine,” and cf. v. 18. and the meat that I slaughtered for my own shearers, and give them to men who come from I don’t know where?”
Word-by-Word Analysis
ולקחתי
554
אתלחמי
489
ואתמימי
507
ואת
407
טבחתי
429
אשר
501
טבחתי
429
לגזזי
57
ונתתי
866
לאנשים
431
אשר
501
לא
31
ידעתי
494
אי
11
מזה
52
המה
50
I Samuel 25:12
Gematria: 1551
ויהפכונערידודלדרכםוישבוויבאוויגדולוככלהדבריםהאלה
Thereupon David’s young men retraced their steps; and when they got back, they told him all this.
And David said to his men, “Gird on your swords.” Each girded on his sword; David too girded on his sword. About four hundred of them went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.
One of [Nabal’s] young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, that David had sent messengers from the wilderness to greet their master, and that he had spurneddspurned Meaning of Heb. uncertain. them.
“But those involved had been very friendly to us; we were not harmed, nor did we miss anything all the time that we went about with them while we were in the open.
Word-by-Word Analysis
והאנשים
412
טבים
61
לנו
86
מאד
45
ולא
37
הכלמנו
151
ולאפקדנו
277
מאומה
92
כלימי
110
התהלכנו
516
אתם
441
בהיותנו
479
בשדה
311
I Samuel 25:16
Gematria: 1706
חומההיועלינוגםלילהגםיומםכלימיהיותנועמםרעיםהצאן
They were a wall about us both by night and by day all the time that we were with them tending the flocks.
So consider carefully what you should do, for harm threatens our master and all his household; he is such a nasty fellow that no one can speak to him.”
Abigail quickly got together two hundred loaves of bread, two jars of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of parched corn, one hundred cakes of raisin, and two hundred cakes of pressed figs. She loaded them on donkeys,
Word-by-Word Analysis
ותמהר
651
אבוגיל
52
אביגיל
56
ותקח
514
מאתים
491
לחם
78
ושנים
406
נבלייין
162
וחמש
354
צאן
141
עשוות
782
עשויות
792
וחמש
354
סאים
111
קלי
140
ומאה
52
צמקים
280
ומאתים
497
דבלים
86
ותשם
746
עלהחמרים
403
I Samuel 25:19
Gematria: 2354
ותאמרלנעריהעברולפניהנניאחריכםבאהולאישהנבללאהגידה
and she told her young men, “Go on ahead of me, and I’ll follow you”; but she did not tell her husband Nabal.
She was riding on the donkey and going down a trailetrail Meaning of Heb. uncertain. on the hill, when David and his men appeared, coming down toward her; and she met them.—
Now David had been saying, “It was all for nothing that I protected that fellow’s possessions in the wilderness, and that nothing he owned is missing. He has paid me back evil for good.
May God do thus and more to the enemies offthe enemies of The phrase is intended to avoid the imprecation of David against himself; it is lacking in the Septuagint. David if, by the light of morning, I leave a single malega single male Lit. “one who pees against a wall.” of his.”—
When Abigail saw David, she quickly dismounted from the donkey and threw herself face down beforehbefore Meaning of Heb. uncertain. David, bowing to the ground.
Please, my lord, pay no attention to that wretched man—to Nabal. For he is just what his name says: His name means ‘boor’ and he is a boor.“Your handmaid did not see the young men whom my lord sent.
I swear, my lord, as GOD lives and as you live—GOD who has kept you from seeking redress by blood with your own hands—let your enemies and all who would harm my lord fare like Nabal!
Please pardon your maid’s boldness. For GOD will grant my lord an enduring house, because my lord is fighting GOD’s battles and no wrong is ever to be found in you.
And if anyone sets out to pursue you and seek your life, the life of my lord will be bound up in the bundle of life in the care of GOD—who will fling away the lives of your enemies as from the hollow of a sling.
do not let this be a cause of stumbling and of faltering courage to my lord that you have shed blood needlessly and that my lord sought redress with his own hands. And when GOD has made my lord prosper, remember your maid.”
For as sure as GOD, the God of Israel, lives—who has kept me from harming you—had you not come quickly to meet me, not a single maleia single male Lit. “one who pees against a wall.” of Nabal’s line would have been left by daybreak.”
David then accepted from her what she had brought him, and he said to her, “Go up to your home safely. See, I have heeded your plea and respected your wish.”
When Abigail came home to Nabal, he was having a feast in his house, a feast fit for a king; Nabal was in a merry mood and very drunk, so she did not tell him anything at all until daybreak.
The next morning, when Nabal had slept off the wine, his wife told him everything that had happened; and his courage died within him, and he became like a stone.
Word-by-Word Analysis
ויהי
31
בבקר
304
בצאת
493
היין
75
מנבל
122
ותגדלו
449
אשתו
707
אתהדברים
662
האלה
41
וימת
456
לבו
38
בקרבו
310
והוא
18
היה
20
לאבן
83
I Samuel 25:38
Gematria: 2190
ויהיכעשרתהימיםויגףיהוהאתנבלוימת
About ten days later GOD struck Nabal and he died.
When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praised be GOD who championed my cause against the insults of Nabal and held mejme Lit. “His servant.” back from wrongdoing; GOD has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.”David sent messengers to propose marriage tokto propose marriage to Lit. “and spoke for”; cf. Song 8.8. Abigail, to take her as his wife.
she immediately bowed low with her face to the ground and said, “Your handmaid is ready to be your maidservant, to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”