1 Samuel 25
25
Samuel’s Death
1Now Samuel died; and all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him at his house in Ramah. Then David left and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.
Nabal and Abigail
2Now there was a man in Maon whose business and possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel 3(now the man’s name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings; he was a #25:3 I.e. a descendant of Caleb.Calebite). 4David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal, and #25:5 Lit ask him of his peace (welfare). It was customary to greet someone by asking him of his welfare (Heb shalom), like “How are you?” However, David specifies the greeting in v 6 without the actual question, so the question here (v 5) is just a way of saying, “greet him.”greet him in my name; 6and this is what you shall say, ‘#25:6 Lit To life!Have a long life! Peace be to you, and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have. 7Now I have heard that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us and we have not harmed them, nor were they missing anything all the time they were in Carmel. 8Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your sight [and be well-treated], for we have come on a #25:8 The time of shearing was a time of celebration and generosity.good (festive) day. #25:8 David and his men had given protection to Nabal’s flocks and shepherds, and it was appropriate for David to ask for compensation for this service.Please, give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ”
9When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David; then they waited. 10But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? #25:10 Nabal was insulting David and his men by implying that as far as he was concerned, they could be nothing but runaway slaves.There are many servants today, each of whom is breaking away from his master. 11So should I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?” 12So David’s young men made their way back and returned; and they came and told him everything that was said [to them by Nabal]. 13David said to his men, “Each man put on your sword.” So each man put on his sword. David also put on his sword, and about four hundred men went up behind David while two hundred stayed back with the provisions and supplies.
14But one of Nabal’s young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Listen, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless (greet) our master, and he shouted at them [in contempt]. 15But David’s men were very good to us, and we were not harmed or treated badly, nor did we miss anything as long as we were with them, when we were in the fields. 16They were a wall [of protection] to us both night and day, all the time that we were with them tending the sheep. 17Now then, know this and consider what you should do, for evil is [already] planned against our master and against all his household; but he is such a #25:17 Lit son of Belial.worthless and wicked man that one cannot speak [reasonably] to him.”
Abigail Intercedes
18Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two jugs of wine, five sheep already prepared [for roasting], five measures of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19She said to her young men (servants), “Go on ahead of me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20It happened that as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by [way of] the hidden part of the mountain, that suddenly David and his men were coming down toward her, and she met them. 21Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected and guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missing of all that belonged to him; and he has repaid me evil for good. 22May God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if by morning I leave [alive] even one #25:22 Lit who urinates against a wall.male of any who belong to him.”
23When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from the donkey, and #25:23 Lit fell.kneeled face downward before David and bowed down to the ground [in respect]. 24#25:24 Lit Falling.Kneeling at his feet she said, “My lord, let the blame and guilt be on me alone. And please let your maidservant speak #25:24 Lit in your ears.to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant. 25Please do not let my lord #25:25 Lit set his heart to.pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal (fool) is his #25:25 Nabal means “worthless, good for nothing.”name and foolishness (stupidity) is with him; but I your maidservant did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.
26So now, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, since the Lord has prevented you from shedding blood, and from avenging yourself by your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord, be as [self-destructive as] Nabal. 27Now this gift, which your maidservant has brought my lord, let it be given to the young men who #25:27 Lit walk at the feet of.accompany and follow my lord. 28Please forgive the transgression of your maidservant; for the Lord will certainly make my lord a secure and enduring house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil will not be found in you all your days. 29Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound in the [precious] bundle of the living with the Lord your God; but the lives of your enemies—those He will hurl out as from the center of a sling. 30And it will happen when the Lord does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken (promised) concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel, 31that this [incident] will not cause grief or [bring] a troubled conscience to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having avenged himself. When the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember [with favor] your maidservant.”
32David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day. 33And blessed be your discretion and discernment, and blessed be you, who has kept me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself by my own hand. 34Nevertheless, as the Lord the God of Israel lives, who has prevented me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, most certainly by the morning light there would not have been left to Nabal so much as one male.” 35So David #25:35 Lit took from her hand.accepted what she had brought to him and said to her, “Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you and have #25:35 Lit lifted up your face, an idiom used in various positive ways, probably based on the idea of a superior person permitting someone to look him in the eye.granted your request.”
36Then Abigail came to Nabal, and he was holding a feast in his house [for the shearers], like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s #25:36 Lit heart.mood was joyous because he was very drunk; so she told him nothing at all until the morning light. 37But in the morning, when #25:37 Lit the wine had gone out of.Nabal was sober, and his wife told him these things, his #25:37 Nabal probably suffered a stroke.heart died within him and he became [paralyzed and helpless] like a stone. 38About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.
David Marries Abigail
39When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach [suffered] at the hand of Nabal and has kept His servant from [retaliating with] evil. For the Lord has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, proposing to take her as his wife. 40When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David sent us to you to take you [to him] to be his wife.” 41And she stood and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your maidservant is [ready to be] a maid to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42Then Abigail quickly got up, and rode on a donkey, with five of her maidens who #25:42 Lit walked at her feet.attended her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.
43David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives.
44But Saul had given Michal his [younger] daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
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Shmuel Alef 25
25
1And Shmuel died; and kol Yisroel were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him at his bais at Ramah. And Dovid arose, and went down to the midbar Paran.
2And there was an ish in Ma'on, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the ish was gadol me'od, and he had three thousand tzon, and a thousand izzim (goats); and he was shearing his tzon in Carmel.
3Now the shem of the ish was Naval; and the shem of his isha Avigal; and she was an isha of tovat seichel, and beautiful; but the ish was kasheh (churlish, difficult) and rah (mean) in his doings; and he was a descendant of Kalev.
4And Dovid heard in the midbar that Naval did shear his tzon.
5And Dovid sent out ten ne'arim, and Dovid said unto the ne'arim, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Naval, and give him a shalom greeting in my shem (name);
6And thus shall ye say to him, Koh lechai (good fortune to you), shalom to thee, shalom to thine bais, shalom unto all that thou hast.
7And now I have heard that thou hast shearers; now thy ro'im (shepherds) which were with us, we hurt them not, and nothing was missing by them, all the while they were in Carmel.
8Ask thy ne'arim, and they will show thee. Wherefore let the ne'arim find chen (favor, grace) in thine eyes; for we come on yom tov; give, now, whatsoever cometh to thine yad unto thy avadim, and to thy ben, Dovid.
9And when the naarei Dovid came, they spoke to Naval according to all those devarim b'shem Dovid, and ceased.
10And Naval answered the avadim of Dovid, and said, Who is Dovid? And who is Ben Yishai? There be many avadim nowadays who break away every ish from his adon.
11Shall I then take my lechem, and my mayim, and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it unto anashim who come from I know not where?
12So the ne'arim of Dovid turned to their derech, and went back, and came and told him all those devarim.
13And Dovid said unto his anashim, Gird ye on every ish his cherev. And they girded on every ish his cherev; and Dovid also girded on his cherev; and there went up after Dovid about arba me'ot ish; and two hundred stayed by the kelim (supplies).
14But one of the ne'arim told Avigal, eshet Naval, saying, Hinei, Dovid sent malachim out of the midbar to put a brocha on adoneinu; and he drove them off.
15But the anashim were tovim unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we accompanied them, when we were in the sadeh;
16They were a chomah (wall) unto us both by lailah gam yomam (night and day), all the while we were with them shepherding hatzon.
17Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for ra'ah is determined against adoneinu, and against all his bais; for he is such a ben Beliyaal, that a man cannot speak to him.
18Then Avigal made haste, and took two hundred lechem, and two skins of yayin, and five tzon ready cooked, and five measures of roasted grain, and a hundred raisin cakes, and two hundred pressed figs, and laid them on chamorim (donkeys).
19And she said unto her ne'arim, Go on ahead of me; hineni, I come after you. But she told not her ish Naval.
20And it was so, as she rode on the chamor, that she came down by the covert on the har, hinei, Dovid and his anashim came down toward her; and she met them.
21Now Dovid had said, Surely for sheker have I been shomer over all that this one hath in the midbar, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him; and he hath requited me ra'ah for tovah.
22So and more also do Elohim unto the oyvei Dovid, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the boker any that urinate against the wall.
23And when Avigal saw Dovid, she hasted, dismounted the chamor, and fell before Dovid on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,
24And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, adoni, upon me let this avon be; and let now thine handmaid speak in thine audience, and hear the devarim of thine handmaid.
25Let now not adoni regard this ish of Beliyaal, even Naval; for as shmo is, so is he; Naval (fool) is shmo, and nevalah (folly) is with him; but I thine handmaid saw not the ne'arim of adoni, whom thou didst send.
26Now therefore, adoni, as Hashem liveth, and as thy nefesh liveth, seeing Hashem hath held thee back from coming to shed dahm, and from avenging thyself with thine own yad, now let thine oyevim, and they that seek ra'ah for adoni, be as Naval.
27And now this brocha which thine shifchah (maid-servant) hath brought unto adoni, let it even be given unto the ne'arim that follow at the feet of adoni.
28Forgive now the peysha of thine handmaid; for Hashem will certainly make adoni a bais ne'eman; because adoni fighteth the milchamot of Hashem, and ra'ah hath not been found in thee all thy yamim.
29Yet adam is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy nefesh; but the nefesh of adoni shall be bound in the bundle of chayyim with Hashem Eloheicha; and the nefesh of thine oyevim, them shall He hurl away, as out of the hollow of a kela (slingshot).
30And it shall come to pass, when Hashem shall have done to adoni according to all the tovah that He hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee Nagid over Yisroel,
31There shall be no grief unto thee, nor michshol lev (downfall of conscience) unto adoni, either that thou hast committed shefach dahm chinom, or that adoni hath avenged himself; but when Hashem shall have dealt well with adoni, then remember thine handmaid.
32And Dovid said to Avigal, Baruch Hashem Elohei Yisroel, Who sent thee today to meet me;
33And baruch be thy good sense, and berukhah be thou, who hast kept me this yom from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own yad.
34For in very deed, as Hashem Elohei Yisroel liveth, Who hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Naval by ohr haboker any that urinates against the wall.
35So Dovid received of her yad that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in shalom to thine bais; see, I have paid heed to thy voice, and have granted thy request.
36And Avigal came to Naval; and, hinei, he held a mishteh (feast) in his bais, like the mishteh of a melech; and lev Naval was tov within him, for he was shikkor ad me'od; wherefore she told him nothing, katan or gadol, until the ohr haboker.
37But it came to pass in the boker, when the yayin was gone out of Naval, and his isha had told him these things, that his lev died within him, and he became like even (stone).
38It came to pass about ten yamim later, Hashem struck Naval, that he died.
39And when Dovid heard that Naval was dead, he said, Baruch Hashem, that hath upheld the cause of my cherpah (reproach) from the yad of Naval, and hath kept his eved from ra'ah; for Hashem hath returned the ra'ah (wickedness) of Naval upon his own rosh. And Dovid sent and communed with Avigal, to take her to him as isha.
40And when the avadim of Dovid were come to Avigal to Carmel, they spoke unto her, saying, Dovid sent us unto thee, to take thee to him as isha.
41And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the ground, and said, Hinei, let thine handmaid be for a shifchah to wash the feet of the avadim of adoni.
42And Avigal hasted, and arose and rode upon a chamor, with five na'arot of hers that attended her; and she went after the malachim of Dovid, and became his isha.
43Dovid also took Achino'am of Yizre'el; and they were also both of them his nashim (wives).
44But Sha'ul had given Michal bitto (his daughter), Dovidʼs isha, to Palti Ben Layish, who was from Gallim.
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