Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(1 Samuel 25:1) And Samuel died, and all the Israelites were gathered together and lamented him and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
David had spared Saul's life and returned to his stronghold. Meanwhile, Samuel had died. All the Israelites had gathered together to mourn his death, and they buried him at his house in Ramah. The first 24 chapters of the book of Samuel were thought to have been written by Samuel himself, but obviously he could not have written the rest of 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel after he died. Those have been attributed to the prophets Nathan and Gad.
David came out of his hiding place and went down to the wilderness of Paran. Scripture doesn't say specifically that he went there upon hearing of Samuel's death or that he went there to mourn him. The wilderness of Paran was far south of Ramah.
(2) And was a man in Maon whose possessions were in Carmel, and the man very great, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
Meanwhile, there was a man in Maon, north of the wilderness of Paran, in the tribe of Judah, who was very wealthy and had 3000 sheep and 1000 goats. His possessions were in Carmel, just north of Maon, and he was there in Carmel shearing his sheep.
(3) Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife, Abigail, a woman of good understanding and of a beautiful countenance, but the man was churlish and evil in his doings, and he was of the house of Caleb.
The name of the man was Nabal, and he was a rude and evil man of the house of Caleb. Interestingly, his name meant "fool." His wife was Abigail, and it appears she was a knowledgeable woman with common sense. She was also beautiful.
(4) And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep, (5) And David sent out ten young men, and David said to the young men, "Get up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name."
David heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep in Carmel, and he sent out ten men to go to Carmel to meet with Nabal and greet him in David's name.
(6) And thus you shall say to him who lives, "Peace to you, and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have. (7) And now I have heard that you have shearers. Now your shepherds who were with us, we did not hurt them, neither was anything missing from them, all the while they were in Carmel."
David told the ten young men to first offer a blessing of peace to Nabal and to his house and all that he had. Evidently, David had had occasion to be with Nabal's shepherds, probably because the sheep were feeding near the wilderness of Paran which was not far from Maon and Carmel. David wanted his messengers to tell Nabal this, and to let him know that he and his army had not hurt the shepherds, nor taken anything from them.
(8) "Ask your young men, and they will show you. Therefore, let the young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a good day. Give, I pray you, whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David."
David, through his messengers, would ask that Nabal ask his own shepherds to verify that he and his army had not harmed them in any way. Therefore, David hoped one good turn deserved another and his messengers found favor in his eyes. They had gone to Nabal on a good day when he would be making a feast for his shearers, as was the custom. David would have his messengers ask if they might be given whatever was at hand that might be spared for David and his men.
(9) And when David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David and ceased.
David's messengers went to Nabal and told him all that David had told them to say. Then they waited for Nabal's reply.
(10) And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, "Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away every man from his master. (11) Shall I then take my bread and my water and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men whom I do not know where they are from?"
However, Nabal answered David's servants with haughtiness and disdain. Could it be that he actually did not know David and Jesse, or was it his way of saying that it meant nothing to him whoever had sent them? That appears to be the more likely case. After all, David and Nabal were from the same tribe, and surely he knew the fame of David who had slain his ten thousands (1 Samuel 21:11). He suggested that David and his men were nothing more than rebellious servants who had broken away from their master, and he would never consider giving any of his food and drink that he had prepared for his own shearers to just anyone from who knows where.
(12) So David's young men turned their way and went again and came and told him all those sayings.
David's messengers left Nabal and went back to David and told him all that Nabal had said.
(13) And David said to his men, "Gird you every man his sword." And they girded on every man his sword, and David also girded on his sword, and there went up after David about four hundred men, and two hundred stayed by the stuff.
David did not take Nabal's rudeness and condescension lightly. He instructed his men to gird themselves with their swords, which four hundred of them did while the other two hundred remained with their supplies.
(14) But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, "Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master, and he railed on them."
One of Nabal's men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, about David sending messengers to salute her husband. The original word "barak" that was translated as "salute" means more completely "to bless, to kneel," so David's men had certainly conveyed humility, kindness, and respect toward Nabal. However, Nabal had berated them with contempt.
(15) "But the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither did we miss anything, as long as we were conversant with them when we were in the fields. (16) They were a wall to us both by night and day all the while we were with them keeping the sheep."
The young man told Abigail how David and his men had been very good to them while they had been in close proximity to them in the wilderness. They did not hurt them nor take anything from them all the while they were near them in the fields. As a matter of fact, they had been a wall of protection to them, protecting and defending them against those who might have done them harm.
(17) "Now therefore, know and consider what you will do, for evil is determined against our master and against all his household, for he is a son of Belial that one cannot speak to him."
The young man told Abigail that something bad was about to happen because of how her husband had treated David and his men. It's interesting that a servant of her husband felt comfortable enough to call him a son of Belial, an evil worthless man, to his wife. She obviously knew what kind of man her husband was and that no one could speak to him reasonably and rationally. The man told Abigail to consider what she should do to prevent destruction to her household.
(18) Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched grain, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. (19) And she said to her servants, "Go on before me; behold, I come after you." But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
Abigail hurriedly gathered many provisions, loaves, wine, dressed sheep, parched corn, raisins, and fig cakes, and laid them upon donkeys. She sent her servants on before her, saying she would come after them. She did not tell her husband Nabal what she was doing.
(20) And it was as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the cover of the hill, and behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them.
I believe the sense is that Abigail came on her donkey on the side of the hill under a cover of bushes or trees and saw David and his men before they saw her. Then she met them.
(21) Now David had said, "Surely in vain have I kept all that he had in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that was his, and he has requited me evil for good. (22) So and more also do God to the enemies of David if I leave of all that is his by the morning light any who pisses against the wall."
David HAD said, so I don't believe he said this to Abigail, but these were the things he had said and was intending to do at that moment. David felt he had foolishly been good to Nabal's men expecting good in return, but Nabal had returned evil for David's good. I believe the sense of what David said after that was that he wished the Lord to bless his enemies and perhaps pour evil on himself if he left even one male, man or beast, before the morning. This was obviously rash and excessive anger on David's part that, and if followed through, would have brought death and destruction to many innocent people.
(23) And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, (24) And fell at his feet, and said, "On me, my lord, on me this iniquity! And let your handmaid, I pray you, speak in your audience, and hear the words of your handmaid."
When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted her donkey and fell on her face at David's feet. She pleaded with him to put all the blame of her husband's actions on her and to allow her to speak in her defense. She calls him her lord as a sign of respect and reverence to him, probably to atone for her husband's rudeness in speaking of him as a runaway servant (verse 10).
(25) "Let not my lord, I pray you, regard this man of Belial, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he; Nabal his name, and folly with him, but I your handmaid did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent."
Abigail pleaded with David not to pay any attention to such a foolish and worthless man as her husband. She said he was just as his name indicated, a fool, and therefore his actions were foolish. However, she said, she had not seen the young men David had sent to her husband.
(26) "Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord lives and your soul lives, seeing the Lord has withheld you from coming to bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now let your enemies and they who seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. (27) And now this blessing which your handmaid has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord."
Abigail said that as surely as the Lord lived (and David), the Lord had so far withheld David from committing the bloodshed he had intended to avenge himself. Therefore she prayed a curse upon the enemies of David, either that they be as foolish and utterly impotent to hurt David as was her husband, or that David's anger toward Nabal and his vengeance fall upon his enemies who deserved it more than this foolish man, her husband. Then as a blessing, she asked that all that she had brought with her (verse 18) be given to David's men.
(28) "I pray you, forgive the trespass of your handmaid, for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, for my lord fights the battles of the Lord, and evil has not been found in you all your days. (29) Yet a man has risen to pursue you and to seek your soul, but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord your God; and the souls of your enemies, them shall He sling out, as from the middle of a sling."
Abigail asked that David forgive her intrusion in troubling him with her petition. She either knew the fame of David and that he was blessed by God, or she spoke under influence of the Holy Spirit. It was probably a bit of both. She told him that the Lord was going to make an enduring house of David because he fought the battles of the Lord. She knew no evil had been found in him, yet a man (Saul) had risen up to pursue him and to ultimately kill him. However, she knew that David's life was bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord, precious to Him, favored and preserved by Him. But the lives of his enemies the Lord would cast out as quickly and forcefully as a stone slung from a slingshot.
(30) "And it shall come to pass, when the Lord shall have done to my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and shall have appointed you ruler over Israel, (31) That this shall be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. But when the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember your handmaid."
Abigail continued with her plea to David. She asked that when the Lord had fulfilled His promise to make him ruler over Israel, that this incident be of no grief or regret to him because he had avenged himself and shed innocent blood without cause. However, when the Lord had dealt well with David in delivering him out of the hands of his enemies and seating him as king of Israel, she wished for him to remember her and her plea and advice not to shed blood.
(32) And David said to Abigail, "Blessed the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me. (33) And blessed is your advice, and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand."
David recognized the hand of the Lord in sending Abigail to meet him and praised Him. He was also thankful to Abigail for giving him such good advice and preventing him from doing something he would surely have regretted if he had shed innocent blood just to avenge himself because of one foolish man.
(34) "For indeed, as the Lord of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting you, except you had hasted and come to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal by the morning light any that pisses against the wall."
David admitted that as surely as the Lord lived, He who had kept David from hurting Abigail, had she not hurried and come to meet him, he would have killed Nabal and all the males of men and beasts in his house and in his employ by morning light.
(35) So David received of her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, "Go up in peace to your house; see, I have hearkened to your voice and have respected your person."
David received the gifts that Abigail had brought on her donkeys. After all, that is all he had requested of Nabal, even less (verse 8). He told her to go back to her house in peace for he had respected her and listened to her and had done what she requested.
(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 drunk; therefore, she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
When Abigail returned to her house to Nabal, she found he had held a great feast in his house, and he was very drunk. Therefore she told him nothing of her encounter with David.
(37) But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
The next morning, when Nabal was sober again, Abigail told him all that had transpired between her and David. Nabal, probably terrified at the notion of what he had barely escaped and perhaps feared it might still happen, passed out and became motionless as a stone.
(38) And it came to pass about ten days after, that the Lord struck Nabal that he died.
After being in a comatose state for about ten days, the Lord struck Nabal with death.
(39) And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed the Lord, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and has kept his servant from evil, for the Lord has returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail to take her to him as wife.
When David heard that Nabal was dead, he praised the Lord for preventing him from doing evil but taking up his cause Himself and issuing judgment. "'Vengeance is Mine,' saith the Lord" (Romans 12:19). And the Lord's way was much more just, as He just took out Nabal and no one else in his family or household. David then sent messengers to Abigail and asked her to be his wife.
(40) And when the servants of David had come to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, "David sent us to you, to take you to him as wife." (41) And she arose and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, "Behold, your handmaid, a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord."
David had sent servants to Abigail at her home in Carmel, and they told her that David had sent for her to be his wife. With the same humility she had shown to David when she met with him, Abigail bowed herself before the servants and said she considered herself only worthy to be a servant to wash the feet of David's servants. It was as Abigail had requested, "...when the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember your handmaid." (verse 31) The Lord had Himself dealt with this man who had done David wrong and brought this good woman to him to be his wife.
(42) And Abigail hurried, and arose, and rode on an ass, with five damsels of hers who went after her, and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.
Abigail hurried and rode on a donkey after the messengers of David and brought with her five damsels or maidservants who rode after her. She indeed became David's wife.
(43) David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they were also both of them his wives.
David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, a town of Judah near Carmel. This was not the same Ahinoam as was married to Saul (1 Samuel 14:50). So both Abigail and Ahinoam were David's wives.
(44) But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti, the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.
It seems that Saul had previously given David's wife Michal, who was Saul's daughter, to another man in marriage, Phalti or Phaltiel, as called elsewhere. David’s taking of two wives could be seen as indicative of his growing power and importance, although he was still being pursued by Saul.
