1 Samuel 25:11

_SHALL I THEN TAKE MY BREAD, AND MY WATER, AND MY FLESH THAT I HAVE KILLED FOR MY SHEARERS, AND GIVE IT UNTO MEN, WHOM I KNOW NOT WHENCE THEY BE?_ No JFB commentary on these verses....

2-11 We should not have heard of Nabal, if nothing had passed between him and David. Observe his name, Nabal, "A fool;" so it signifies. Riches make men look great in the eye of the world; but to one that takes right views, Nabal looked very mean. He had no honour or honesty; he was churlish, cross, and ill-humoured; evil in his doings, hard and oppressive; a man that cared not what fraud and violence he used in getting and saving. What little reason have we to value the wealth of this world, when so great a churl as Nabal abounds, and so good a man as David suffers want!, David pleaded the kindness Nabal's shepherds had received. Considering that David's men were in distress and debt, and discontented, and the scarcity of provisions, it was by good management that they were kept from plundering. Nabal went into a passion, as covetous men are apt to do, when asked for any thing, thinkin...

The mention of water indicates a country where water was scarce (compare Joshua 15:19). Or “bread and water” may be equivalent to “meat and drink.”...

EXPOSITION DEATH OF SAMUEL (1 Samuel 25:1). 1 SAMUEL 25:1 AND SAMUEL DIED. According to Josephus, Samuel had for eighteen years been contemporaneous with Saul's kingdom. If this calculation, which probably rests upon some Jewish tradition, be at all correct, we must include the years of Samuel's judgeship in the sum total of Saul's reign (see on 1 Samuel 13:1), as evidently his fall was now fast approaching. Samuel's life marked the beginning of the second age of Israelite history (Acts 3:24). Moses had given the people their law, but

SHALL I THEN TAKE MY BREAD, AND MY WATER,.... Which include all food and liquors, everything eatable and drinkable; and "water" may be particularly mentioned, because very scarce in the wilderness, and so precious; though the Septuagint version has "wine" instead of "water": AND MY FLESH WHICH I HAVE KILLED FOR MY SHEARERS; whether oxen, or sheep, or lambs, as there might be of each sort, for an entertainment made on such an occasion: AND GIVE [IT] UNTO MEN WHOM I KNOW NOT WHENCE THEY [BE]? which is another argument Abarbinel makes use of that he meant not David, but his men only, because he did not know who and from whence they were....

CHAPTER 25 _ 1. The death of Samuel (1 Samuel 25:1)_ 2. Nabal and his refusal (1 Samuel 25:2) 3. Abigail's deed and her prayer (1 Samuel 25:14) 4. David's answer to Abigail (1 Samuel 25:32) 5. Nabal's death (1 Samuel 25:36) 6. Abigail becomes David's wife (1 Samuel 25:39) After the death of Samuel, briefly mentioned in the beginning of this chapter, David went still further south into the wil

1 SAMUEL 25:1 A. (TO RAMAH). DEATH AND BURIAL OF SAMUEL. (An editorial addition.) 1 SAMUEL 25:1. IN HIS HOUSE: in the grounds belonging to it. 1 SAMUEL 25:1 B - 1 SAMUEL 25:44. DAVID, NABAL AND ABIGAIL (J). From one of the oldest sources. The story is complete in itself, and has no obvious connexion with any of the other sections. 1 SAMUEL 25:1 B - 1 SAMUEL 25:13. David goes to the wilderness of Paran at the S. of the Araba

WATER. Septuagint reads "wine". MEN. Hebrew. _'enosh._ App-14....

Nabal's churlish behaviour to David 2. _a man in Maon_ Nabal's home was in the city of Maon, and his possessions (or, HIS BUSINESS) about a mile to the north at Carmel. These places are mentioned together in Joshua 15:55. See also note on ch. 1 Samuel 15:12. _very great_ i.e. very rich. The same epithet is applied to (2 Samuel 19:32)....

NABAL ANSWERED DAVID'S SERVANTS— Nabal's answer was agreeable to his character, rude and sullen, a strong image of ungoverned brutality, and very natural to that insolence which wealth is too apt to infuse into undisciplined spirits. He had thoroughly learned Saul's contemptuous stile; _Who is the son of Jesse?_ Nor could any reproach more atrocious be thrown upon a well-born, well-bred, and innocent man, than that in these words, _there be many servants,_ &c. as it implies those crimes on account of which bad servants become fugitives from their masters. REFLECTIONS.—We have here an account of Nabal, his family, and circumstances. He was sprung from a noble stock, the distinguished Caleb; but, like many others, became the reproach of his ancestors: a man, indeed, of vast wealth, which made him great in the eyes of men; but of a mean and little spirit; and, as mean spirits usually are, i...