1 Samuel 25:1. Samuel's death and burial 1. _all the Israelites_, &c. A public mourning was held as after the death of Moses (Deuteronomy 34:8), and the whole nation met to do honour to him, who for well nigh eighty years had gone in and out amongst them as Prophet, Judge, and Counsellor of the Kin... [ Continue Reading ]
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 e... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nabal_ The name means _Fool_. It is the word used in Psalms 14:1; Proverbs 30:22; &c. _churlish_ Lit. HARD. Cp. Matthew 25:24, where the same Greek word is used as in the Sept. here (σκληρός). _of the house of Caleb_ Who settled at Hebron (Joshua 15:13). Cp. "the south of Caleb" in ch. 1 Samuel 3... [ Continue Reading ]
_to him that liveth in prosperity_ The meaning of the single Heb. word thus rendered is exceedingly obscure. It seems best to explain it as an exclamation, "Hail!" literally, "For life!... [ Continue Reading ]
_that thou hast shearers_ Sheep-shearing was and still is an occasion of festivity. See 2 Samuel 13:23-24. David's message was not a demand for black-mail. He had done Nabal real service, by protecting his flocks from roving marauders, and he was entitled to recompence. "On such a festive occasion n... [ Continue Reading ]
_a good day_ A day of festivity and rejoicing. Cp. Esther 8:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who is David_, &c. Cp. Judges 9:38.... [ Continue Reading ]
_my water_ Perhaps water is specially mentioned because it is scarce in the district. Cp. Joshua 15:19. The Sept. however has "wine.... [ Continue Reading ]
_abode by the stuff_ Remained to guard their property. On "stuff" see 1 Samuel 10:22: cp. 1 Samuel 30:24.... [ Continue Reading ]
Abigail's wise counsel 14. _to salute_ Lit. _to bless_, as in ch. 1 Samuel 13:10. Cp. 2 Kings 4:29, and the form of salutation in 1 Samuel 15:13. _he railed on them_ Lit. FLEW UPON THEM; the same word as in 1 Samuel 14:32.... [ Continue Reading ]
_as long as we were conversant with them_ Lit. _all the days we went to and fro with them_. "Conversant" from Lat. _conversari_, to dwell or abide with, signifies "associated" or "living along with.... [ Continue Reading ]
_a wall unto us_ A defence against the predatory tribes of the desert. See Job 1:15; Job 1:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
_such a son of Belial_ SUCH AN EVIL MAN. See on 1 Samuel 1:16. So wilful and obstinate that his servants dared not try to reason with him, but appealed to Abigail instead.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Abigail made haste, and took_ A store of provisions was prepared for the shearing feast (1 Samuel 25:11). For the different items of the present compare 2 Samuel 16:1; 1 Chronicles 12:40. _two bottles of wine_ SKINS, holding a considerable quantity. Ziba only brought one "bottle" of wine for David... [ Continue Reading ]
_came down by the covert of the hill_ Abigail was apparently riding down a defile between two hills, which is called "the covert" (lit. "the secret place of the mountain"), because it was concealed from observation. David's troop came down the opposite hill to meet her. "Covert" from Fr. _couvert_me... [ Continue Reading ]
_Surely in vain_ Only to be deceived and disappointed. The same word is used in Jeremiah 3:23. _pertained_ i.e. belonged. "Pertain" is derived from Lat. _pertineo_, through O. Fr. _partenir_. Cp. "appertain" from _appartenir_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_unto the enemies of David_ In the usual oath-formula the swearer invokes divine vengeance upon himself (1 Samuel 20:13), or upon the person adjured (1 Samuel 3:17). And so the Sept. here; "So God do to David." "The enemies of David" may possibly be an euphemism, introduced by a corrector who was un... [ Continue Reading ]
Abigail's meeting with David 23. _lighted off the ass_ i.e. got down from, an old form of _alighted_. The Heb. word is different from that similarly translated in Joshua 15:18, and simply means "to descend.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and fell at his feet_ Apparently she first prostrated herself and did the usual obeisance as soon as she saw David, while he was still some distance off, and then afterwards approached and knelt down at his feet in the posture of a suppliant to make her petition.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now therefore_, &c. Render, AND NOW, MY LORD, AS JEHOVAH LIVETH, AND BY THE LIFE OF THY SOUL, SURELY JEHOVAH HATH WITHHOLDEN THEE FROM COMING INTO BLOOD-GUILTINESS, AND SAVING THYSELF WITH THINE OWN HAND. AND NOW LET THINE ENEMIES, &c. Abigail solemnly affirms that it is God who by her means has re... [ Continue Reading ]
_this blessing_ So a complimentary present is styled in ch. 1 Samuel 30:26. Cp. Gen 33:11; 2 Corinthians 9:5 (εὐλογία, as here in the Sept.). _unto the young men_ She does not presume to offer it for David's own use.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the trespass of thine handmaid_ She takes the blame of the wrong done to David upon herself, as in _v._24. _for theLord_, &c. Abigail grounds her request on the conviction that David will succeed to the kingdom, when, as she points out in 1 Samuel 25:30, such an act of violence as he was minded to... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yet a man_, &c. Better, AND THOUGH MEN HAVE ARISEN … YET THE SOUL OF MY LORD SHALL BE BOUND UP IN THE BUNDLE OF THE LIVING. The figure is taken from the practice of binding up valuables in a bag or bundle. Cp. Genesis 42:35. Of course the immediate reference is only to the safe preservation of Davi... [ Continue Reading ]
_appointed thee ruler_ The same Heb. words are used in 1 Samuel 13:14, where the E. V. has "commanded him to he captain." Cp. also 1 Samuel 9:16; 1 Samuel 10:1. Abigail's prudence, and her familiarity with the true idea of the theocratic king which was to be realised in David, suggest that she may... [ Continue Reading ]
_grief_ The Heb. word, which occurs nowhere else, probably means STUMBLING-BLOCK. Such a crime as David had meditated would have remained as an obstacle in the way of his enjoying a clear conscience.... [ Continue Reading ]
David's favourable answer 32. _Blessed be the Lord_ David rightly recognises that the intervention of Providence has saved him from a foolish and wicked revenge. Compare his prayer in Psalms 19:13. There is no lack of faults in David's life, and this outburst of passion was one of them; but with al... [ Continue Reading ]
_advice_ Better, DISCRETION. _from coming to shed blood_ FROM COMING INTO BLOOD-GUILTINESS, AS in 1 Samuel 25:26.... [ Continue Reading ]
_have accepted thy person_ Here in a good sense = I have granted thy petition. Cp. Genesis 19:21.... [ Continue Reading ]
Nabal's death 36. _a feast … like the feast of a king_ His shearing-revel (cp. 2 Samuel 13:23) was on a scale of regal luxury.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and his wife_, &c. Better, THAT HIS WIFE TOLD HIM … AND HIS HEART DIED, &c. An outburst of passion on hearing that his will had been thwarted brought on a fit of apoplexy, in which he lingered on insensible for ten days, until... [ Continue Reading ]
_the Lord smote Nabal_ His death was a divine judgment none the less that a partly natural cause may be assigned for it in his intemperance and passion. For "smote" comp. the use of the same word in ch. 1 Samuel 26:10, and 2 Chronicles 13:20 (E. V. _struck_).... [ Continue Reading ]
David's marriage with Abigail 39. _pleaded the cause_, &c. Exacted from Nabal a due penalty for the injury he did me. Cp. 1 Samuel 24:15. In those days godly men looked for visible judgments upon the wicked in this world, and rejoiced in them as a vindication of God's righteous government. _hath k... [ Continue Reading ]
_and bowed herself_, &c. With the obsequiousness characteristic of Oriental nations, she expresses her devotion both by gesture and word. "Washing the feet" like "loosing the shoe-latchet" (Mark 1:7) was the service of the meanest slaves.... [ Continue Reading ]
_took_ HAD TAKEN, before his marriage with Abigail. Ahinoam stands first in the list of his wives in 2 Samuel 3:2. _of Jezreel_ A city in the mountains of Judah near Carmel and Juttah. See Joshua 15:55-56.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Saul had given Michal_ Probably he did it when David fled, to mark the completeness of the breach between them. David afterwards compelled Phalti (or _Phaltiel_) to restore him Michal (2 Samuel 3:15). _Gallim_ Only referred to again in Isaiah 10:30, from which passage it appears that it was betwee... [ Continue Reading ]