1 Samuel 25
New English Translation
The Death of Samuel
25 Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David left and went down to the wilderness of Paran.[a]
David Marries Abigail the Widow of Nabal
2 There was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. This man was very wealthy;[b] he owned 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. At that time he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 The man’s name was Nabal,[c] and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was both wise[d] and beautiful, but the man was harsh and his deeds were evil. He was a Calebite.
4 When David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep, 5 he[e] sent ten servants,[f] saying to them,[g] “Go up to Carmel to see Nabal and give him greetings in my name.[h] 6 Then you will say to my brother,[i] ‘Peace to you and your house! Peace to all that is yours! 7 Now I hear that they are shearing sheep for you. When your shepherds were with us, we neither insulted them nor harmed them the whole time they were in Carmel. 8 Ask your own servants; they can tell you! May my servants find favor in your sight, for we have come[j] at the time of a holiday. Please provide us—your servants[k] and your son David—with whatever you can spare.’”[l]
9 So David’s servants went and spoke all these words to Nabal in David’s name. Then they paused. 10 But Nabal responded to David’s servants, “Who is David, and who is this son of Jesse? This is a time when many servants are breaking away from their masters! 11 Should I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers and give them to these men? I don’t even know where they came from!”
12 So David’s servants went on their way. When they had returned, they came and told David[m] all these things. 13 Then David instructed his men, “Each of you strap on your sword!” So each one strapped on his sword, and David also strapped on his sword. About 400 men followed David, while 200 stayed behind with the equipment.
14 But one of the servants told Nabal’s wife Abigail, “David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet[n] our lord, but he screamed at them. 15 These men were very good to us. They did not insult us, nor did we sustain any loss during the entire time we were together[o] in the field. 16 Both night and day they were a protective wall for us the entire time we were with them, while we were tending our flocks. 17 Now be aware of this, and see what you can do. For disaster has been planned for our lord and his entire household.[p] He is such a wicked person[q] that no one tells him anything!”
18 So Abigail quickly took 200 loaves of bread, two containers[r] of wine, five prepared sheep, five seahs[s] of roasted grain, 100 bunches of raisins, and 200 lumps of pressed figs. She loaded them on donkeys 19 and said to her servants, “Go on ahead of me. I will come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
20 Riding on her donkey, she went down under cover of the mountain. David and his men were coming down to meet her, and she encountered them. 21 Now David had been thinking,[t] “In vain I guarded everything that belonged to this man in the wilderness. I didn’t take anything from him. But he has repaid my good with evil. 22 God will severely punish David,[u] if I leave alive until morning even one male[v] from all those who belong to him!”
23 When Abigail saw David, she got down quickly from the donkey, threw herself facedown before David, and bowed to the ground. 24 Falling at his feet, she said, “My lord, I accept all the guilt! But please let your female servant speak to you! Please listen to the words of your servant! 25 My lord should not pay attention to this wicked man Nabal. He simply lives up to his name! His name means ‘fool,’ and he is indeed foolish![w] But I, your servant, did not see the servants my lord sent.[x]
26 “Now, my lord, as surely as the Lord lives and as surely as you live, it is the Lord who has kept you from shedding blood and taking matters into your own hands. Now may your enemies and those who seek to harm my lord be like Nabal. 27 Now let this present[y] that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the servants who follow[z] my lord. 28 Please forgive the sin of your servant, for the Lord will certainly establish a lasting dynasty for my lord, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord. May no evil be found in you all your days! 29 When someone sets out to chase you and to take your life, the life of my lord will be wrapped securely in the bag[aa] of the living by the Lord your God. But he will sling away the lives of your enemies from the sling’s pocket! 30 The Lord will do for my lord everything that he promised you,[ab] and he will make[ac] you a leader over Israel. 31 Your conscience will not be overwhelmed with guilt[ad] for having poured out innocent blood and for having taken matters into your own hands. When the Lord has granted my lord success,[ae] please remember your servant.”
32 Then David said to Abigail, “Praised[af] be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you this day to meet me! 33 Praised be your good judgment! May you yourself be rewarded[ag] for having prevented me this day from shedding blood and taking matters into my own hands! 34 Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives—he who has prevented me from harming you—if you had not come so quickly to meet me, by morning’s light not even one male belonging to Nabal would have remained alive!” 35 Then David took from her hand what she had brought to him. He said to her, “Go back[ah] to your home in peace. Be assured that I have listened to you[ai] and responded favorably.”[aj]
36 When Abigail went back to Nabal, he was holding a banquet in his house like that of the king. Nabal was having a good time[ak] and was very intoxicated. She told him absolutely nothing[al] until morning’s light. 37 In the morning, when Nabal was sober,[am] his wife told him about these matters. He had a stroke and was paralyzed.[an] 38 After about ten days the Lord struck Nabal down and he died.
39 When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, “Praised be the Lord who has vindicated me and avenged the insult that I suffered from Nabal![ao] The Lord has kept his servant from doing evil, and he has repaid Nabal for his evil deeds.”[ap] Then David sent word to Abigail and asked her to become his wife.
40 So the servants of David went to Abigail at Carmel and said to her, “David has sent us to you to bring you back to be his wife.” 41 She arose, bowed her face toward the ground, and said, “Your female servant, like a lowly servant, will wash[aq] the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42 Then Abigail quickly went and mounted her donkey, with five of her female servants accompanying her.[ar] She followed David’s messengers and became his wife.
43 David had also married[as] Ahinoam from Jezreel; the two of them became his wives. 44 (Now Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Paltiel son of Laish, who was from Gallim.)
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 25:1 tc The LXX reads “Maon” here instead of “Paran,” perhaps because the following account of Nabal is said to be in Maon (v. 2). This reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT). The MT, however, reads “Paran,” a location which would parallel this portion of David’s life with that of the nation Israel which also spent time in Paran (Num 10:12). Also, the desert of Paran was on the southern border of Judah’s territory and would be the most isolated location for hiding from Saul.
- 1 Samuel 25:2 tn Heb “great.”
- 1 Samuel 25:3 sn The name נָבָל (Nabal) means “foolish” or “senseless” in Hebrew, and as an adjective the word is used especially of persons who have no perception of ethical or religious claims. It is an apt name for this character, who certainly typifies such behavior.
- 1 Samuel 25:3 tn Heb “good of insight”; KJV “of good understanding”; NAB, NIV, TEV “intelligent”; NRSV “clever.”
- 1 Samuel 25:5 tn Heb “David”; for stylistic reasons the pronoun has been used in the translation.
- 1 Samuel 25:5 tn Or “young men.”
- 1 Samuel 25:5 tn Heb “and David said to the young men.”
- 1 Samuel 25:5 tn Heb “and inquire concerning him in my name in regard to peace.”
- 1 Samuel 25:6 tc The text is difficult here. The MT and most of the early versions support the reading לֶחָי (lekhai, “to life,” or “to the one who lives”). Some of the older English versions (KJV, ASV; cf. NKJV) took the expression to mean “to him who lives (in prosperity),” but this translation requires reading a good deal into the words. While the expression could have the sense of “Long life to you!” (cf. NIV, NJPS) or perhaps “Good luck to you!” this seems somewhat redundant in light of the salutation that follows in the context. The Latin Vulgate has fratribus meis (“to my brothers”), which suggests that Jerome understood the Hebrew word to have an ʾalef that is absent in the MT (i.e., לֶאֱחָי, leʾekhay). Jerome’s plural, however, remains a problem, since in the context David is addressing a single individual, namely Nabal, and not a group. However, it is likely that the Vulgate witnesses to a consonantal Hebrew text that is to be preferred here, especially if the word were to be revocalized as a singular rather than a plural. While it is impossible to be certain about this reading, the present translation essentially follows the Vulgate in reading “my brother” (so also NJB; cf. NAB, RSV, NRSV).
- 1 Samuel 25:8 tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading בָּאנוּ (baʾnu, “we have come”) rather than the MT’s בָּנוּ (banu, “we have built”).
- 1 Samuel 25:8 tn This refers to the ten servants sent by David.
- 1 Samuel 25:8 tn Heb “whatever your hand will find.”
- 1 Samuel 25:12 tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 1 Samuel 25:14 tn Heb “bless.”
- 1 Samuel 25:15 tn Heb “all the days we walked about with them when we were.”
- 1 Samuel 25:17 tn Heb “all his house” (so ASV, NRSV); NAB, NLT “his whole family.”
- 1 Samuel 25:17 tn Heb “he is a son of worthlessness.”
- 1 Samuel 25:18 tn Heb “skins.”
- 1 Samuel 25:18 sn The seah was a dry measure equal to one-third of an ephah, or not quite eleven quarts.
- 1 Samuel 25:21 tn Heb “said.”
- 1 Samuel 25:22 tc Heb “Thus God will do to the enemies of David and thus he will add.” Most of the Old Greek ms tradition has simply “David,” with no reference to his enemies. In OT imprecations such as the one found in v. 22 it is common for the speaker to direct malediction toward himself as an indication of the seriousness with which he regards the matter at hand. In other words, the speaker invites on himself dire consequences if he fails to fulfill the matter expressed in the oath. However, in the situation alluded to in v. 22 the threat actually does not come to fruition due to the effectiveness of Abigail’s appeal to David on behalf of her husband Nabal. Instead, David is placated through Abigail’s intervention. It therefore seems likely that the reference to “the enemies of David” in the MT of v. 22 is the result of a scribal attempt to deliver David from the implied consequences of this oath. The present translation follows the LXX rather than the MT here.
- 1 Samuel 25:22 tn Heb “one who urinates against a wall” (also in v. 34); KJV “any that pisseth against the wall.” At first this may seem to be a vulgar phrase because it refers to a bodily function and David is angry. But David uses the same phrase when he speaks in a conciliatory way to Abigail in v. 34. There is no clear point to his using a vulgar phrase in that context. Similarly for the narrator in 1 Kgs 16:11 and the Lord’s oracles in 1 Kgs 14:10; 21:21; 2 Kgs 9:8, any rhetorical reason for vulgarity is unclear. The phrase refers to males, is not with certainty crude, and the addition of the phrase “at a wall” does not communicate well in the modern setting. We we have chosen to simply use “male” for this phrase.
- 1 Samuel 25:25 tn Heb “and foolishness is with him.”
- 1 Samuel 25:25 tn Heb “my lord’s servants, whom you sent.”
- 1 Samuel 25:27 tn Heb “blessing.”
- 1 Samuel 25:27 tn Heb “are walking at the feet of.”
- 1 Samuel 25:29 tn Cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “bundle”; NLT “treasure pouch.”
- 1 Samuel 25:30 tn Heb “according to all which he spoke, the good concerning you.”
- 1 Samuel 25:30 tn Heb “appoint.”
- 1 Samuel 25:31 tn Heb “and this will not be for you for staggering and for stumbling of the heart of my lord.”
- 1 Samuel 25:31 tn Heb “and the Lord will do well for my lord.”
- 1 Samuel 25:32 tn Heb “blessed” (also in vv. 33, 39).
- 1 Samuel 25:33 tn Heb “blessed.”
- 1 Samuel 25:35 tn Heb “up.”
- 1 Samuel 25:35 tn Heb “your voice.”
- 1 Samuel 25:35 tn Heb “I have lifted up your face.”
- 1 Samuel 25:36 tn Heb “and the heart of Nabal was good upon him”; NASB, NRSV “Nabal’s heart was merry within him”; NIV “he was in high spirits”; NCV, TEV “was in a good mood”; CEV “was very drunk and feeling good.”
- 1 Samuel 25:36 tn Heb “and she did not tell him a thing, small or large.”
- 1 Samuel 25:37 tn Heb “when the wine had gone out from Nabal.”
- 1 Samuel 25:37 tn Heb “and his heart died within him and he became a stone.” Cf. TEV, NLT “stroke”; CEV “heart attack.” For an alternative interpretation than that presented above, see Marjorie O’Rourke Boyle, “The Law of the Heart: The Death of a Fool (1 Samuel 25),” JBL 120 (2001): 401-27, who argues that a medical diagnosis is not necessary here. Instead, the passage makes a connection between the heart and the law; Nabal dies for his lawlessness.
- 1 Samuel 25:39 tn Heb “who has argued the case of my insult from the hand of Nabal.”
- 1 Samuel 25:39 tn Heb “his servant he has held back from evil, and the evil of Nabal the Lord has turned back on his head.”
- 1 Samuel 25:41 tn Heb “Here is your maidservant, for a lowly servant to wash.”
- 1 Samuel 25:42 tn Heb “going at her feet.”
- 1 Samuel 25:43 tn Heb “taken.”
1 Samuel 25
Darby Translation
25 And Samuel died; and all Israel were gathered together, and lamented him; and they buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
2 And there was a man at Maon, whose business was at Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep at Carmel.
3 And the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance; but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was a Calebite.
4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.
5 Then David sent out ten young men; and David said to the young men, Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name.
6 And thus shall ye say: Long life [to thee]! and peace be to thee, and peace be to thy house, and peace be to all that thou hast!
7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers; now thy shepherds who were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there aught missed by them, all the while they were in Carmel.
8 Ask thy young men, and they will tell thee. Therefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes; for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, what thy hand may find to thy servants, and to thy son David.
9 And David's young men came, and spoke to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.
10 And Nabal answered David's servants and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there are many servants now-a-days that break away every man from his master.
11 And shall I take my bread, and my water, and my flesh which I have killed for my shearers, and give [it] to men whom I know not whence they are?
12 And David's young men turned their way, and went back, and came and reported to him according to all those words.
13 And David said to his men, Gird ye on 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 abode by the baggage.
14 And one of [Nabal's] young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our master; and he has insulted them.
15 And the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we companied 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 feeding the sheep.
17 And now know and consider what thou wilt do, for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household; and he is such a son of Belial, that one cannot speak to him.
18 And Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two skin-bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched [corn], and a hundred raisin-cakes, and two hundred fig-cakes, and laid them on asses.
19 And she said to her young men, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
20 And as she was riding on the ass, and coming down by the covert of the hill, behold, David and his men came down opposite to her; and she met them.
21 Now David had said, Surely, in vain have I kept all that this [man] 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 male.
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, Upon me, my lord, [upon] me let the iniquity be; but let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine ears, and hear the words of thy handmaid.
25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; and I thy handmaid did not see the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
26 And now, my lord, [as] Jehovah liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, seeing Jehovah has restrained thee from coming with bloodshed, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.
27 And now this blessing which thy bondmaid has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men that follow my lord.
28 I pray thee, forgive the transgression of thy handmaid: for Jehovah will certainly make my lord a lasting house; because my lord fights the battles of Jehovah, and evil has not been found in thee all thy days.
29 And if a man is risen up to pursue thee and to seek thy life, the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with Jehovah thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out from the hollow of the sling.
30 And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah shall do to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning thee, and shall appoint thee ruler over Israel,
31 that this shall be no stumbling-block to thee, nor offence of heart for my lord, either that thou hast shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. And when Jehovah shall deal well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid.
32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me.
33 And blessed be thy discernment, and blessed be thou, who hast kept me this day from coming with bloodshed, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
34 But indeed, as Jehovah the God of Israel liveth, who has restrained me from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, there had not been left to Nabal by the morning light any male.
35 So David received of her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.
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 drunken to excess; so she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
37 And it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things; and his heart died within him, and he became [as] a stone.
38 And it came to pass in about ten days that Jehovah smote Nabal, and he died.
39 And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be Jehovah, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil; but Jehovah has returned Nabal's evil upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her as his wife.
40 And the servants of David came to Abigail to Carmel, and spoke to her, saying, David has sent us to thee, to take thee as his wife.
41 And she arose and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thy handmaid be a bondwoman to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
42 And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that followed her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.
43 David had also taken Ahinoam of Jizreel; and they became, even both of them, his wives.
44 But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)