Nabal

Nabal is the wealthy Calebite husband of Abigail whose contempt for David at sheep-shearing time provokes a near-massacre, only averted by his wife's intervention. The whole story is told in a single chapter of 1 Samuel.

The Man and His Holdings

The opening scene fixes the household in Maon with grazing land in Carmel: "there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel" (1 Sa 25:2). The next verse names husband and wife together and pairs their characters as opposites: "Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding and beautiful: but the man was harsh and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb" (1 Sa 25:3).

The Refusal of David

David, hearing of the shearing, sends ten young men to greet Nabal and ask, in light of the protection his men had given Nabal's shepherds in the wilderness, for whatever provision Nabal can spare (1 Sa 25:4-8). Nabal's answer is a public insult: "And Nabal answered David's slaves, and said, Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many slaves nowadays that break away every man from his master. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men of whom I don't know from where they are?" (1 Sa 25:10-11).

David hears the report and arms four hundred men for vengeance (1 Sa 25:12-13). One of the household servants tells Abigail what has happened and adds his own assessment: "for he is such a worthless fellow, that one can't speak to him" (1 Sa 25:17).

Abigail's Intervention

Abigail loads donkeys with bread, wine, dressed sheep, parched grain, raisins, and fig cakes and rides out without telling her husband (1 Sa 25:18-20). When she meets David she takes the blame on herself and presses the meaning of her husband's name into a confession: "Don't let my lord, I pray you, regard this worthless fellow, even Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him" (1 Sa 25:25). She urges David to leave vengeance to Yahweh and let his enemies be as Nabal (1 Sa 25:26).

David accepts her gift and her counsel, blessing Yahweh "who sent you this day to meet me" and acknowledging that her discretion has kept him from bloodguilt (1 Sa 25:32-33). He sends her home in peace.

The Death of Nabal

Abigail returns to find her husband at a feast: "look, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry inside him, for he was very drunk: therefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light" (1 Sa 25:36). The next morning, sober, he hears what she has done: "his wife told him these things, and his heart died inside him, and he became as a stone" (1 Sa 25:37). Ten days later the narrative closes the account directly: "and it came to pass about ten days after, that Yahweh struck Nabal, so that he died" (1 Sa 25:38).