1 Samuel 25 is the twenty-fifth chapter of the First Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the ChristianBible or the first part of the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. Jewish tradition attributes the book to the prophetSamuel, with later additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan; modern scholarship, however, regards it as a compilation of independent texts dated to c.630–540BCE. This chapter contains the account of David's escape from Saul's repeated attempts to kill him. This is within a section comprising 1 Samuel 16 to 2 Samuel 5 which records the rise of David as the king of Israel.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Textual tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including 4Q51 (4QSama; 100–50 BCE) with extant verses 3–12, 20–21, 25–27, 38–40 and 4Q53 (4QSamc; 100–75 BCE) with extant verses 30–31.
Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint (originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century) and Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century).
Samuel's death was at a time when Saul had acknowledged the issue of succession (24:20) and that David, the one anointed by Samuel, would come to the throne.
The accounts in 1 Samuel 24 and 26 report David's refusal to kill Saul as God's anointed one (מָשִׁיחַ, māšīaḥ), but in this chapter, he was almost guilty of killing many innocent people in the household of Nabal and Abigail, who lived in Maon. Nabal (נָבָל, Nāḇāl, 'fool') was a "surly and mean" man, but his wife, Abigail, was "clever and beautiful", personifying the fool and the virtuous wife in Jewish wisdom literature, respectively. The first part of the narrative (verses 2–12) details how Nabal foolishly refused David's request for provision, which was carefully structured in verses 5–8:
The offer of peace and friendship to Nabal and his household.
A reminder that Nabal's shepherds were not harmed when they were with David's men (i.e., easily verifiable).
A request for supplies as compensation for David's protection of Nabal's shepherds. Nabal acted arrogantly in his two questions in verse 10, dismissing David as insignificant and possibly implying he is aware of David's conflict with Saul ("men who come from I do not know where"). The reference to Nabal as a ben blliya'al (בֶּן־בְּלִיַּעַל, ben-bəliyyaʿal, 'son of worthlessness') in verse 17 may classify him with those who despised Saul when he was king-elect (1 Samuel 10:27) and suggest that Nabal also was rejecting a king-elect and refusing to pay him tribute. Angry from the humiliation, David was in danger of taking matters into his own hand and not relying on YHWH; he was saved, however, from taking foolish action through the interference of Abigail, who was informed of the situation by one of Nabal's servants who liked David and was critical of his master's rash response (verses 14–18). Abigail intercepted David as he was on his way to annihilate the house of Nabal (verse 22) without consulting her husband, whom she also counted as a fool (verse 25). She carried provisions to David and his men, among which were bread, wine, clusters of raisins, and fig-cakes, which assuaged the wrath of David's men. Without Abigail's intervention, David would have become guilty of blood-guilt and taken vengeance with his men instead of restraining himself and trusting God, as detailed in Abigail's words (verses 26–31) and David's response (verses 32–34). When Nabal died of sickness, David remembered Abigail (verse 30) and decided to take her as his wife, which gave David another advantage: the house of Nabal was a prominent member of the Calebite clan and had control over Hebron, so marrying Nabal's widow would give David control of a territory that would later be significant when David was later declared king at Hebron (2 Samuel 2:1–4).
Verse 5
So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, "Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name".
"Carmel" (כַּרְמֶל, karmel, lit.'orchard'or 'vineyard land'): the same place where Saul built a monument for himself (1 Samuel 15:12), so Nabal could actually be a supporter of Saul.
Verse 39
So when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed be 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 on his own head." And David sent and proposed to Abigail, to take her as his wife.
Abigail became David's third wife, Michal—who had been given in marriage to another man by Saul 1 Samuel 25:44—and Ahinoam of Jezreel having preceded her.
Auld, Graeme (2003). "1 & 2 Samuel". In James D. G. Dunn and John William Rogerson (ed.). Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Eerdmans. ISBN9780802837110.
Breytenbach, Andries (2000). "Who Is Behind The Samuel Narrative?". In Johannes Cornelis de Moor and H.F. Van Rooy (ed.). Past, Present, Future: the Deuteronomistic History and the Prophets. Brill. ISBN9789004118713.
