Samuel Dies; Abigail and Nabal

"And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah." In Maon lives a rich man whose business is in Carmel, with three thousand sheep. "The name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil."

David's young men ask for whatever Nabal can give at the shearing feast; his men had protected Nabal's shepherds. "Who is David?… there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master." David: "Gird ye on every man his sword." He vows to leave no male alive by morning.

A servant tells Abigail. She loads donkeys with bread, wine, sheep, grain, raisins and figs and rides out without telling Nabal. She falls at David's feet: "Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be… Nabal is his name, and folly is with him… the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house… this shall be no grief unto thee… that thou hast shed blood causeless." David: "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: and blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood."

Nabal is drunk at his feast. In the morning, when Abigail tells him, "his heart died within him, and he became as a stone." Ten days later "the LORD smote Nabal, that he died." David sends for Abigail, and she becomes his wife. He also marries Ahinoam of Jezreel. Saul has given Michal to Phalti son of Laish.

Abigail

Abigail acts on her own initiative, takes the blame on herself, appeals to David's future as a king who must not have needless blood on his hands, and speaks of God's "sure house" for him, anticipating 2 Samuel 7. Later Jewish tradition counted her among the prophetesses (Talmud, Megillah 14a). She acts within a world of real danger and limited power; her success depends on persuasion.

Nabal, "fool"

Nabal means "fool" in Hebrew, as Abigail says (25:25). Few parents would name a child that; it may be a nickname or a narrative wordplay. The word can also mean a wine-skin, perhaps another pun given his drunkenness.

Carmel of Judah

This Carmel is a town in the Judean hills (Khirbet el-Kirmil), near Maon, not Mount Carmel on the coast. Saul set up a monument there (15:12).

Samuel's death and the book's author

Samuel dies in 25:1, yet tradition names him as the author of the book. Even traditional accounts therefore assign the rest to others, such as Gad and Nathan (1 Chronicles 29:29).