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I Samuel
Chapter
25
1~~And
Samuel died.
And
all the Israelites kept on gathering together,
and
lamented him {general grieving throughout the land},
and
'buried him with great ceremony' {qabar}
at
his own home at Ramah.
And
David arose,
and
went down to the desert of Paran
{on the way to Egypt - south of Judea - as far from Saul as he
could get yet be in the land}.
{Note: David wanted to be at the funeral. But he knew the emotional high of Saul would mean an emotional hangover. Saul would be hunting David again.}
{Drunken
Bum with lots of Money}
2~~
And there was a man in Maon
{near the Ziphites - seven miles south of Hebron},
whose
possessions were in Carmel
{not Mt Carmel in northern part of the land here - this is in the
south of Hebron};
and
the man was very great {gadowl},
and
he had three thousand sheep,
and
a thousand goats.
And
he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
{Note:
The bible recognizes four bone-fide areas of greatness:
1) Greatness in doing
2) Greatness in thinking
3) Greatness in character, and
4) Greatness in possessions. This man was great in wealth.}
3~~Now
the name of the man was
Nabal
{name means 'fool'};
and
the name of his woman/wife {ishshah} . . . {was}
Abigail
{name means exhaling or 'source of happiness' - fun to be with}.
And
{she was} the woman of 'great/good {towb} intelligence {sekel}'
{exceptionally smart woman},
and
beautiful of appearance {face and body beauty}.
But
the man was harsh and evil in his doings.
And
he was of the house of Caleb
{Nabal's great-grandfather was a hero of Israel - Nabal could have
been great in many ways, but your family tree does not make the
difference - doctrine does}.
{Note: A beautiful woman who is intelligent and fun can be a curse or a joy. Abigail was a SuperGrace believer and therefore a true joy. Towb is the usual word for good. So, RBT says here it means 'great intelligence' when combined with sekel.}
4~~And
David kept on hearing {shama`}
in
the desert
that
Nabal did shear his sheep.
{Note: When the farmers sheared their sheep, that was the time that their debts would be paid. Nabal owed David money for protecting his shepherds and flocks while they were at Carmel - see verse 7.}
{David
sends Men to Collect His Debt from Nabal}
5-6~~And
David sent out ten young men,
and
David said unto the young men,
"Get
you up to Carmel,
and
go to Nabal,
and
greet him in my name 6~~
And
thus shall you say to him
that
lives {means enjoys life living in prosperity},
Prosperity/Peace
{shalowm} be both to you {shalowm},
and
prosperity/peace {shalowm}be to your house,
and
prosperity/peace {shalowm} to your business
{idiom: literally 'all that you have'}."
{Note: To mention one's prosperity in those days was a subtle way of saying it is now time to pay your debt.}
{David
and His Men Provide Excellent Protection Services}
7~~"And
now I have heard that you have shearers.
Now
your shepherds which were with us,
we
hurt them not,
neither
was there anything
of
theirs missing,
all
the while they were in Carmel."
8~~"Ask
your young men, and they will show you
{verify what David said is true before paying the debt}.
Wherefore
let the young men 'discover grace' {matsa' chen}
in
your eyes for we have come in a good day
{a day of Nabal's profit}.
Please
give, whatsoever comes to your hand
{by way of profit - this would be money, food, and other needed
items}
unto
your servants,
and
to your son David {polite greeting - just good manners here}.
9~~And
David's young men kept on coming,
they
intensively spoke to Nabal
according
to all those words
in
the name of David . . .
and
kept on waiting {and waiting - maybe for hours}
{Note: Nabal thinks he is impressing David's men with his importance by making them wait for his response. Sounds like a rich and pompous man. His manners are lousy.}
10~~And
Nabal answered David's servants, and said,
"Who
is David? {snotty denial of any debt}
And
who is the son of Jesse?
{don't even know his family - no blue blood}
There
be many servants now a days
that
break away {parats} every dog from his master."
{Note: Parats - means to turn on someone who owes someone a debt. So Nabal is transferring his own sins to David - he is welshing on his debt and implying David is instead. He is calling David a mere run away slave.}
11~~"Shall
I then take my bread, and my water,
and
my animal flesh {lamb and mutton}
that
I have killed for my shearers {paying off his shearers},
and
give it unto men,
whom
I know not where they be
{this is called craftiness - pretending he does not know
David or anything about him}?
{Note: This is a very practical passage. Many people in life will try to cheat you in some manner. Just be prepared for it.}
12~~So
David's young men turned their way,
and
went again,
and
came and told him all those sayings.
{David
is Justifiably Angry but Still Can Think}
13~~And
David said unto his men,
"Strap
on every man his sword {pick up your weapons}.
And
they, each man, strapped his sword.
and
David also strapped on his sword.
and
there went up after David about four hundred men.
And
two hundred dwelled by the bivouac
{k@liy - by the camp supplies and the women and children}.
14-17~~But
one of the young men {one of Nabal's shepherds}
told
{gave a clear picture to} Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying,
"Behold,
David sent messengers out of the desert
to
'pleasantly greet' our master;
and
he 'treated them with great contempt'
{`iyt - means to incorrectly treat others as if they
were your subordinates}. 15~~
But
the men were very good unto us,
and
we were not hurt {physically or psychologically}
{means David's men also treated the shepherds with great
courtesy},
neither
did we miss any thing
{nothing taken by David's men or by the Arabs or local animals},
while
we were conversant with them
when
we were in the fields. 16~~
They
were 'solid and reliable protectors'
{chowmah: a wall. Idiom: literally 'a wall unto us'}
both
by night and day {the shepherds felt very safe and protected},
all
the while we were with them
guarding/shepherding
the sheep. 17~~
Now
therefore know {yada` - think intelligently}
and
deliberate {ra'ah}
what
you will do/manufacture {'asah - out of wisdom}
for
danger is determined against our master,
and
against all his household.
For
he is such an SOB/"son of Belial"/reversionist
{b@liya`al - technical for reversionist means wickedness and
worthlessness}
no
one can reason with him."
18~~Then
Abigail hurried,
and
took two hundred loaves,
and
two bottles of wine
{so none would get drunk and out of line},
and
five sheep already butchered,
and
five measures of parched corn,
and
an hundred clusters of raisins,
and
two hundred cakes of figs,
and
laid them on asses.
19~~And
she said unto her servants,
"Move
on out before me
behold,
I come after you."
But
she told not her husband Nabal.
20~~And
it was so,
as
she rode on the ass,
that
she came down by the valley of the hill
{where she was hidden and could not be seen},
and,
behold, David and his men
descended
{from a hill} toward her
and
she met them.
{Verses
21-22: Parenthetical Explanation of What Lead Up To the Meeting}
21~~
(Now David had said {retrospective dissertation},
"Surely
in vain/emptiness have
I
guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness,
so
that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him
and
he has 'paid back'/returned to me evil for good. 22~~
So
and more, let God add {horrible miseries}
unto
the enemies of David
{right doctrinal phrase but off to do the WRONG thing - let God do it
but he has 400 men with him ready to kill himself! In anger, he is
blinded to the Truth of his actions},
if,
before morning,
I
leave alive anyone of all that he has . . .
all
'who piss against the wall'/men
{Nabal and all his shepherds and other servants}
{idiom: literally 'any who piss against the wall' - only men do
this}").
{Note: This is a Satanic trap for David. He had just spared Saul in grace. Now he is going to take vengeance into his own hands - that this is not a doctrinal viewpoint. David is failing the Nabal test. He says leave the divine judgment to God (for all who escape HIS vengeance!) - ha ha - mistake. SuperGrace Abigail will straighten him out in time.}
{Abigail
Understands Business Morality - Brings Her Husband's Debt Payment to David}
23~~And
when Abigail saw David, she hurried,
and
dismounted off the ass {animal of her transportation},
and
fell before David on her face,
and
bowed herself to the ground {very polite greeting}.
24~~And
fell at his feet, and said,
"On
me, my lord,
even
on me be the blame
{take it out on me}.
But
please let your maid-servant/slave {'amah}
{referring to herself - though socially she is very high - humility},
speak/'communicate
categorically' {dabar}
to
your ears {'ozen - idiom for 'in your audience'},
and
'hear, concentrate and obey' {shama'}
the
words/advice {dabar} of yours {his maid-servant/slave again}."
{Note: Psalms 14 and 53 are both Nabal psalms - he was an unbeliever, which was part of his being a fool.}
25~~Please
let not my lord
{David - one of her recognized authorities at this point - he
protected her family's sheep and shepherds},
pay
attention to this 'man of Belial'/reversionist {her husband},
even
Nabal
{Nabal - name means fool - masculine noun - so more fully - 'male
type fool'}.
For
as his name is, so is he {Nabal is his name and folly is with him}
{she is beautiful and smart and also has a sense of humor}.
"Fool
is his name {unbeliever Nabal}
and
'female fool' is with him.
{ n@balah - this time fool again but is the female version of the
noun - she is referring to herself for being so stupid to be with
him - so this brings the blame back around to being on her is the
point. Principal: to marry a fool is the quintessence of folly!}
But
I, your female slave,
did
not 'see'/'meet with' the young men with whom you sent."
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