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Chapter 25: The Death of Samuel and the Story of Nabal and Abigail
1 Samuel 25:1-8 ~ Samuel's death and David's appeal to Nabal
Thus Samuel's story begins and ends at Ramah, the home of his parents (1 Sam 1:19). With Samuel dead, David must have felt more isolated than ever. Samuel was the only one who understood David's true calling. After Samuel's death, David went into the desert of Maon. The region of Maon was named for one of the descendants of Caleb, the Gentile convert and hero of the conquest (see 1 Chron 2:45; Josh 15:55). Maon is one of several descendants of Caleb, all of whose given names are also place-names (1 Chron 2:42-50) that are located within a six to twelve mile radius of Hebron, the city and surrounding territory awarded to Caleb and his descendants.
Nabal is probably a descendant of Caleb. Unfortunately, Nabal has inherited none of his ancestor's good qualities.
Question: Why does David feel he is justified in requesting some food from Nabal for his men?
Question: When David's men were camped by the flocks of Nabal near the oasis of En-Gedi, David's men did not take any of the sheep but instead protected the shepherds and their sheep from thieves and predators. Therefore, it would be a reasonable gesture for Nabal to compensate them for their protection of Nabal's shepherds and flocks against pillage and rewarding their efforts with some food and drink.
1 Samuel 25:9-13 ~ Nabal's reply to David's Men
Question: In what two ways does Nabal sarcastically characterize David and what does this suggest about Nabal? The Hebrew word translated "servant" can also mean "slave."
Answer: He refers to David disrespectfully as a no-body who is only "the son of Jesse" (like Saul also refers to David) and a servant or slave who has run away for his "master" (another reference to Saul). His response suggests that he is a hard and churlish man.
Nabal's rhetorical questions "Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse?" express his contempt for David and his band of dispossessed man "who come from I know not where?" These words reflect the view of a selfish propertied man and slave owner who has contempt for all landless rebels who threaten the established social hierarchy, but there is also the suggestion that David is also a runaway slave.
1 Samuel 25:14-17 ~ The Shepherds inform Abigail of Nabal's rudeness to David
The young men who are Nabal's shepherds realize that their master's response to David's request was not only rude but dangerous. They inform Abigail of the kindness of David's men using the significant words "a wall of protection" in the literal Hebrew translation, and they ask Abigail to take action herself to avert a catastrophe. Watch for the contrast between the "wall of protection" David's men provided Nabal's shepherds and David's threat to kill everyone who "urinates against the wall," the literal Hebrew translation in verses 22 and 34. There are several word-plays and examples of irony in this story.
1 Samuel 25:18-35 ~Abigail's Intervention
Imagine the suspense of the two parties on the same mountain path coming closer and closer to each other: the angry David and his men who are out for blood and the brave and beautiful woman with her provisions. David doesn't see her at first because she is coming down the sheltered slope of the mountain, but she sees him and his men who are armed with swords and girded for battle. Before he sees Abigail David is very angry and is thinking how he will take revenge for Nabal's insult.
Question: In his anger, what phrase does David use in the literal Hebrew text to describe those who will be subject to his wrath in verse 22 and what is the word play between this phrase and the description of how David's men had protected Nabal's shepherds in verse 16?
Answer: David has decided that he and his men will kill anyone who "urinates against the wall" in Nabal's household. The phrase is in contrast to the "wall of protection" Nabal's shepherds told Abigail that David and his men offered when they camped near them.
David used the phrase "urinates against the wall" in verse 22 and will again in verse 34 in his anger over of Nabal's ingratitude and rudeness and his threat to kill every man in Nabal's service. Look for the ironic fulfillment of David's phrase later in the narrative. By killing "everyone who urinates against the wall" (verse 22), David is referring only to every man in Nabal's service. Perhaps he was thinking that the shepherds his men guarded were not grateful for the protection David's men gave them and had not expressed their gratitude of their master. The phrase "urinates against the wall" in Hebrew is a crude epithet for "male" that fits David's frame of mind.
Question: Abigail realizes that she is in danger and immediately, before speaking a word, what does she do and why?
Answer: Abigail has no way of knowing if David or his men will immediately kill her. She does not know that David will limit the threat of death only to the males of Nabal's household. Therefore, her first move is to demonstrate extravagant gestures of submission by prostrating herself on the ground before him and in her first words she takes the blame for her husband's rudeness.
David realizes that she is not responsible, but he is moved by her courage. In her next words she quickly transfers the blame to where it belongs: to her contemptible husband. Abigail says that her husband is the epitome of foolishness. It is probably not that his name literally means "fool" or "foolishness" but Nabal's behavior in the narrative contributed to his name coming to mean "fool" in Hebrew. It is obvious that Abigail is not happy in her marriage to a wealthy but churlish man who is probably much older than she is.
IQuestion: What advice does Abigail give David?
Answer: Abigail points out that David has lived a blameless life. Does he want to jeopardize that blameless reputation and God's divine protection because of his anger against a foolish man caused him to commit blood-guilt by killing the innocent? He should let God take care of his enemies and when that happens to please remember her.
Question: Compare David's rash oath with Saul's rash oath in 14:24-28, 43-44 and the attitude of the two men toward an oath they should not have made.
Answer: David made a rash oath but he would rather humble himself and withdraw from the oath rather than commit an act that is contrary to righteousness and the will of God. David's actions are totally unlike Saul in the case of his rash oath in which he was too proud to renege and was willing to sacrifice Jonathan's life rather than admit that he was wrong.
1 Samuel 25:36-44 ~ Nabal's Fate and David's generosity to Abigail
When Abigail returns her husband is drunk on wine. The next morning Abigail tells her husband what transpired from her meeting with David as Nabal is urinating what was last night's wine. Hearing that David had been on his way with four hundred men and was prepared to kill every man in his household so shocks him that he has what was probably a heart attack ("his heart died within him"); he will die ten days later. The descriptive phrase that he became like a stone fits Abigail's descriptive imagery of God casting David's enemies out like a stone out of a sling.
Question: What is the irony concerning the oath David swore to punish Nabal and Nabal's fate?
Answer: David swore that everyone who "urinates against the wall" in Nabal's household would be dead by morning. But because David did not seek his own revenge, God has taken up his cause and ironically God has punished Nabal in the morning as he was urinating "while the wine was going out of him" that he refused to share with David and his men. Nabal's heart died within him and he became lifeless like a stone.
David was impressed with Abigail's courage, her intelligence, and her beauty. Now that she is a widow David remembers her as she requested and offers marriage to Abigail who accepts. She is willing to leave her wealthy and secure life to live the uncertain life as the wife of an outlaw because she believes David is God's anointed. David now has two wives but his first wife, Saul's daughter Michal, has been given in marriage to another man.
Question: What is the political motivation for Saul to marry his daughter to another man?
Answer: Saul has deprived David of one claim to the throne by severing David's connection by marriage to the royal family.
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A Daily Defense
Day 116 Divine Freedom
CHALLENGE: “The idea that God is free makes no sense. Anyone all-knowing would see the best solution to every problem. Anyone all good would implement that solution. Therefore, God has no freedom.”
DEFENSE: This presupposes that there is a best solution to every problem, but often this is not the case.
Sometimes there are many solutions, all of which are equal. If the problem is to pick a random number between one and ten, there are ten possible solutions. If it is to be a random number, there are no criteria by which to judge one number better than another. Therefore, all choices are equal. Sometimes one choice is better than another, yet there is no best choice.
This happens when there are an infinite (unlimited) number of choices that can be ranked in order. The second choice may be better than the first, the third choice better than the second, and so on, but since the number of choices is unlimited, there is no final, best choice.
This is the situation with respect to God and the universe. The Church holds he created the universe freely, without any compulsion (CCC 317). If he chose not to create, then there would be no created goodness. He also could create an infinite number of possible universes, which we could rank by the amount of created goodness they would contain. God thus has a range of choices. At one end of the spectrum there is the decision not to create a universe, representing no created goodness, then a universe with a small amount of created goodness, a universe with a greater amount, a universe with a greater amount still, and so on. But there is no maximum amount of created goodness. “With infinite power God could always create something better” (CCC 310).
This means there is no “best of all possible worlds.” God could always make a world a little bit better. The idea of a best world that infinite creative power could make is logically contradictory, like a square circle or a four-sided triangle (see Day 2). God has an unlimited number of creative options, but no best option. He is therefore free to choose among the alternatives, including not creating at all.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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