18 And Abigail hasteth, and taketh two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep, prepared, and five measures of roasted corn, and a hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred bunches of figs, and setteth 'them' on the asses. 19 And she saith to her young men, 'Pass over before me; lo, after you I am coming;' and to her husband Nabal she hath not declared 'it'; 20 and it hath come to pass, she is riding on the ass and is coming down in the secret part of the hill-country, and lo, David and his men are coming down to meet her, and she meeteth them. 21 And David said, 'Only, in vain I have kept all that this 'one' hath in the wilderness, and nothing hath been looked after of all that he hath, and he turneth back to me evil for good; 22 thus doth God do to the enemies of David, and thus He doth add, if I leave of all that he hath till the light of the morning—of those sitting on the wall.' 23 And Abigail seeth David, and hasteth and cometh down from off the ass, and falleth before David on her face, and boweth herself to the earth, 24 and falleth at his feet and saith, 'On me, my lord, the iniquity; and let, I pray thee, thy handmaid speak in thine ear, and hear the words of thy handmaid. 25 'Let not, I pray thee, my lord set his heart to this man of worthlessness, on Nabal, for as his name 'is' so 'is' he; Nabal 'is' his name, and folly 'is' with him; and I, thine handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord whom thou didst send; 26 and now, my lord, Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, in that Jehovah hath withheld thee from coming in with blood, and to save thy hand to thee—now let thine enemies be as Nabal, even those seeking evil unto my lord. 27 'And, now, this blessing which thy maid-servant hath brought to my lord—it hath been given to the young men who are going up and down at the feet of my lord. 28 'Bear, I pray thee, with the transgression of thy handmaid, for Jehovah doth certainly make to my lord a stedfast house; for the battles of Jehovah hath my lord fought, and evil is not found in thee 'all' thy days. 29 And man riseth to pursue thee and to seek thy soul, and the soul of my lord hath been bound in the bundle of life with Jehovah thy God; as to the soul of thine enemies, He doth sling them out in the midst of the hollow of the sling. 30 'And it hath been, when Jehovah doth to my lord according to all the good which He hath spoken concerning thee, and appointed thee for leader over Israel, 31 that this is not to thee for a stumbling-block, and for an offence of heart to my lord—either to shed blood for nought, or my lord's restraining himself; and Jehovah hath done good to my lord, and thou hast remembered thy handmaid.'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Samuel 25:18-31
Commentary on 1 Samuel 25:18-31
(Read 1 Samuel 25:18-31)
By a present Abigail atoned for Nabal's denial of David's request. Her behaviour was very submissive. Yielding pacifies great offences. She puts herself in the place of a penitent, and of a petitioner. She could not excuse her husband's conduct. She depends not upon her own reasonings, but on God's grace, to soften David, and expects that grace would work powerfully. She says that it was below him to take vengeance on so weak and despicable an enemy as Nabal, who, as he would do him no kindness, so he could do him no hurt. She foretells the glorious end of David's present troubles. God will preserve thy life; therefore it becomes not thee unjustly and unnecessarily to take away the lives of any, especially of the people of thy God and Saviour. Abigail keeps this argument for the last, as very powerful with so good a man; that the less he indulged his passion, the more he consulted his peace and the repose of his own conscience. Many have done that in a heat, which they have a thousand times wished undone again. The sweetness of revenge is soon turned into bitterness. When tempted to sin, we should consider how it will appear when we think upon it afterwards.