According to the
1st Book of Samuel Chapter 25The Books of Samuel are part of the Tanakh and also of the Christian Old Testament. The work was originally written in Hebrew, and the Book of Samuel originally formed a single text, as they are often considered today in Hebrew bibles.Together with what is now referred to as the Book of Kings,...
,
Nabal (נבל), was a rich Calebite who was also described as being harsh and badly behaved.
DavidDavid was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Bible. He is depicted as a righteous king, although not without fault, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician and poet .The biblical chronology sets his life c.1037–970 BCE, his reign over Judah c.1007–1000 BCE,...
(who was not yet king) and his band of men who had been
outlawAn outlaw or bandit is a person living the lifestyle of outlawry; the word literally means "outside the law".In the common law of England, a "Writ of Outlawry" declared the subject to be "Caput gerat lupinum" , and it followed not only that, since the subject was no longer human, he had no legal...
ed by King Saul were living off the Wilderness of Paran and providing voluntary protection to the shepherds in the area.
The account states that Nabal lived in the city of
MaonMaon can refer to:*Preon, theoretical component of quarks*Ma'on, Har Hebron, an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank...
, and owned much land in the Judean town of
CarmelCarmel was an ancient Israelite town in Judea.-Biblical references:There are several references to Carmel in the Bible. Carmel is mentioned as a city of Judah in 1 Samuel 15:12 and 55 and also in Joshua 15:12 and 55. It is mentioned as the place where Saul erects a monument after the expedition...
, as well as many sheep and
goatThe domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep: both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
s; the events it reports are stated as happening at the time of
sheep shearingSheep shearing, shearing or clipping is the process by which the woollen fleece of a sheep is cut off. The person who removes the sheep's wool is called a shearer. Typically each adult sheep is shorn once each year...
, which in Israelite culture was a time for great festivities, owing to the importance of the wool trade.
According to the
1st Book of Samuel Chapter 25The Books of Samuel are part of the Tanakh and also of the Christian Old Testament. The work was originally written in Hebrew, and the Book of Samuel originally formed a single text, as they are often considered today in Hebrew bibles.Together with what is now referred to as the Book of Kings,...
,
Nabal (נבל), was a rich Calebite who was also described as being harsh and badly behaved.
DavidDavid was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Bible. He is depicted as a righteous king, although not without fault, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician and poet .The biblical chronology sets his life c.1037–970 BCE, his reign over Judah c.1007–1000 BCE,...
(who was not yet king) and his band of men who had been
outlawAn outlaw or bandit is a person living the lifestyle of outlawry; the word literally means "outside the law".In the common law of England, a "Writ of Outlawry" declared the subject to be "Caput gerat lupinum" , and it followed not only that, since the subject was no longer human, he had no legal...
ed by King Saul were living off the Wilderness of Paran and providing voluntary protection to the shepherds in the area.
The account states that Nabal lived in the city of
MaonMaon can refer to:*Preon, theoretical component of quarks*Ma'on, Har Hebron, an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank...
, and owned much land in the Judean town of
CarmelCarmel was an ancient Israelite town in Judea.-Biblical references:There are several references to Carmel in the Bible. Carmel is mentioned as a city of Judah in 1 Samuel 15:12 and 55 and also in Joshua 15:12 and 55. It is mentioned as the place where Saul erects a monument after the expedition...
, as well as many sheep and
goatThe domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep: both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
s; the events it reports are stated as happening at the time of
sheep shearingSheep shearing, shearing or clipping is the process by which the woollen fleece of a sheep is cut off. The person who removes the sheep's wool is called a shearer. Typically each adult sheep is shorn once each year...
, which in Israelite culture was a time for great festivities, owing to the importance of the wool trade. During this time David sent a small group of men to Nabal with a request for what provisions were readily at hand. David told his men exactly what to say when they approached Nabal. The words David used were a soft reminder that Nabal's profit would not have been so great if his shepherds had not been protected. In addition, David extends a great deal of honor to Nabal, recognizing him as a nobleman of high stature. Nabal, who knew who David was, responded by questioning David's lineage and insulting his men. David took the insults personally and decided to do something about it.
It also reports that when Nabal rejected David's request, one of the
shepherdA shepherd is a person who tends to, feeds or guards sheep, especially in flocks. The word may also refer to one who provides religious guidance, as a pastor.- Origins :...
s, recognized that Nabal could not be approached because of his abrasive nature and therefore informed Nabal's wife (named
AbigailAbigail is a female name occurring in Biblical narratives in the Books of Samuel and in the Books of Chronicles. Abigal occurs once and is thought by the vast majority of scholars to be an alternate spelling of Abigail....
) of the situation along with a very positive account of the protection that David and his men had provided. Abigail recognized what Nabal had done and chose to intervene in order to avert David's wrath. In the account, while David armed his men, and set off with 400 of them for Nabal's home, leaving 200 men behind to look after the supplies, Abigail set off with her servants, and a very large quantity of provisions, without telling Nabal.
The narrative continues by stating that Abigail manages to meet David and his men before David could reach Nabal and she pleads for David to accept the gifts she has brought with her, and begs that there be no bloodshed, asking to take Nabal's blame herself, and complimenting David by stating that Yahweh would make his dynasty long lasting, and David sinless and divinely protected; as a result of her actions, David recognized that he is about to sin and calls off his threat and sends Abigail home in peace. In the
codaCoda can denote any concluding event, summation, or section.Coda may also refer to:-Acronyms:*Calgary Olympic Development Association, former name of the Canadian Winter Sport Institute, a non profit organization...
of the account, Abigail doesn't tell Nabal about what she has done until the following day, as, when she returns, Nabal is drunk and high spirited due to a kingly banquet, but when she does tell Nabal he has a
heart attackMyocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, is the interruption of blood supply to part of the heart, causing some heart cells to die...
, and dies ten days later; the coda ends with David hearing about the death, recognizing that it was a punishment from
YahwehYahweh is the English rendering of יַהְוֶה , a Hebrew vocalization of the Tetragrammaton that was proposed by the Hebrew scholar Wilhelm Gesenius in the 19th century. Although this vocalized Hebrew spelling יַהְוֶה is found in no extant Hebrew Manuscript, several English Bibles use the spelling...
, and asking for, and receiving, the hand of Abigail in marriage.
Abigail's character
Abigail is described in the account as being beautiful and intelligent, and the Haggadah treats Abigail as being one of the four most beautiful people in Jewish history (the other three being
SarahSarah or Sara is a prophet and the wife of Abraham as described in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. Her name was originally Sarai...
,
RahabRahab, was, according to the book of Joshua, a woman who lived in the city of Jericho in the Promised Land and originally worked as a prostitute.-Introduction:...
, and
EstherEsther , born Hadassah, was a Jewish prophet and queen of the Persian Empire in the Hebrew Bible, the queen of Ahasuerus , and heroine of the Biblical Book of Esther which is named after her...
); in the Haggadah it is claimed that David nearly fell in love with her while she was still the wife of Nabal, but Abigail's moral strength and dignity prevented any liaisons, although she is also criticised for stating
remember your handmaid, as in the Hagaddah's view this was unbecoming of a married woman.
Textual features and origin
The root meaning of the name
Nabal is
wilt, and came to mean
failure, and so gained the figurative meaning of being
shamelessly improprietous; in the Nabal narrative, he is described as living up to his name, in addition to being surly and mean. Traditionally
Nabal is
euphemisticallyA euphemism is a substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression in place of one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener, or in the case of Doublespeak, to make it less troublesome for the speaker...
translated as
fool, for which a Hebrew
synonymSynonyms are different words with identical or very similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...
is
kesil (literally meaning
fool); scholars regard it as possible that some features of the Nabal narrative derive from primitive mythology, and it is notable that
kesil particularly referred to the
constellation of OrionOrion, often referred to as "The Hunter," is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the largest, most conspicuous, and most recognizable in the night sky...
, and was translated as
Orion by the
SeptuagintThe Septuagint , or simply "LXX", referred to in critical works by the abbreviation ...
.
Nabal (נבל) may be a deliberate
satiricalSatire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods,...
corruption of the name
Nadab (נדב); if this is an
eponymAn eponym is the name of a person, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named. One who is referred to as eponymous is someone who gives his or her name to something, e.g...
then it probably referred originally to
JehonadabJehonadab was the son of Rechab. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible at 2 Kings 10:15-31. Though not a Jew himself, he was a supporter of Jehu, son of Nimshi, in the elimination of the house of Ahab and in suppressing worship of Baal throughout Samaria...
(which is just a theophory of
nadab), and thus represent the
RechabiteRechabites - the descendants of Rechab through Jonadab or Jehonadab. They belonged to the Kenites, who accompanied the children of Israel into the holy land, and dwelt among them. Moses married a Kenite wife, and Jael was the wife of "Heber the Kenite". Saul also showed kindness to the Kenites...
s. In the genealogical lists of the
Books of ChroniclesThe Books of Chronicles are part of the Hebrew Bible . In the masoretic text, it appears as the first or last book of the Ketuvim...
, there is a man named
Nadab, whose
brother is married to a person named
Abihail; it is possible that the name
Abigail (אבגיִל) is a corruption of
Abihail (אֲביִהיִל), so that it more closely describes the character of the wife, since
Abigail roughly means
joy of my father, suggesting positive characteristics, while
Abihail means only
my father is strength. Rather than
the name of his wife was Abigail (שׁם אִשׁתּוֹ אבגיִל) the account in the Books of Samuel may have originally read
the name of the chief of Abihail (שׁם שר אביהיִל), and told of a clan named
Abihail, which left a political alliance with the Rechabites (represented by Nabal/Nadab) to join the
Kingdom of JudahThe Kingdom of Judah existed at two periods in Jewish history. According to the Hebrew Bible, a kingdom emerged in Judah after the death of Saul, when the tribe of Judah elevated David, who came from the Tribe of Judah, to rule over it. After seven years David became king of a reunited Kingdom of...
(represented by David's band of men).
Textual scholars ascribe this narrative to the
republican source of the Books of Samuel (named this due to its generally negative presentation of David and Saul); the rival source, known as the
monarchial source, does not at first glace appear to contain a similar narrative. The same narrative position is occupied in the
monarchial source by the story of a raid by Amalekites on the town of
ZiklagZiklag is the Biblical name of a town that was located in the Negev region in the south of what was the Kingdom of Judah. Its exact location has not been identified with any certainty, though by the end of the 19th century, both Haluza and Khirbet Zuheiliqah had...
, and the subsequent defeat of the Amalekites by David. There are some similarities between the narratives: the fact that Ziklag and Maon are located in the region south of Hebron; David leading an army in revenge (for the Amalekite's destruction of Ziklag and capture of its population), with 400 of the army going ahead and 200 staying behind; David gaining Abigail as a wife (though in the Ziklag narrative he re-gains her), as well as several provisions; and there being a jovial feast in the enemy camp (ie Nabal's property). However, there are also several differences: such as the victory and provisions being obtained by a heroic victory by David rather than Abigail's peaceful actions; the 200 that stayed behind doing so due to exhaustion rather than to protect the baggage; the main secondary character being the former slave of the enemy, rather than the wife of the enemy (Nabal); David's forces rejoining their wives rather than being joined by damsels; and the Amalekites rather than Nabal being the enemy.