And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran. Ver. 1. _And Samuel died._] After a long race run without cessation or cespitation: he was one of those few that lived a... [ Continue Reading ]
And [there was] a man in Maon, whose possessions [were] in Carmel; and the man [was] very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Ver. 2. _And there was a man._] Or rather, A golden brute, χρυσουν προβατον, _a_ - as Caligula called that... [ Continue Reading ]
Now 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 in his doings; and he [was] of the house of Caleb. Ver. 3. _Now the name of the man was Nabal._] _Nebulo; _ a man i... [ Continue Reading ]
And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep. Ver. 4. _That Nabal did shear his sheep._] At which time the Jews used to make great feasts, in remembrance of their forefathers that were shepherds, saith Lyra.... [ Continue Reading ]
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: Ver. 5. _Go to Nabal, and greet him in my name._] Here a man might have seen - as Ecclesiastes 10:7 - "servants on horses, and princes walking on foot": poor David s... [ Continue Reading ]
_And thus shall ye say to him that liveth [in prosperity], Peace [be] both to thee, and peace [be] to thine house, and peace [be] unto all that thou hast._ Ver. 6. _And thus shall ye say to him that liveth._] Rich men only seem to live, - the Irish ask such what they meant to die; - poor people are... [ Continue Reading ]
And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. Ver. 7. _And now I have heard that thou hast shearers._] And makest a feast: so that it will be easy for thee to spare... [ Continue Reading ]
Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David. Ver. 8. _For we come in a good day._] A festival; wherein thou art bound by the l... [ Continue Reading ]
And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. Ver. 9. _And ceased._] Heb., And rested; _quiete se continuerunt,_ _a_ they patiently heard Nabal inveighing against themselves and David, and replied not; this was excellent. _ "Inc... [ Continue Reading ]
And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who [is] David? and who [is] the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master. Ver. 10. _Who is David?_] _q.d., _ I know him not: and yet all Israel knew and honoured David as their deliverer. But this unwor... [ Continue Reading ]
Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give [it] unto men, whom I know not whence they [be]? Ver. 11. _Shall I then take my bread._] All Nahal's logic was little enough to conclude for himself and his sheep shearers: as those envious Athenians... [ Continue Reading ]
So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings. Ver. 12. So David's young men turned their way.] Being neither importunate nor insolent, as some in their condition would have been; but they liked not to engage in those ignoble quarrels - _ubi et vince... [ Continue Reading ]
And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff. Ver. 13. _Gird ye on every man his sword._] So subject are God's best sa... [ Continue Reading ]
But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them. Ver. 14. _And he railed on them._] Heb., He flew upon them; as a ravenous bird doth upon the prey. Or, He drove them away, _sc., _ by his har... [ Continue Reading ]
But the men [were] very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields: Ver. 15. _And we were not hurt._] So strict was David's military discipline; so was afterwards Tamerlane's; _a_ who punished with death that... [ Continue Reading ]
They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Ver. 16. _They were a wall unto us._] A guard against unreasonable men and wild beasts; and therefore we owe them maintenance.... [ Continue Reading ]
Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he [is such] a son of Belial, that [a man] cannot speak to him. Ver. 17. _For evil is determined._] As may well be gathered from the strength and animosity of David and h... [ Continue Reading ]
Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched [corn], and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid [them] on asses. Ver. 18. _Then Abigail made haste._] As if she had had wings... [ Continue Reading ]
And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal. Ver. 19. _Behold, I come after you._] For she knew that none of them all could make her apology so well as herself. _ But she told not her husband Nabal._] Lest that humorist should have... [ Continue Reading ]
And it was [so, as] she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them. Ver. 20. _That she came down by the covert of the hill._] That is, saith Martyr, by a blind and secret way; not the common road, lest she sh... [ Continue Reading ]
Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this [fellow] hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that [pertained] unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good. Ver. 21. _Now David had said,_] viz., Either before he set forth, or else whilst he was upon the way: and... [ Continue Reading ]
So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that [pertain] to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. Ver. 22. _So and more also do God unto the enemies of David,_] _i.e., _ To David's self, say some, whom yet he was loath to curse, by an _euphemismus:_... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,_ Ver. 23. _And fell before David on her face._] By which most humble posture she disarmed David's indignation, and redeemed her own sorrows. Caesar said that he did... [ Continue Reading ]
And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, [upon] me [let this] iniquity [be]: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. Ver. 24. _Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be,_] _i.e., _ Wreak thy wrath on me, if thou canst find in... [ Continue Reading ]
Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, [even] Nabal: for as his name [is], so [is] he; Nabal [is] his name, and folly [is] with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. Ver. 25. _For as his name is, so is he._] A very sot, and stark naught.... [ Continue Reading ]
Now therefore, my lord, [as] the LORD liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to [shed] blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. Ver. 26. _As the Lord liveth, and as thy s... [ Continue Reading ]
And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord. Ver. 27. _And now this blessing,_] _i.e., _ This present, the fruit of God's blessing. _ Let it even be given unto the young men._] For of thine acceptance or personal... [ Continue Reading ]
I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee [all] thy days. Ver. 28. _Because my lord fighteth the battles of the Lord._] _Non autem privatas ultion... [ Continue Reading ]
Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, [as out] of the middle of a sling. Ver. 29. _Shall be bound in the bundle of life._] Thy person shall... [ Continue Reading ]
And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel; Ver. 30. _And it shall come to pass._] She had filled her mouth with arguments all along her discourse; and this, as of... [ Continue Reading ]
That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid. Ver. 31. _That this shall be no grief unto thee._] No terro... [ Continue Reading ]
And David said to Abigail, Blessed [be] the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: Ver. 32. _And David said to Abigail._] The wisdom from above is persuadable. Jam 3:17 It maketh a man _mancipium rationis,_ a slave to right reason. David considereth not _quis_ who but _quid; _ wha... [ Continue Reading ]
And blessed [be] thy advice, and blessed [be] thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to [shed] blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. Ver. 33. _And blessed be thou._] Whom God hath made instrumental to my great good; and therefore I may not defraud thee of thy due commendation.... [ Continue Reading ]
For in very deed, [as] the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. Ver. 34. _Which hath kept me back from hurting thee._] The... [ Continue Reading ]
So David received of her hand [that] which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person. Ver. 35. _See, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person._] The person must be accepted before the su... [ Continue Reading ]
And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart [was] merry within him, for he [was] very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. Ver. 36. _He held a feast in his house, like the feast of a kin... [ Continue Reading ]
But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became [as] a stone. Ver. 37. _When the wine was gone out of Nabal._] That is, The perturbation of his brain, the alienation of his mind, - when sl... [ Continue Reading ]
_And it came to pass about ten days [after], that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died._ Ver. 38. _About ten days after._] All which time he lay like a block in his bed, without repentance or confidence in God; but condemned of his own conscience, he went to his place without noise. Let this be a war... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed [be] the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take h... [ Continue Reading ]
And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife. Ver. 40. _David sent us unto thee._] He sent rather than went, lest her love should seem to be forced; and that if he had a repulse, it might not be so g... [ Continue Reading ]
And she arose, and bowed herself on [her] face to the earth, and said, Behold, [let] thine handmaid [be] a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. Ver. 41. _Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant._] A most lowly and lovely compliment: wherein also she expresseth her faith, in thinking... [ Continue Reading ]
And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife. Ver. 42. _That went after her._] Heb., At her feet, _i.e., _ _pedissequae._... [ Continue Reading ]
_David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both of them his wives._ Ver. 43. _And they were also both of them his wives._] Polygamy was a sin of ignorance in the ancients, who either knew not, or understood not that prohibition in Leviticus 18:18. _See Trapp on "_ Lev 18:18 _"_ See the... [ Continue Reading ]
But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which [was] of Gallim. Ver. 44. _But Saul had given Michel his daughter._] This he had done as out of pure spite to David, so out of policy, say some, that he might not have by his wife any pretence or title to the cr... [ Continue Reading ]