2 And there was a man at Maon, whose business was at Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep at Carmel. 3 And the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance; but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was a Calebite. 4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5 Then David sent out ten young men; and David said to the young men, Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. 6 And thus shall ye say: Long life [to thee]! and peace be to thee, and peace be to thy house, and peace be to all that thou hast! 7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers; now thy shepherds who were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there aught missed by them, all the while they were in Carmel. 8 Ask thy young men, and they will tell thee. Therefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes; for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, what thy hand may find to thy servants, and to thy son David. 9 And David's young men came, and spoke to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. 10 And Nabal answered David's servants and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there are many servants now-a-days that break away every man from his master. 11 And shall I take my bread, and my water, and my flesh which I have killed for my shearers, and give [it] to men whom I know not whence they are?

Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Samuel 25:2-11

Commentary on 1 Samuel 25:2-11

(Read 1 Samuel 25:2-11)

We should not have heard of Nabal, if nothing had passed between him and David. Observe his name, Nabal, "A fool;" so it signifies. Riches make men look great in the eye of the world; but to one that takes right views, Nabal looked very mean. He had no honour or honesty; he was churlish, cross, and ill-humoured; evil in his doings, hard and oppressive; a man that cared not what fraud and violence he used in getting and saving. What little reason have we to value the wealth of this world, when so great a churl as Nabal abounds, and so good a man as David suffers want!, David pleaded the kindness Nabal's shepherds had received. Considering that David's men were in distress and debt, and discontented, and the scarcity of provisions, it was by good management that they were kept from plundering. Nabal went into a passion, as covetous men are apt to do, when asked for any thing, thinking thus to cover one sin with another; and, by abusing the poor, to excuse themselves from relieving them. But God will not thus be mocked. Let this help us to bear reproaches and misrepresentations with patience and cheerfulness, and make us easy under them; it has often been the lot of the excellent ones of the earth. Nabal insists much on the property he had in the provisions of his table. May he not do what he will with his own? We mistake, if we think we are absolute lords of what we have, and may do what we please with it. No; we are but stewards, and must use it as we are directed, remembering it is not our own, but His who intrusted us with it.