2 Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel ; and the man was very rich , and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats . And it came about while he was shearing his sheep in Carmel 3 (now the man's name was Nabal , and his wife's name was Abigail . And the woman was intelligent e and beautiful in appearance , but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings , and he was a Calebite ), 4 that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep . 5 So David sent ten young men ; and David said to the young men , "Go up to Carmel , visit e Nabal and greet e him in my name ; 6 and thus you shall say , 'Have a long life , peace be to you, and peace be to your house , and peace be to all that you have. 7 'Now I have heard that you have shearers ; now your shepherds have been with us and we have not insulted them, nor have they missed anything all the days they were in Carmel . 8 'Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes , for we have come on a festive day . Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David .' " 9 When David's young men came , they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in David's name ; then they waited . 10 But Nabal answered David's servants and said , " Who is David ? And who is the son of Jesse ? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master . 11 "Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers , and give it to men whose origin e e I do not know ?"
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.