Year of the Bible
1 Samuel 25
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Commentary on the First Book of Samuel, Chapter 25:
After explaining that the great prophet and leader Samuel has died, our narrator immediately moves us back to David’s concerns. David’s envoy approaches the home of a wealthy man named Nabal (which humorously means boor). According to the hospitality code of biblical times, Nabal should welcome David’s men. When he refuses, David calls his men to arms to avenge his honor. Abigail, Nabal’s wife, steps in to make an appeal to peace. David sees her intervention as an act of God, and he turns his vengeance over to the Lord. When Nabal dies, Abigail joins David as his wife. Her wealth and ability to bear sons further strengthens David’s position as leader and future king. The chapter closes with David gaining two more wives but losing his first wife, Princess Michal, when Saul gives her to another man.
The First Book of Samuel, Chapter 25:
Death of Samuel
Now Samuel died; and all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah.
David and Abigail
1 Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. 2 And there was a man in Maon, whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was of good understanding and beautiful, but the man was churlish and ill-behaved; he was a Calebite. 4 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, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. 6 And thus you shall salute him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7 I hear that you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing, all the time 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 come on a feast day. Please, give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ”
9 When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David; and then they waited. 10 And Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who are breaking away from their masters. 11 Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” 12 So David’s young men turned away, and came back and told him all this. 13 And David said to his men, “Every man belt on his sword!” And every man of them belted on his sword; David also belted on his sword; and about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.
14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed at them. 15 Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them; 16 they were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17 Now therefore know this and consider what you should do; for evil is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is so ill-natured that one cannot speak to him.”
18 Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two skins of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched grain, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. 19 And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 And as she rode on the donkey, and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has returned me evil for good. 22 God do so to David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”
23 When Abigail saw David, she made haste, and alighted from the donkey, and fell before David on her face, and bowed to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said, “Upon me alone, my lord, be the guilt; please let your handmaid speak in your hearing, and hear the words of your handmaid. 25 Let not my lord regard this ill-natured fellow, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; but I your handmaid did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 26 Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, seeing the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt, and from taking vengeance with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. 27 And now let this present which your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the trespass of your handmaid; for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord; and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. 29 If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God; and the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 30 And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you prince over Israel, 31 my lord shall have no cause of grief, or pangs of conscience, for having shed blood without cause or for my lord taking vengeance himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your handmaid.”
32 And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from avenging myself with my own hand! 34 For as surely as the Lord the God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had made haste and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” 35 Then David received from her hand what she had brought him; and he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house; see, I have listened to your voice, and I have granted your petition.”
36 And Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; so she told him nothing at all until the morning light. 37 And in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 38 And about ten days later the Lord struck Nabal; and he died.
39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil; the Lord has returned the evil-doing of Nabal upon his own head.” Then David sent and wooed Abigail, to make her his wife. 40 And when the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.” 41 And she rose and bowed with her face to the ground, and said, “Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42 And Abigail made haste and rose and mounted on a donkey, and her five maidens attended her; she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.
Ahino-am of Jezreel
43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and both of them became his wives. 44 Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.
*Daily Lectio Divina Question:
Abigail was a minister of peace. She made haste and provided generously for the cause of peace, but was also discreet in how she carried out her mission. How can I be a minister of peace today? How can I approach this mission urgently, generously, and discreetly?
Biblical Commentary provided by the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan. Join a Catholic Biblical School of Michigan class this September at Holy Family in Grand Blanc, or online.
Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006).
Permission to use the RSV-2CE given for Bishop's Year of the Bible by Ignatius Press. Many thanks to Ignatius for this.
If you're looking for a good Catholic edition of the Bible, look no further.
1 Samuel murió y todos los israelitas
se congregaron para llorarle,
y lo enterraron en su casa, en Ramá.
Después, David se levantó y bajó al desierto
de Maón. 2 Había en Maón un
hombre que tenía posesiones en Carmel.
Era un hombre muy importante,
dueño de tres mil ovejas y mil cabras.
Por entonces estaba esquilando las ovejas
en Carmel. 3 Su nombre era Nabal y
el de su mujer, Abigaíl. Ésta era una mujer
prudente y hermosa; el marido, en
cambio, era grosero y de malos modos.
Era calebita. 4 Cuando David se enteró
en el desierto de que Nabal estaba de esquileo,
5 le envió diez jóvenes diciéndoles:
–Subid a Carmel, acercaos a Nabal,
saludadle en mi nombre 6 y decidle
a ese hermano mío: «Que la paz esté
contigo, con tu familia y con todos los
tuyos. 7 Me he enterado de que estás de
esquileo. Tus pastores han coincidido
con nosotros en el desierto. Nunca les
hemos molestado y nunca les faltó nada
en el tiempo que estuvieron con nosotros
en Carmel. 8 Pregunta a tus criados
que te lo contarán. Así pues, que estos
servidores míos encuentren gracia a tus
ojos, ya que hemos llegado en un buen
día, y dales a tus siervos y a tu hijo David
lo que tengas a mano».
9 Llegaron los criados de David y,
después de contar a Nabal todas estas
cosas en nombre de David, se quedaron
esperando. 10 Pero Nabal respondió a los
criados de David:
–¿Quién es ese David, y quién es ese
hijo de Jesé? Hoy abundan los siervos
que huyen de sus dueños. 11 ¿Y voy a tomar
mi pan, mi agua y la carne de las reses
que he matado para mis esquiladores,
y se la voy a dar a unos hombres que
no sé de dónde son?
12 Los criados de David se volvieron
por el mismo camino y, al llegar, comunicaron
a David todas estas cosas. 13 David
entonces dijo a sus hombres:
–¡Que cada uno se ciña su espada!
Todos, incluido David, se ciñeron
la espada, mientras que otros doscientos
se quedaron con el bagaje. 14 Uno de
los criados le advirtió a Abigaíl, mujer
de Nabal, diciendo:
–David ha enviado mensajeros desde
el desierto para saludar a nuestro señor,
pero éste los ha maltratado. 15 Sin
embargo, esos hombres siempre se han
portado bien con nosotros y no nos han
molestado ni nos ha faltado nada cuando
andábamos con ellos en nuestra estancia
en el desierto. 16 Eran como un
muro para nosotros de día y de noche,
todo el tiempo que estuvimos apacentando
el rebaño con ellos. 17 Ahora, pues,
reflexiona y mira qué debes hacer, porque
está decidida la ruina de nuestro
amo y la de toda su casa. Él es un insensato
que no atiende a palabras de nadie.
18 Abigaíl se apresuró a tomar doscientos
panes y dos odres de vino, cinco
carneros cocinados, cinco seim de grano
tostado, cien racimos de uvas pasas y
doscientos panes de higos; los cargó sobre
los asnos 19 y dijo a sus criados:
–Id delante de mí, que yo os seguiré.
Pero no dijo nada a su marido Nabal.
20 Cuando ella bajaba por la ladera
del monte montada en su asno, David y
sus hombres bajaban en dirección contraria,
y se encontró con ellos. 21 David
iba diciendo para sí: «En vano he respetado
todo lo que ese hombre tenía
en el desierto y no le ha faltado nada
de sus pertenencias. Ahora me devuelve
mal por bien. 22 Que el Señor le haga
esto y aquello le añada a David, si antes
del alba dejo con vida a un solo varón
dentro de las posesiones de Nabal».
23 En cuanto Abigaíl vio a David, se apresuró
a bajar del asno y, rostro en tierra,
se postró ante David. 24 Cayendo a sus
pies le dijo:
–Caiga sobre mí esta culpa. Permite
que tu sierva hable a tu oído, y escucha
las palabras de tu sierva. 25 Que mi
señor, te ruego, no haga caso a ese insensato
de Nabal, porque como indica
su nombre, Nabal, es un necio y la necedad
le acompaña siempre. Yo, tu sierva,
no vi a los criados que tú, mi señor,
habías enviado. 26 Ahora, mi señor –¡por
el Señor y por tu vida!–, ya que el Señor
te ha impedido derramar sangre y
tomarte la venganza por tu mano, que
tus enemigos sean como Nabal y lo mismo
quienes buscan la ruina de mi señor.
27 Y este obsequio que tu sierva trae
para mi señor, que sea entregado a los
criados que vienen en pos de mi señor.
28 Perdona así el delito de tu sierva, pues
con seguridad el Señor otorgará a mi señor
una casa estable, puesto que has peleado
sólo las batallas del Señor. Ninguna
malicia podrá encontrarse en ti a lo
largo de tu vida. 29 Y si alguien se levanta
para perseguirte y buscar tu vida, estará
la vida de mi señor encerrada en
la bolsa de los vivos, junto al Señor, tu
Dios; mientras que él mismo lanzará la
vida de tus enemigos en el hueco de la
honda. 30 Cuando el Señor haya llevado
a cabo con mi señor todas las promesas
que te ha hecho y te haya constituido
caudillo sobre Israel, 31 que no haya
sufrimiento ni remordimiento en el corazón
de mi señor por haber derramado
sangre inocente o por haber tomado
venganza. Y cuando el Señor haya dado
estos bienes a mi señor, acuérdate de tu
sierva.
32 David respondió a Abigaíl:
–¡Bendito sea el Señor, Dios de Israel,
que te ha enviado hoy para encontrarte
conmigo! 33 Bendita sea tu prudencia
y bendita seas tú que me has
impedido hoy derramar sangre y tomarme
la venganza por mi mano. 34 De
otro modo, por vida del Señor, Dios
de Israel, que me ha impedido hacerte
daño, si tú no te hubieras apresurado a
salir a mi encuentro, antes del alba no le
habría quedado a Nabal ni un solo varón.
35 Tomó David de manos de Abigaíl
todo lo que le había traído y le dijo:
–Sube en paz a tu casa; ya lo ves, he
escuchado tu voz y te he atendido.
36 Cuando Abigaíl llegó adonde Nabal,
lo encontró celebrando un banquete
en su casa. Era como un banquete regio
y el corazón de Nabal estaba alegre.
Estaba tan borracho que ella no le dijo
nada, ni mucho ni poco, hasta la mañana
siguiente. 37 Por la mañana, cuando a
Nabal ya se le había pasado el vino, su
mujer le comunicó todo. Entonces se le
paralizó el corazón en su interior y se le
quedó como una piedra. 38 Al cabo de
diez días el Señor hirió a Nabal y murió.
39 Cuando David oyó que Nabal había
muerto, dijo:
–Bendito sea el Señor que ha defendido
mi casa frente a la injuria de Nabal:
el Señor ha preservado a su siervo
de hacer el mal y ha hecho recaer la malicia
de Nabal sobre su cabeza.
Luego David mandó decir a Abigaíl
que quería tomarla por esposa. 40 Los
criados de David llegaron a Carmel,
donde estaba Abigaíl, y le dijeron:
–David nos envía para comunicarte
que quiere tomarte por esposa.
41 Ella se levantó y se postró rostro en
tierra diciendo:
–Tu sierva está dispuesta a ser tu esclava
y lavar los pies de los servidores
de mi señor.
42 Abigaíl se levantó rápidamente,
montó sobre su asno y la acompañaron
cinco de sus criadas. Marchó con los
criados de David y fue su mujer. 43 David
había tomado también como esposa
a Ajinóam de Yizreel, y las dos fueron
esposas suyas. 44 Anteriormente Saúl había
dado a su hija Mical, esposa de David,
a Paltí, hijo de Lais, que era de Galim.
Pregunta de Lectio Divina del día de hoy
La Biblia de Navarra
Permiso para usar esta versión de la primera edición de la Biblia de Navarra
para el Año de la Biblia del Obispo
dado por Ediciones Universidad de Navarra, S.A. (EUNSA).