1 Samuel 25:26 Komentář

We have here some intermission of David's troubles by Saul. Providence favoured him with a breathing time, and yet this chapter gives us instances of the troubles of David. If one vexation seems to be over, we must not be secure; a storm may arise from some other point, as here to David. I. Tidings of the death of Samuel could not but trouble him (Sa1 25:1). But, II. The abuse he received from Nabal is more largely recorded in this chapter. 1. The character of Nabal (Sa1 25:2, Sa1 25:3). 2. The humble request sent to him (Sa1 25:4-9). 3. His churlish answer (Sa1 25:10-12). 4. David's angry resentment of it (Sa1 25:13, Sa1 25:21, Sa1 25:22). 5. Abigail's prudent care to prevent the mischief it was likely to bring upon her family (Sa1 25:14-20). 6. Her address to David to pacify him (Sa1 25:23-31). 7. David's favourable reception of her (Sa1 25:32-35). 8. The death of Nabal (Sa1 25:36-38). 9. Abigail's marriage to David (Sa1 25:39-44).

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 25 This chapter gives an account of the death of Samuel, and of the ill treatment David met with from Nabal; it begins with the death of Samuel, which was greatly lamented in Israel, Sa1 25:1; it draws the character of Nabal, and his wife, Sa1 25:2; records a message of David to him, by his young men, desiring he would send him some of his provisions made for his sheep shearers, Sa1 25:4; and Nabal's ill-natured answer to him reported by the young men, which provoked David to arm against him, Sa1 25:10; and this being told Abigail, the wife of Nabal, and a good character given of David and his men, and of the advantage Nabal's shepherds had received from them, and the danger his family was in through his ingratitude, Sa1 25:14; she prepared a present to pacify David, went with it herself, and addressed him in a very handsome, affectionate, and prudent manner, Sa1 25:18; and met with a kind reception, Sa1 25:32; and the chapter is closed with an account of the death of Nabal, and of the marriage of Abigail to David, Sa1 25:32.

Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth,.... Which is an oath, and respects either what goes before, that she never saw the young men that were sent to Nabal, or to what follows, the providence of God in preventing David from shedding blood, which she was sure of by an impulse on her own mind, and by observing a change in David's countenance: seeing the Lord hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand; she does not impute this to her prudence, and the provision she made to appease David, and prevent him from shedding the blood he intended, and taking the vengeance he had resolved on; but to the Lord, and the interposition of his providence, which she knew would have its weight on the mind of so good a man as David was; who upon reflection would be thankful that he had been prevented from shedding innocent blood, as the Targum calls it: now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal; meaning Saul and those with him, wishing they might be as inconsiderable as Nabal; as unable, as weak, and impotent as he to do him any hurt, and as short lived, and cut off by the hand God, as he would be; for, according to Jarchi, she prophesied under the direction of the Holy Spirit. It may be observed that in Sa1 25:24, she frequently gives David the title of "my lord", in reverence of him, and to atone for the rudeness and insolence of her husband, in speaking of him as a runaway servant, Sa1 25:10.

The death of Samuel, Sa1 25:1. The history of Nabal, and his churlishness towards David and his men, Sa1 25:2-12. David, determining to punish him, is appeased by Abigail, Nabal's wife, vv. 13-35. Abigail returns, and tells Nabal of the danger that he has escaped: who on hearing it is thunderstruck, and dies in ten days, Sa1 25:36-38 David, hearing of this, sends and takes Abigail to wife, Sa1 25:39-42. He marries also Ahinoam of Jezreel, Saul having given Michal, David's wife, to Phalti, the son of Laish, Sa1 25:43, Sa1 25:44.

SAMUEL DIES. (Sa1 25:1-9) Samuel died--After a long life of piety and public usefulness, he left behind him a reputation which ranks him among the greatest of Scripture worthies. buried him in his house at Ramah--that is, his own mausoleum. The Hebrews took as great care to provide sepulchers anciently as people do in the East still, where every respectable family has its own house of the dead. Often this is in a little detached garden, containing a small stone building (where there is no rock), resembling a house, which is called the sepulcher of the family--it has neither door nor window. David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran--This removal had probably no connection with the prophet's death; but was probably occasioned by the necessity of seeking provision for his numerous followers. the wilderness of Paran--stretching from Sinai to the borders of Palestine in the southern territories of Judea. Like other wildernesses, it presented large tracts of natural pasture, to which the people sent their cattle at the grazing season, but where they were liable to constant and heavy depredations by prowling Arabs. David and his men earned their subsistence by making reprisals on the cattle of these freebooting Ishmaelites; and, frequently for their useful services, they obtained voluntary tokens of acknowledgment from the peaceful inhabitants.

let thine enemies . . . be as Nabal--be as foolish and contemptible as he.

The death of Samuel is inserted here, because it occurred at that time. The fact that all Israel assembled together to his burial, and lamented him, i.e., mourned for him, was a sign that his labours as a prophet were recognised by the whole nation as a blessing for Israel. Since the days of Moses and Joshua, no man had arisen to whom the covenant nation owed so much as to Samuel, who has been justly called the reformer and restorer of the theocracy. They buried him "in his house at Ramah." The expression "his house" does not mean his burial-place or family tomb, nor his native place, but the house in which he lived, with the court belonging to it, where Samuel was placed in a tomb erected especially for him. After the death of Samuel, David went down into the desert of Paran, i.e., into the northern portion of the desert of Arabia, which stretches up to the mountains of Judah (see at Num 10:12); most likely for no other reason than because he could no longer find sufficient means of subsistence for himself and his six hundred men in the desert of Judah.