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NABAL

(Heb. nāḇāl)

A wealthy Calebite shepherd from Maon (1 Sam. 25). Although it is unlikely that his given name was Nabal (“fool”), his actions in the story portray him to be such, while his contrastingly cunning and sharp-witted wife Abigail cleverly works her way into the future king’s harem. This story also depicts David’s early relationship with the power structure near Hebron, where he would subsequently be crowned king first of Judah and then of all Israel. David, an outlaw from Saul’s court who had been residing with his men near Nabal’s herds, seeks gifts from Nabal during the festive shearing season, reminding Nabal that David’s men have been with Nabal’s herds and shepherds, but have done them no harm. There certainly is a bit of a threat interwoven with David’s request, as becomes obvious when Nabal, in his foolishness, refuses David’s request and insults him (1 Sam. 25:10-11), calling him merely one of many servants who were breaking away from their masters. Upon hearing this response, David prepares his warriors to attack Nabal. The quick-witted Abigail meets David on the road with gifts, diverting the disaster which would have fallen upon Nabal (as emphasized by David’s words in 1 Sam. 25:34, where he asserts that without Abigail’s intervention not a male would have been left to Nabal by morning). When Nabal sobers up from his wine in the morning and learns how close he came to disaster, “his heart dies within him” and he becomes “like a stone” (1 Sam. 25:37). When Nabal dies 10 days later, David takes Abigail as his wife. She eventually bears him Chileab, a son who does not figure in the succession.

Abigail is the heroine of this story, successfully mediating between her foolish husband and David, the future king who has been offended by Nabal’s rebuff. Furthermore, it is on her lips that we encounter the words about David becoming the prince of Israel and not having bloodguilt on his hands (1 Sam. 25:28-31). Nabal is the fool who cannot see what lies in David’s (or his own) future, while Abigail sees all and shrewdly orchestrates events to the advantage of the future king of Israel. Thus, the foolish Nabal is a foil to Abigail, and the writer uses Nabal’s story to show the folly of those who see David only as an outlaw cast out from Saul’s court, and therefore not worthy of support (1 Sam. 25:10-11).

Bibliography. J. D. Levinson, “1 Samuel 25 as Literature and as History,” CBQ 40 (1978): 11-28.

Alan J. Hauser

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

NABAL

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)