What is the story of David and Nabal?

Response

The account of David and Nabal can be found in 1 Samuel 25. Nabal is portrayed in 1 Samuel 25:2 as a wealthy landowner who “was very rich. He owned a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.” He was a harsh individual (“surly and mean” in verse 3), married to a kind woman named Abigail.

During the period when David and his soldiers were fleeing from King Saul, they found themselves near Nabal’s livestock during shearing time. Running low on provisions, David dispatched men to Nabal to ask for food. Nabal responded by sending David’s messengers back with insults, prompting David to order his men, “Each of you put on your sword!” «And David said to his men, ‘Every man strap on his sword.’ So every man strapped on his sword, and David also strapped on his sword. About four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.», (1 Samuel 25:13). Four hundred men prepared to attack Nabal’s residence.

The narrative of David and Nabal unfolds further when one of Nabal’s servants informed Abigail of the situation. “Abigail acted promptly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five prepared sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. Then she instructed her servants, ‘Go on ahead; I will follow you'” (1 Samuel 25:18-19). Abigail provided the supplies to David’s men, and her wise actions led David and his men to praise her and return to their camp. Nabal, his household, and servants were spared because of her intervention, even though Nabal remained unaware of his wife’s deeds.

Nabal became intoxicated that evening, and Abigail chose not to disclose her actions to him. “In the morning, when Nabal had sobered up, his wife informed him.All these things, and his heart failed him, and he became like a stone. About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal, and he died” (1 Samuel 25:37-38).

When David heard of these events, he offered Abigail a marriage proposal: “David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife. His servants went to Carmel and said to Abigail, ‘David has sent us to you to take you to become his wife.’ She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, ‘I am your servant and am ready to serve you and wash the feet of my lord’s servants.’ Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five female servants, went with David’s messengers and became his wife” (1 Samuel 25:39-42).

On a negative note, the chapter concludes with the information that David’s first wife, Michal, had been taken from him and given to someone else. Also, David had a wife named Ahinoam, likely making Abigail his third wife. Abigail is later recorded as the mother of David’s second son, Daniel «Now these were the sons of David, which were born unto him in Hebron; the firstborn Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess: », (1 Chronicles 3:1), also called Chileab in 2 Samuel 3:3.

Though considered a man after God’s own heart, David’s relationships with women were his weakness. In 1 Samuel 25, it is Abigail who is highlighted as the kind servant, while David is presented as a warrior with an expanding group of wives. This stark contrast in the story of Abigail provides some insight into the life of a woman living in difficult times. Abigail’s kindness and decisive action saved the lives of many and changed her life completely.