And she said to her servants, go on before me,.... With the present, the sight of which she wisely considered would in a great measure pacify David, and prepare him to hear patiently what she had to say to him: behold, I come after you; signifying it would not be long before she came up to them, and overtook them: but she told not her husband...
And it was [so, as] she rode on the ass,.... After her servants: that she came down, by the covert of the hill; by the side of it, which was covered with bushes, and she rode among them, in a way that led through them, and so was not seen by David and his men; or by the shadow of the hill, toward the bottom of it, where by reason of that, and the...
Now David had said,.... When the messengers returned and told him how they had been used by Nabal; or he "said" (c), or was saying within himself, or to his men, what follows, just as Abigail met him: surely in vain have I kept all that this [fellow] hath in the wilderness; which shows that lie was in a violent passion, and had Nabal in the utmost...
So and more also do God unto the enemies of David,.... Give them as much health and prosperity, as much wealth and riches, as Nabal has, and much more: if I leave of all that [pertain] to him, by the morning light, any that pisseth against the wall; which is generally understood of a dog, that he, would not leave him so much as a dog: but it is...
And when Abigail saw David,.... Whom she either knew personally, or rather supposed who he was by the number of men that followed him: she hasted, and alighted off the ass; on which she rode: and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground; in respect to, and reverence of, so great a person as David was.
And fell at his feet,.... As an humble supplicant, having a favour to ask of him; it is very probable David was on foot: and said, upon me, my lord, [upon] me [let] this iniquity [be]; which her husband had been guilty of; she desires it might be transferred from him to her, and be reckoned as if done by her; she would have it imputed to herself,...
Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, [even] Nabal,.... He is a worthless man, it must be owned, a weak foolish man, rather to be despised than regarded by him; what either he says or does is unworthy of the notice of any, and much less of so great a person as David was: for as his name [is], so [is] he; his natural disposition,...
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...
And now this blessing, which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord,.... The present, consisting of the things mentioned in 1 Samuel 25:18; which came as a blessing from God, and with good will from her: let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord; the servants of David: in the original it is, "that walk at the feet of my lord":...
I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid,.... The trespasses, as the Targum, either the sin of her husband, she had taken upon herself, or her boldness in troubling him with her petitions and solicitations, and even with the present she had brought: for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house; or a firm kingdom, as the Targum;...
Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul,.... His life, to take it away, meaning Saul, whom she chose not to name, because he was king: but the soul of my lord shall be bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God; should be dear unto the Lord, precious in his esteem, and be carefully preserved by him, among other his chosen...
And it shall come to pass, when the Lord shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee,.... Performed his promise, especially with respect to his kingdom, as follows: and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel; that is, actually raised him to be, and settled him as king upon the throne of Israel; for...
This shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord,.... It would give him no trouble, nor distress of mind, or sit uneasy on his conscience: either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself; which she suggests it might do, if he had shed the blood of Nabal's family, his children and servants, who...
And David said to Abigail,.... Having heard her out, and being overcome with her rhetoric and powerful arguments: blessed [be] the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me; who put it into her heart to come out and meet him, and endeavour to avert him from his bad design, which his heart was set upon; he saw plainly the hand of God...
And blessed [be] thy advice,.... Thanks be to God, and to thee for it, being wise, good, and seasonable; or "thy taste" (g), thy good sense, knowledge, as the Targum, discretion, prudence, and understanding: and blessed [be] thou which hast kept me this day from coming to [shed] blood; he came out with a full resolution to shed the blood of Nabal,...
For in very deed, [as] the Lord God of Israel liveth,.... An oath for the confirmation of what he was about to say: which hath kept me back from hurting thee: from doing any ill to her family, as he intended, though not to her person, his resolution being only to slay the males; but that would have been an hurt, an evil, an affliction to Abigail,...
So David received of her hand [that] which she had brought him,.... Her present, 1 Samuel 25:18; and which he kindly took for his own use, as well as for his men; for it was a present for a prince: and said to her, go up in peace to thine house; in peace of mind, having her request granted, and nothing to fear from David and his men, and so might...
And Abigail came to Nabal,.... Having sped with David, and taken her leave of him, she returned home to her husband Nabal: and, behold, he held a feast in his house like the feast of a king; both for the number of dishes on his table and of guests at it though only on the account of sheep shearing; but very probably there were others that were...
But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal,.... When he had slept, and was become sober, and so capable of attending to and understanding what might be related to him: and his wife had told him these things; recorded in this chapter, before observed: that his heart died within him, and he became [as] a stone; he...
And it came to pass, about ten days [after],.... After he had lain in this stupid and senseless manner for ten days: that the Lord smote Nabal, that he died; with some disease or increased the grief of his heart, and the fears of his mind that he died therewith.