Synopsis of the Chapter
Samuel dies. David asks provisions from Nabal, who is shearing sheep; Nabal hurls abuse and insults at him. Therefore David, angry, swears to kill him and all his household. Abigail, Nabal's wife, hears of this, and with her eloquence and generosity pacifies David. After ten days God strikes Nabal dead, verse 38. David gives thanks to God and takes two wives, Abigail and Ahinoam, in place of Michal whom Saul had taken from him and given to Phalti.
Verse 1: Samuel Dies ¶
1. NOW SAMUEL DIED. -- In what year of Saul's reign he died is not entirely clear. For Samuel and Saul together governed Israel for 40 years. Some distribute these years so that 20 are given to Samuel and 20 to Saul; others from chapter 13, verse 1, give only two years to Saul, others ten, others eighteen, the rest to Samuel. Others, more probably with Salian, give 22 years to Samuel and the remaining eighteen to Saul.
Again, how many years Samuel survived after Saul was made king is not certain. Salian probably opines that he survived sixteen years, and died two years before Saul at the age of 77; this view is supported by Clement of Alexandria, Rufinus, Bede, Abulensis, and Josephus, whom he cites. For Saul died in the 18th year of his reign.
AND ALL ISRAEL GATHERED AND MOURNED HIM AND BURIED HIM IN HIS HOUSE AT RAMAH. -- See here the love and devotion of the entire people toward Samuel as their Judge, Prophet, and author of all good. Moreover, the bones of Samuel, under the Emperor Arcadius, in the year of the Lord 406, were transferred from Judea to Constantinople with great pomp and devotion on the part of both the Emperor and the people.
Hence St. Jerome, writing against Vigilantius (whom our heretics follow), teaches that his and other Saints' relics are to be venerated by the faithful. Hear St. Jerome: "Is the Emperor Arcadius now to be called sacrilegious, who transferred the bones of Blessed Samuel long afterward from Judea to Thrace? Are all the Bishops to be judged not only sacrilegious but also foolish, who carried a most worthless thing and dissolved ashes in silk and a golden vessel? Were all the peoples of all the Churches foolish, who came to meet the holy relics and rejoiced with such gladness, as if they beheld and revered the living Prophet present before them, so that swarms of peoples from Palestine to Chalcedon were joined together, and resounded with one voice in the praise of Christ?"
AND HIS POSSESSIONS WERE IN CARMEL. -- There were two mountains in Israel called Carmel. One, famous, was in the tribe of Issachar near the sea, 120 stadia from Ptolemais, abounding in vines, olives, and other fragrant trees. The other mountain, and on the mountain a city, was in the tribe of Judah, fertile in pastures, fruits, and herbs, and productive of the finest wine. In this one likewise Nabal lived and had his possessions.
Verse 6: Peace Be to All ¶
6. PEACE BE TO ALL THAT YOU HAVE. -- In that age this was the customary greeting, by which, in saying "Peace to you and yours," they wished every good upon the one greeted. For peace brings with it all prosperity, fertility, abundance of goods, and every good; just as war brings all the opposite.
Verse 8: We Have Come on a Good Day ¶
8. WE HAVE COME ON A GOOD DAY -- as if to say: We have come on a joyful day, on which you are shearing sheep and exercising generosity toward the shearers by giving them a splendid feast. We therefore pray that you make us, your needy and hungry neighbors, friends, and defenders, partakers of your joy and feast.
Verse 10: Nabal's Insult ¶
10. TODAY SERVANTS WHO FLEE FROM THEIR MASTERS HAVE INCREASED -- as if to say: Today David, who is a servant of Saul, has grown bold enough to dare to oppose his king, lead an army against him, and aspire to his kingdom. This was a savage calumny and insult that Nabal hurled at David.
Verse 14: To Bless ¶
14. TO BLESS -- that is, to greet, to wish well and pray for prosperity.
Verse 16: They Were a Wall to Us ¶
16. THEY WERE A WALL TO US -- that is, they defended us from the assault of enemies. David therefore rightly demanded provisions from them: for citizens ought to feed the garrison soldiers who protect and defend them and their goods against enemies.
Verse 17: The Evil Is Complete ¶
17. THE EVIL IS COMPLETE -- that is, the harm and fierce vengeance decreed by David, fully and certainly conceived by him, hangs over your husband and your house. HE IS A SON OF BELIAL -- that is, avaricious, ungrateful, harsh, malicious, and wicked, as was said at verse 3. Belial properly means "without a yoke," unbridled, untamed, as if to say: Nabal stubbornly refused to hear our good suggestions about avoiding David's vengeance prepared for him. Therefore we suggest the same to you, who are a wise and teachable woman, that you avert it from yourself and your house.
Verse 18: Abigail Makes Haste ¶
18. THEN ABIGAIL MADE HASTE -- to forestall David with her generosity as he approached in anger threatening destruction, and to soothe him with her eloquence, and thus to atone for the inhumanity of her husband Nabal. Hence she is fittingly called Abigail, that is, "father of exultation," says Pagninus, because by springing into action she produced joy for both David and her entire household; and she did this with manly prudence and courage, like a warrior-woman, so that she seemed to be not so much a mother as a father.
FIVE MEASURES OF PARCHED GRAIN. -- A satum was a kind of measure containing 26 pounds, that is, 320 ounces. AND A HUNDRED BUNDLES OF RAISINS -- that is, a hundred bunches of grapes dried in an oven or in the sun.
AND TWO HUNDRED CAKES OF FIGS -- that is, of dried figs or figs dried in the sun, from which fig cakes are made, and shapes like cheeses.
Verse 22: David's Oath ¶
22. MAY GOD DO SO AND MORE TO THE ENEMIES OF DAVID -- that is, to David himself; otherwise the imprecation would be ridiculous. It is a euphemism. For David here swears with an execratory oath in the manner of common people; but common people do not dare to imprecate evils upon themselves in their oath, because they anxiously fear that if they imprecate some evil upon themselves, it will actually befall them. He therefore swears by imprecating evil upon others, but by "others" he means himself. So David imprecates evil upon "his enemies," that is, upon himself. So says Abulensis.
IF I LEAVE OF ALL THAT BELONGS TO HIM BY MORNING LIGHT, ANYONE WHO URINATES AGAINST A WALL -- as if David says: I swear that I will kill everyone in Nabal's household before dawn, so that I will not even leave a dog alive in it. For dogs urinate against walls with raised legs, while other animals urinate on the ground.
David sinned with this oath, and would have sinned even more had he actually carried it out; for in Nabal's household there were many, indeed all were innocent except Nabal himself. For Nabal alone had insulted David, since his own servants had disapproved of his reply. Hence they reported it to Abigail so that she might correct it; yet Nabal deserved to be punished. Hence Theodoret, Question 57, says David justly wished to kill Nabal on account of the most unworthy abuse and insults with which he actually assailed David. But David could have refuted and checked these things in another way; therefore it does not seem he could have lawfully killed Nabal, since he was not yet king and could not by public authority condemn Nabal to death. He therefore swore from youthful and military impetuosity, carried away by anger and rage at the atrocity of the insult; but returning to himself and his anger being calmed, he repented and restrained his hand from slaughter, as is clear from what follows.
So the Emperor Aurelian, angry with the Tyanians for closing their gates against him, said: "I will not leave a dog in this town." When the city was taken and the soldiers demanded the plundering of the town as promised, he replied: "Very well, I said I would not leave a dog -- kill all the dogs." And thus he fulfilled his promise while treating his enemies mercifully, says Flavius Vopiscus in his Life of Aurelian.
Verse 24: Upon Me Be the Iniquity ¶
24. UPON ME, MY LORD, BE THIS INIQUITY -- as if to say: Impute to me the iniquity of my husband Nabal, not to him; for he is a fool and does not know what he does. Blame me, therefore, who am his wife; punish me; I will pay for what he has sinned.
Verse 25: According to His Name ¶
25. DO NOT LET MY LORD THE KING (anointed king by Samuel, even though you have not yet entered into possession of the kingdom) SET HIS HEART UPON THIS WICKED MAN NABAL. FOR ACCORDING TO HIS NAME, HE IS A FOOL. -- For Nabal in Hebrew means "fool," or "evil and malicious," or "scoundrel," as if to say: Do not take it to heart, do not worry, do not distress yourself, do not be angry with Nabal on account of his inhumanity and the insults he hurled at you; for he truly is Nabal, that is, a fool -- and no one pays attention to the taunts and insults of a fool and a madman, because the fool lacks reason like a brute animal, and does not know what he does or says.
Tropologically, St. Ambrose presses the word "king" in Psalm 118, sermon 14, as if to say: You, O David, are a king; therefore rule your passions, bridle your anger, tame your desire for revenge. For, as St. Ambrose says: "Whoever has subdued his own body and as ruler of himself has not allowed his soul to be disturbed by its passions with due vigilance -- he is rightly said to be a king by a certain royal power over himself: because he knows how to rule himself and is master of his own rights, lest he be dragged captive into fault or be carried headlong into vice. His soul does not perish forever; nor does anyone snatch it from the hand of the almighty Father or of the Son. For the hand of God that established heaven does not lose those whom it has held."
Verse 26: As the Lord Lives ¶
26. AS THE LORD LIVES AND AS YOUR SOUL LIVES -- as if to say: I swear by the life of God and by your life that I will speak the truth, and that the matter happened as I have said -- namely, that I did not see your servants, nor was I aware of the inhumanity that Nabal exercised against you.
AND HAS SAVED YOUR HAND FOR YOURSELF -- as if to say: God restrained your hand, lest you defile yourself through it with the slaughter and blood of my innocent children and servants.
AND NOW MAY YOUR ENEMIES BE AS NABAL -- as if to say: Just as Nabal is in your power and at your mercy, so may all your enemies be subjected to you and be forced to implore your grace and mercy, as I now implore the same for Nabal. So says Cajetan.
Verse 27: Receive This Blessing ¶
27. RECEIVE THIS BLESSING -- that is, this gift, or present of provisions, which I have brought for you and yours.
Verse 28: Take Away the Iniquity ¶
28. TAKE AWAY THE INIQUITY OF YOUR HANDMAID -- as if to say: Forgive and pardon the iniquity of my husband Nabal, which I desire to be transferred to me, so that I may pay the penalty for his fault. A FAITHFUL HOUSE -- that is, a firm and stable family, lineage, and posterity; namely, that sons and grandsons descended from you may reign in continuous succession over Israel, with Saul's posterity excluded on account of his iniquity.
LET NO EVIL BE FOUND IN YOU. -- "Evil," that is, sin and vengeance which is unbecoming to the royal person to which you have been destined by God, and which will hinder you from the kingdom. For all desire a king who is clement and forgetful of injuries, not one who remembers them and is desirous of revenge.
Verse 29: The Bundle of the Living ¶
29. IF ANYONE SHOULD RISE UP TO PURSUE YOU AND SEEK YOUR LIFE, THE SOUL OF MY LORD SHALL BE BOUND IN THE BUNDLE OF THE LIVING WITH THE LORD YOUR GOD; BUT THE SOULS OF YOUR ENEMIES HE SHALL SLING OUT, AS FROM THE HOLLOW OF A SLING -- as if to say: If you spare the life of Nabal your enemy, even though by his insults against you he deserves death, God will repay you with a fitting reward: namely, He will in turn protect your life against all who persecute you, and especially against Saul, and will preserve it safe and long-lived amid so many dangers. For something placed "in the bundle" or in the binding "of the living" -- that is, by which lives or living persons are bound -- is stored away so that it may be preserved unharmed among the living. But something placed in a sling is placed there so that the sling may hurl and eject it. In a similar way, therefore, may God spin the life of your enemies as if in a sling, to expel their soul from their body and fling it out, and force them to die. So says Cajetan.
Allegorically and tropologically: The bundle of the living is the catalog, or rather the assembly and council of the Saints, friends of God, and those chosen for eternal life (conversely, the bundle of the dying is the catalog of those damned to eternal death).
Morally: Note here the methods by which Abigail broke the kindled anger of David and restrained him from slaughter, which we should imitate, to quench and soothe the fury of the raging as by throwing water on it. First, she offered David many and ample gifts which Nabal had refused, and which had therefore stirred David's bile; for gifts soothe anger and win love. Second, she deeply humiliated herself by prostrating on the ground before David, by which humiliation she wiped away Nabal's proud response that had provoked David. Third, she brings forward wise and gentle arguments showing David how harmful anger and revenge would be for him, and how beneficial and advantageous would be their forgetfulness and forgiveness.
Moreover, Sebastian Munster, though a heretic, here presents something noteworthy in support of suffrages for the dead and the ancient rite of praying for the dead. By "the bundle of the living," he says, the Hebrews understand the throne of majesty, under which they say the souls of the just rest in the other world. Hence it is also their custom to engrave on their tombs this sentence everywhere: "May his soul be in the bundle of the living" -- just as we say "May his soul rest in peace," etc.
Verse 34: Remember Your Handmaid ¶
34. AND WHEN THE LORD HAS DONE GOOD TO MY LORD (namely, to you, so as to raise you to the kingdom), REMEMBER YOUR HANDMAID -- so that you may do good to me. Abigail seems to foresee and tacitly request to be taken as David's wife, and to become queen to him as king.
Verse 37: Nabal's Heart Died ¶
37. HIS WIFE TOLD HIM THESE THINGS, AND HIS HEART DIED WITHIN HIM -- as if to say: Nabal was stunned with fear of David and became as if dead. For he, conscious of his guilt, hearing of David's just anger against him, feared that David would pour out all his wrath upon him alone; for he thought David had spared Abigail and his innocent household for this very reason -- to seek the guilty head, that is, Nabal.
Verse 38: The Lord Struck Nabal ¶
38. THE LORD STRUCK NABAL -- He sent upon him a lethal illness that brought him sudden death.
Verse 39: David Marries Abigail ¶
39. TO ABIGAIL, TO TAKE HER AS HIS WIFE. -- David marrying Abigail represented Christ, who espoused to Himself the Church from the Gentiles. "For she, having lost the husband to whom she had formerly been joined, passed over to Christ, rich in pious devotion, endowed with the patrimony of humility and faith, and also of mercy, etc., to whom the Bridegroom confers joy and grace, cleansing her from all impediments to her beauty," says St. Ambrose, epistle 35 to Irenaeus.
Verse 41: Behold Your Handmaid ¶
41. BEHOLD, LET YOUR HANDMAID BE A SERVANT, TO WASH THE FEET OF THE SERVANTS OF MY LORD. -- Abigail addresses the absent David as if he were present in the messengers sent by him, and calls herself his handmaid and servant. And by this humility of hers she merited to become his wife and queen of Israel. Hence she was a type of the Blessed Virgin, who, chosen by God as spouse and by the Word incarnating in her as mother, said to the Archangel Gabriel: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word." And thus she, the handmaid of God, became the Mother of God.
Verse 44: Michal Given to Phalti ¶
44. BUT SAUL GAVE MICHAL HIS DAUGHTER, DAVID'S WIFE, TO PHALTI THE SON OF LAISH. -- The Rabbis report, or rather, as is their custom, fabricate, that Phalti did not have relations with Michal, because a sword lay between him and Michal, and therefore she remained untouched and without children.