Nabal

fool; senseless

Nabal

(fool) was a sheepmaster on the confines of Judea and the desert, in that part of the country which bore from its great conqueror the name of Caleb. (1 Samuel 25:3; 30:14) (B.C. about 1055.) His residence was on the southern Carmel, in the pasture lands of Maon. His wealth, as might be expected from his abode, consisted chiefly of sheep and goats. It was the custom of the shepherds to drive them into the wild downs on the slopes of Carmel; and it was whilst they were on one of these pastoral excursions that they met a band of outlaws, who showed them unexpected kindness, protecting them by day and night, and never themselves committing any depredations. (1 Samuel 25:7,15,18) Once a year there was a grand banquet on Carmel, "like the feast of a king." ch. (1 Samuel 25:2,4; 36) It was on one of these occasions that ten youths from the chief of the freebooters approached Nabal, enumerated the services of their master, and ended by claiming, with a mixture of courtesy and defiance characteristic of the East, "whatsoever cometh into thy hand for thy servants and for thy son David." The great sheepmaster peremptorily refused. The moment that the messengers were gone, the shepherds that stood by perceived the danger that their master and themselves would incur. To Nabal himself they durst not speak. ch. (1 Samuel 25:17) To his wife, as to the good angel of the household, one of the shepherds told the state of affairs. She, with the offerings usual on such occasions, with her attendants running before her, rode down the hill toward David's encampment. David had already made the fatal vow of extermination. ch. (1 Samuel 26:22) At this moment, as it would seem, Abigail appeared, threw herself on her face before him, and poured forth her petition in language which in both form and expression almost assumes the tone of poetry. She returned with the news of David's recantation of his vow. Nabal was then at the height of his orgies and his wife dared not communicate to him either his danger or his escape. ch. (1 Samuel 28:36) At break of day she told him both. The stupid reveller was suddenly roused to a sense of that which impended over him. "His heart died within him, and he be came as a stone." It was as if a stroke of apoplexy or paralysis had fallen upon him. Ten days he lingered "and the Lord smote Nabal, and he died." ch. (1 Samuel 25:37,38)

Nabal

Foolish, a descendant of Caleb, owner of a large property in lands and flocks, at Maon and Carmel in the south of Judah. He was under great obligations to David, for protecting him from the robbers of the desert; and yet, in the very hour most suggestive of a grateful generosity, he churlishly refused David's modest request of provisions for his needy troop. Indignant at this ingratitude and inhospitality, David was soon on his way to put him and his men to the sword. Happily, the discreet intervention of Abigail averted this catastrophe. Ten days after, the lord smote him, and he died, 1 Samuel 25:1-43. See ABIGAIL.

Foolish, a descendant of Caleb who dwelt at Maon (1 Samuel 25), the modern Main, 7 miles south-east of Hebron. He was "very great, and he had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats...but the man was churlish and evil in his doings." During his wanderings David came into that district, and hearing that Nabal was about to shear his sheep, he sent ten of his young men to ask "whatsoever cometh unto thy hand for thy servants." Nabal insultingly resented the demand, saying, "Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse?" (1 Samuel 25:10, 11). One of the shepherds that stood by and saw the reception David's messengers had met with, informed Abigail, Nabal's wife, who at once realized the danger that threatened her household. She forthwith proceeded to the camp of David, bringing with her ample stores of provisions (25:18). She so courteously and persuasively pled her cause that David's anger was appeased, and he said to her, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel which sent thee this day to meet me."

On her return she found her husband incapable from drunkenness of understanding the state of matters, and not till the following day did she explain to him what had happened. He was stunned by a sense of the danger to which his conduct had exposed him. "His heart died within him, and he became as a stone." and about ten days after "the Lord smote Nabal that he died" (1 Samuel 25:37, 38). Not long after David married Abigail (q.v.).

NABAL

na'-bal (nabhal, "foolish" or "wicked"; Nabal): A wealthy man of Maon in the highlands of Judah, not far from Hebron, owner of many sheep and goats which he pastured around Carmel in the same district. He was a churlish and wicked man (1 Samuel 25:2). When David was a fugitive from Saul, he and his followers sought refuge in the wilderness of Paran, near the possessions of Nabal, and protected the latter's flocks and herds from the marauding Bedouin. David felt that some compensation was due him for such services (1 Samuel 25:15, 25), so, at the time of sheep-shearing-an occasion of great festivities among sheep masters-he sent 10 of his young men to Nabal to solicit gifts of food for himself and his small band of warriors. Nabal not only refused any assistance or presents, but sent back insulting words to David, whereupon the latter, becoming very angry, determined upon the extermination of Nabal and his household and dispatched 400 men to execute his purpose. Abigail, Nabal's wife, a woman of wonderful sagacity and prudence as well as of great beauty, having learned of her husband's conduct and of David's intentions, hurriedly proceeded, with a large supply of provisions, dainties and wine, to meet David and to apologize for her husband's unkind words and stinginess, and thus succeeded in thwarting the bloody and revengeful plans of Israel's future king. Upon her return home she found her husband in the midst of a great celebration ("like the feast of a king"), drunken with wine, too intoxicated to realize his narrow escape from the sword of David. On the following morning, when sober, having heard the report of his wife, he was so overcome with fear that he never recovered from the shock, but died 10 days later (1 Samuel 25:36-38). When David heard about his death, he sent for Abigail, who soon afterward became one of his wives.y Paul) make use of expressions and analogies derived from the mystery-religions; but, so far as our present evidence goes, we cannot agree that the pagan cults exercised a central or formative influence on them.

W. W. Davies

5037. Nabal -- a man of Carmel
... 5036, 5037. Nabal. 5038 . a man of Carmel. Transliteration: Nabal Phonetic
Spelling: (naw-bawl') Short Definition: Nabal. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/5037.htm - 6k

5036. nabal -- foolish, senseless
... 5035b, 5036. nabal. 5037 . foolish, senseless. Transliteration: nabal Phonetic
Spelling: (naw-bawl') Short Definition: fool. ... 5035b, 5036. nabal. 5037 . ...
/hebrew/5036.htm - 6k

5034a. nabal -- to be senseless or foolish
... 5034, 5034a. nabal. 5034b . to be senseless or foolish. Transliteration: nabal
Short Definition: foolish. Word Origin a prim. ... 5034, 5034a. nabal. 5034b > ...
/hebrew/5034a.htm - 5k

5039. nebalah -- senselessness, disgrace
... Word Origin from nabal Definition senselessness, disgrace NASB Word Usage act of
folly (2), disgraceful act (1), disgraceful acts (1), disgraceful thing (3 ...
/hebrew/5039.htm - 6k

5040. nabluth -- immodesty, shamelessness
... Word Origin from nabal Definition immodesty, shamelessness NASB Word Usage lewdness
(1). ... From nabal; properly, disgrace, ie The (female) pudenda -- lewdness. ...
/hebrew/5040.htm - 6k

5041. Neballat -- a place where Benjamites dwelt
... Neballat. Apparently from nabal and lat; foolish secrecy; Neballat, a place in
Palestine -- Neballat. see HEBREW nabal. see HEBREW lat. 5040, 5041. ...
/hebrew/5041.htm - 6k

How David, when He had Twice the Opportunity of Killing Saul did ...
... CHAPTER 13. How David, When He Had Twice The Opportunity Of Killing Saul Did
Not Kill Him. Also Concerning The Death Of Samuel And Nabal. ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 13 how david when.htm

Abigail's Sensible Advice
... His name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail. ... When David's young men came,
they spoke to Nabal for David as they were told, and then waited. ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/sherman/the childrens bible/abigails sensible advice.htm

The Exile --Continued.
... shearers, the hint of the kind of black mail by which David's little force was provided,
the snarling humour and garrulous crustiness of Nabal, David's fierce ...
//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/the life of david/viii the exilecontinued.htm

The Evidence of Scripture on Changes of Determination.
... David determined and confirmed it by an oath, saying: "May God do so and add more
to the foes of David if I leave of all that belong unto Nabal until the ...
/.../cassian/the conferences of john cassian/chapter xxv the evidence of.htm

The History of Saul
... Then there was a rich man in the mount of Carmel that hight Nabal, and on a time
he sheared and clipped his sheep, to whom David sent certain men, and bade ...
/.../wells/bible stories and religious classics/the history of saul.htm

The Second Book
... When the blessed David had suffered the insulting scorn of Nabal the Carmelite,
since he himself postponed vengeance, he received his revenge at once at the ...
//christianbookshelf.org/salvian/on the government of god/the second book.htm

Of the Manifold Abuse of Speech.
... David uttered a bloody vow against Nabal, spake words smoother than oil to Uriah,
when he had done him one injury, and designed him another. ...
/.../allestree/the government of the tongue/section ii of the manifold.htm

The Fifth Season,
... " Give, I pray thee", says he to Nabal, " whatsoever cometh to thy hand, to
thy servants, and to thy son David." But why speak I of these? ...
//christianbookshelf.org/flavel/on keeping the heart/v the fifth season.htm

In Judaea
... the villages which at long distances dotted it; [17] desolate, lonely, tenanted
only by the solitary shepherd, or the great proprietor, like Nabal, whose sheep ...
/.../edersheim/sketches of jewish social life/chapter 5 in judaea.htm

If Then to Sin, that Others May not Commit a Worse Sin...
... Or, truly, because David swore to put Nabal to death, and, upon more considerate
clemency, did it not, [2410] shall we therefore say that he is to be imitated ...
//christianbookshelf.org/augustine/against lying/section 21 if then to.htm

Nabal (18 Occurrences)
... sheep and 1,000 goats...but the man was churlish and evil in his doings." During
his wanderings David came into that district, and hearing that Nabal was about ...
/n/nabal.htm - 16k

Nabal's (7 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version Concordance Nabal's (7 Occurrences). ... 1 Samuel 25:36 Abigail came to
Nabal; and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. ...
/n/nabal's.htm - 8k

Ab'igail (16 Occurrences)
... 1 Samuel 25:3 Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail;
and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful face: but the ...
/a/ab'igail.htm - 10k

Abigail (18 Occurrences)
... She was the mother of Amasa (2 Samuel 17:25). (2.) The wife of the churlish Nabal,
who dwelt in the district of Carmel (1 Samuel 25:3). She showed great ...
/a/abigail.htm - 17k

Abigal (1 Occurrence)
... gal, ab'-i-gal ('abhighayil, or 'abhighal, three times, or 'abhughayil, once, or
'abhighayil, once; "father," or "cause of joy"): (1) The wife of Nabal, a rich ...
/a/abigal.htm - 10k

Carmelite (6 Occurrences)
... Those who are thus named are Nabal, the husband of Abigail (1 Samuel 30:5, etc.),
and Hezro (the King James Version Hezrai), one of David's mighty men (2 ...
/c/carmelite.htm - 9k

Ahinoam (7 Occurrences)
... husband. She and Abigail, the widow of Nabal, seem to have been David's
only wives prior to the beginning of his reign in Hebron. ...
/a/ahinoam.htm - 10k

Carmel (33 Occurrences)
... Elias, from the Convent of Elias. (2.) A town in the hill country of Judah (Joshua
15:55), the residence of Nabal (1 Samuel 25:2, 5, 7, 40), and the native ...
/c/carmel.htm - 25k

Upheld (15 Occurrences)
... 1 Samuel 25:39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed is Yahweh,
who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept ...
/u/upheld.htm - 10k

Jizreelitess (5 Occurrences)
... with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household; David with his
two wives, Ahinoam the Jizreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife ...
/j/jizreelitess.htm - 7k

Who was Nabal in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

What is the story of David and Nabal? | GotQuestions.org

Who was Abigail in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus