Lives of Scripture

Nabal was a wealthy Calebite of Maon with three thousand sheep and a thousand goats, married to the wise and beautiful Abigail; Scripture introduces him bluntly as "harsh and evil in his dealings," noting that "as his name is, so is he... Nabal (Fool) is his name and folly is with him" (1 Samuel 25:2-3, 25). David's men had guarded Nabal's shepherds and flocks in the wilderness without taking anything, and at sheep-shearing time David sent a respectful request for provisions in return (25:4-8). Nabal answered with contemptuous insults, denying he even knew who David was (25:10-11). Enraged, David armed four hundred men to wipe out Nabal's household (25:13, 21-22). Abigail intervened without her husband's knowledge, meeting David with generous provisions and a wise appeal that stopped him from bloodshed and needless vengeance (25:18-35). When Abigail told Nabal the next morning, after he had sobered from a drunken feast, "his heart died within him and he became as a stone"; about ten days later, "the LORD struck Nabal and he died" (25:36-38). David recognized God's hand in restraining him from taking vengeance himself, and Abigail became David's wife shortly after (25:39-42). Nabal's story is a stark portrait of wealth without wisdom or gratitude, and of a fool's own folly bringing about his ruin.