Encyclopedia entry
Nabal
Foolish, a descendant of Caleb who dwelt at Maon (1 Sam. 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 Sam. 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.”
Read full account →↑
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 Sam. 25:37, 38). Not long after David married Abigail (q.v.).
Also from Smith's (1884) +−
(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)
In the Bible
18
Verses where Nabal is named. Berean Standard Bible (public domain).
- 1 Samuel 25:3
His name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.
- 1 Samuel 25:4
While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep.
- 1 Samuel 25:5
So David sent ten young men and instructed them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name
- 1 Samuel 25:9
When David’s young men arrived, they relayed all these words to Nabal on behalf of David. Then they waited.
- 1 Samuel 25:10
But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters.
- 1 Samuel 25:19
and said to her young men, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
+12 more verses naming Nabal.
Scripture on Nabal
7
See all 7 +−
Entries that reference Nabal
5
Voices on Nabal
1
Surfaced by name match — accuracy varies by title clarity.
Sources · Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869) · Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884)
Public-domain text. Modernized only where archaic spelling impedes reading; original facts preserved. Verify against an authoritative modern reference before quoting.