1 And Samuel died, and all Israel gathered together and lamented for him. And they buried him at his house in the Height. And David arose and went down to Paran's wilderness. i 2 And a man was in Dwelling ii and his work was in the Carmel. iii And the man was very great and had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in the Carmel. 3 And the name of the man was Fool, iv and his woman's name was Abigail. v And the woman was of good prudence and beautiful appearance. And the man was hard and of bad practices, and he was as his heart. vi
4 And David heard in the wilderness that Fool was shearing his sheep. 5 And David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel and go to Fool and ask him in my name for peace. vii 6 And say thus, “To the life. viii And you, peace. And your house, peace. And all who are yours, peace. 7 And now, I hear that you have shearers. Now, the shepherds who are yours have been with us. We have not humiliated them nor has anything been lacking to them all the days of their being in the Carmel. 8 Ask your young men and they will tell you. And may the young men find favor in your eyes, for on a good day we have come. Please give what you may find in your hand for your servants and for your son David.”
9 And David's young men came and spoke to Fool according to all these words in David's name and rested. ix 10 And Fool answered David's servants and said, “Who is David, and who is Jesse's son? Today there are many servants who are breaking away each from his lords' x face. 11 So, should I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers and give to men who I don't know where they are from?” 12 And David's young men turned to their way and returned and came and told him according to all these words.
13 And David said to his men, “Gird each his sword.” And they girded each his sword, and David also girded his sword. And they went up after David, about four hundred men. And two hundred stayed by the supplies. 14 And one young man, from the young men, told to Abigail, Fool's woman, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to bless our lords xi and he screamed xii at them. 15 And the men were very good to us, and we were not humiliated, nor did we miss anything all the days we walked with them in our being in the field. 16 They were a wall by us both night and day all the days while we were with them tending the flock. 17 And now, know and see what you do. For the bad is determined to our lords xiii and upon all his house. And he is a son of Belial xiv speaking to him.” xv
18 And Abogail xvi hurried and took two hundred loaves, and two skins of wine, and five done sheep, and five measures of roasted grain, and a hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred bunches of figs, and put upon the donkeys. 19 And she said to her young men, “Pass over before me. Behold, I will come after you.” And to her man, Fool, she did not tell.
20 And it was, she rode upon the donkey and came down in cover of the hill. And behold, David and his men were coming down to meet her, and she met them. 21 And David said, “Surely in vain I guarded all this one has in the wilderness and nothing was missed from all that he had. And he has returned bad for good. 22 Thus shall Gods, he do to David's enemies and thus again, if I leave from all that is his, who urinate on a wall, xvii till the morning.”
23 And Abigail saw David and hurried and went down from upon the donkey and fell to David's nostrils xviii upon her face and bowed herself to earth 24 and fell upon his feet and said, “On me, me, my lord, the iniquity be. And please let your maidservant speak in your ears and hear your maidservant's words. 25 Please do not let my lord put his heart to this Belial man, on Fool, for as his name is, so he is. Fool is his name, and folly xix is with him. And I, your maidservant, did not see my lord's young men whom you sent. 26 And now, my lord, Yehvah lives, and your soul lives, where Yehvah has withheld you from coming in blood and your hand saving you for yourself. And now, let your enemies be as Fool and those who seek bad for my lord. 27 And now, this blessing that your maidservant has brought xx to my lord, so let it be given to the young men who walk at my lord's feet. 28 Please, forgive your maidservant's transgression, for surely Yehvah will make for my lord a firm xxi house, and bad will not be found in you from your days. 29 And a man has arisen to pursue you and to seek your soul, and my lord's soul is bound in the bundle of the living with Yehvah your Gods. And your enemies soul he shall sling out in the palm of the sling. 30 And it shall be, when Yehvah does for my lord according to all the good that he has spoken over you and commanded you to be a ruler over Israel. 31 And this shall not be to you for a staggering xxii and for a stumbling xxiii of heart for my lord, so to shed blood for nothing and my lord to save for himself. And Yehvah has done good to my lord, so remember your maidservant.”
32 And David said to Abigail, “Blessed is Yehvah, Gods of Israel, that he sent you this day to meet me. 33 And blessed is your discretion, xxiv and blessed are you that you restrained me this day from going in blood and saving my hand for myself. 34 And indeed, Yehvah, Gods of Israel, lives, who has withheld me from doing you harm. For if you had not hastened and come to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Fool one who urinates on a wall xxv by the morning light.” 35 And David received from her hand that which she brought to him. And to her he said, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have listened to your voice and lifted up your face.” xxvi
36 And Abigail went to Fool, and behold, to him a feast in his house, like the feast of the king. And Fool's heart was good upon him, and he was very drunk. And she did not tell him a thing, small or great, til the morning light. 37 And it was, in the morning when the wine was gone out from Fool, so his woman told him these things. And his heart died within him, and he was like a stone. 38 And it was, after ten days, so Yehvah struck Fool, and he died.
39 And David heard that Fool died, and he said, “Blessed be Yehvah who has contended the case of my reproach from Fool's hand and withheld his servant from bad. And Yehvah has returned Fool's bad on his head.” And David sent and spoke with Abigail to take her for himself for a woman. 40 And David's servants went to Abigail at the Carmel and spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to take you for himself for a woman.” 41 And she arose and bowed her nostrils to earth and said, “Behold, your maidservant for a maid to wash my lord's servants' feet.” 42 And Abigail hurried and arose and rode upon the donkey, and five of her young men walked at her feet. And she went after David's servants, and she was to him for a woman.
43 And David took Ahinoam xxvii from Jezreel, xxviii and they both were also to him for women. 44 And Saul gave Michal his daughter, David's woman, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Heaps. xxix
Translated by Darwin Fish. See original pdf.
- This is in the south where Moses sent spys to spy out the land. See Numbers 13. ^
- עון מע) mâ`on) “Dwelling” (e.g. same word in 1 Samuel 2:29, 32 “dwelling” NAS) - NKJV, etc. “Maon” ^
- ל ממֶררְכמ) karmel) “Carmel” - this is the southern city of Carmel. The mountain is in the North (see Joshua 15:55ft). ^
- ל בע נע) nâvâl) “Fool” (= “fool” e.g. Psalm 14:1; see also 1 Samuel 25:25); NKJV, etc. “Nabal” - found for this man's name also in 1 Samuel 25:4-5, 9-10, 19, 25-26, 34, 36-39; 30:5; 2 Samuel 2:2; 3:3. ^
- לל לגעי בבִא') avigâyil) “Abigail” (= my father is joy) - found also in 1 Samuel 25:14, 18, 23, 32, 36, 39-40, 42; 27:3; 30:5; 2 Samuel 2:2; 3:3; 17:25; 1 Chronicles 3:1. This is also the name of David's sister, see 2 Samuel 17:25 & 1 Chronicles 2:15-17. ^
- Written בו ל ל מֶכ) khelibo) “as his heart” LEB; read י ל ב ל ל כע) khâlibiy) “Calebite” YLT, NAS; “of the house of Caleb” NKJV; LXX “dog-like” or “mean,” κυνικός (kunikos). κυνός (kunos) = “dog,” thus, κυνικός (kunikos) = “dog-like.” In Hebrew “dog” is ב ל ל ל כ) khelev), same root word as “Caleb.” ^
- לום שע מֶל) leshâlom) “for peace” - i.e. how things are going or how he's doing. ^
- י חע ל ל) lechây) “To the life”; YLT “To life!”; “Have a long life” NAS; “to him who lives in prosperity” NKJV. ^
- יענוחו) yânuchu) “rested” Green; “rest” YLT; “waited” NKJV, NAS – same root word as Noah's name, רְנחחמ) noach). ^
- נעיוִא') adonâyv) “his lords'” - see footnote for Genesis 24:9. ^
- וִא') adonêynu) “our lords” (plural) – this exact form, “our lords,” when used for men is always in a singular context. Found also in 1 Samuel 25:17; 1 Kings 1:11, 43, 47. For its use for God, see Psalm 8:1, 9; 135:5; 147:5; Nehemiah 8:10; 10:29 (H30). See also footnotes for Genesis 15:2; 24:9. ^
- ט רְיעעמ) yâ`at) “screamed” Green, CSB, EHV, ISV, NET, NLT, BDB; “scorned” NAS; “reviled” NKJV; “railed” KJV – typically only translated “screamed” here, but 1 Samuel 14:32 (read) & 15:19 could be “screamed” as well. This verb is the same root as the noun for “bird of prey” לט ריְעמ`) ayit, e.g. Genesis 15:11) which both appear to be an onomatopoeia. ^
- נניינוִא') adonêynu) “our lords” - see above footnote. ^
- ל רְרעמְימ ל ל מֶב) beliyya`al) “Belial” KJV; “scoundrel” NKJV – see footnote for Deuteronomy 13:13. ^
- Proverbs 9:7-8; 12:23a; 23:9; Amos 5:13. ^
- “Abigail) “aviygail ('אִב ב ל יגמְרי לל read”; Abogail) “avogayil ('אִב בוגמְרי לל Written ^
- ר ל ק מֶב ין ל ת מֶש רְממ) mashttiyn beqiyr) “who urinates on a wall”; “one who urinates against a wall” Green, CEB, WEB; “pisseth against the wall” KJV; “one male” NKJV, NAS – found also in 1 Samuel 25:34; 1 Kings 14:10; 16:11; 21:21; 2 Kings 9:8. See also Judges 3:24 and footnote. ^
- י פני רְאמ') apêy) “nostrils” - see footnote for 1 Samuel 24:8(H9). ^
- ה לע בע מֶנ) nevâlâh) “Folly” - feminine form of same root word as “Fool,” ל בע נע) nâvâl). ^
- א הניב) hêviy') “has brought” - masculine noun, even though subject (“maidservant”) if feminine. ^
- מעןָלא נ) ne'emân) “firm”; YLT “stedfast”; NKJV, NAS “enduring”; KJV “sure”; WYC, DRA “faithful” ^
- ה פוקע) puqâh) “staggering” Green; “stumbling-block” YLT; “grief” NKJV, KJV, NAS – only here – related verb “totter” (NAS), “topple” (NKJV) in Jeremiah 10:4, יק ל יעפ) yâphiyq); “totter” (NAS), “stumble” (NKJV) Isaiah 28:7 פעקו (pâqu). ^
- לֶלכ מ) mikhshol) “stumbling” Green; “offense” YLT, NKJV, KJV; “troubled” NAS – same word for e.g. “stumbling block” in Leviticus 19:14; Isaiah 57:14; Ezekiel 3:20. ^
- מניךֶרעְטמ) ta`mêch) “your discretion” - or “your taste” - see footnote for “discretion” in 1 Samuel 21:13(H14). ^
- See footnote for 1 Samuel 25:22. ^
- ך נעי פע א שע ל א') essâ' pânâyikh) “lifted up your face” - see footnote for Genesis 32:21. ^
- This is also the name of Saul's wife. See 1 Samuel 14:50. ^
- “from Jezreel” - 1 Samuel 27:3; 30:5; 2 Samuel 2:2; 3:2; 1 Chronicles 3:1 note her as a “Jezreelitess.” ^
- ים ל ל רְגמ) galliym) “Heaps” (= “heaps” e.g. 2 Kings 19:25; Isaiah 37:26); NKJV, etc. “Gallim” - found also for a location
in Isaiah 10:30. ^
And Man of Shame sent and took her from with a man, from with Paltiel, son of Lush. -- ל ק יא טי חָל פל) paltiy'êl) “Paltiel” - named “Palti” חטייָפלל) palti) in 1 Samuel 25:44.
Read ללייש) layish) “Lion,” written לוש) lush) “Lush” (= to “knead” e.g. 2 Samuel 13:8) – named “Lion” ללייש) layish) in 1 Samuel 25:44 (see footnote).