1 Samuel 25:2 Commentary and Bible Study

Here is one of the greatest character studies in the Old Testament. ‘And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel.’ We might say today, his business was in Carmel. ‘And the man was very great’ – and that is not a statement used lightly. It is a very unusual statement in Scripture, used of Job, but used the very sparingly in the word of God. You can be sure then that he was of great wealth and possessions. It happens to be mentioned that he had three thousand sheep because that is relevant to the passage, and a thousand goats, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel, or rather his people were shearing. ‘Now the name of the man was Nabal’, which the passage tells us means fool. But it comes from the root ‘to wilt’, so it means the kind of fool who is a failure, and what he handles diminishes, falls, and fails. In material terms, that had not been the case with Nabal, but he bore that name from birth. However did he get a name like that? There is no question that the record here expresses it fairly naturally; this was not a name foisted upon him. There are some mysteries in life. Would you call a child of yours ‘Fool’? You can’t imagine how it happened, unless perhaps, they waited a little while: – this is just conjecture – a few days, weeks, or months, and this little fellow was a very comical baby. Perhaps it was a rather odd, but sentimental name that the parents gave.‘And the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance.’ In Hebrew narrative, it's very important, what comes first. ‘Good understanding’ comes before ‘beautiful countenance’, and good understanding here will point to spiritual understanding. She was a believer. She understood the significance of the anointing of David. She understood that there was a future for David as king, and she says that in so many words as the narrative goes on. ‘A good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance.’ But Nabal, the man he was churlish, rude, and aggressive, and evil, evil in the sense of being hurtful. No doubt, morally evil too, put the word is the hurtful, damaging word form of evil – ‘in his doings.’ He was harsh is the Hebrew, and he was evil in the way in which he did his business: that's the intention of the passage. He lashed out; he did people down; he shortchanged them. ‘And he was of the house of Caleb.’ It surprises one that this should be recorded, because Caleb was a hero. But Nabal was nothing like his noble forebear. He was unapproachable; he was surly; he was an unreasonable man; he was hostile, evil in his doings. What a sad marriage that must have been for Abigail! A highly intelligent and beautiful woman: to be married to an individual with, let's say, no humour, no kindness, insensitive, rude, offensive in every way. Well, the Lord was going to bring it to an end.