1 Samuel 25:4 Commentary and Bible Study

David is going to put it to Nabal that he could supply them with a limited amount of his goods, so this was only a reasonable repayment for David’s kindness to Nabal’s men. He asks it with great courtesy. It is to be made known to Nabal that David is aware that the shearers are at work. To really grasp what is going on in the narrative, it is valuable to know that sheep shearing time, in that day and that culture, was a time of great celebration and festivity. It counted as a kind of harvest festival: celebration for all God's provisions to you. This is what is significant; not so much that sheep are being sheared, but that it was a time of celebration for this man and his wealth. So here is this man: very wealthy and he is the local bigwig, the local king almost, in Carmel.In a very polite way David's men are to point out, ‘You haven't lost anything, because while we have been in the vicinity, we have given a lot of time and effort to watching over your flocks for your shepherds.’ David rehearses or gives the message to the young men: your men were alongside us, with us, we protected them. Nothing went missing all the while they were in Carmel. ‘Ask thy young men and they will show you.’ And so David’s young men come, speak to Nabal, and indicate that David is looking for some support, some gift. It is not very much, only want ten men can carry, one assumes. It was a time of banditry, a time of potential danger, but they are able to say, ‘You haven't lost anything.’ Shortly after, when David is going to do an utterly wrong thing and go after Nabal – just to push ahead a little bit in the narrative – he is going to take four hundred men with him, and leave two hundred guarding the camp. Why would he do that, out in the deserts? Because there were marauders and bandits around, and so he and his men, while in those parts, had taken good care of Nabal’s shepherds and livestock. So he politely asks for some provision, some reward for the sustenance of his people. ‘David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased’; they spoke very politely, and then fell silent, waiting for Nabal’s response. It was an entirely reasonable request, which anyone else would have been happy to comply with.