1 Samuel 25 Nabal had a stroke and died

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
1 Samuel 25:35 Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request.”

36 When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until daybreak. 37 Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone. 38 About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.

39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise be to the Lord, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.”

Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife. 40 His servants went to Carmel and said to Abigail, “David has sent us to you to take you to become his wife.”

41 She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, “I am your servant and am ready to serve you and wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” 42 Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five female servants, went with David’s messengers and became his wife. 43 David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both were his wives. 44 But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Paltiel[d] son of Laish, who was from Gallim.​

d. 1 Samuel 25:44 Hebrew Palti, a variant of Paltiel

Since I've been reading this a while and since I've been saying it for a while.... women didn't have a lot of value during the time this was taking place. They were really just pretty slaves. Men decided who they wanted, when they wanted, and then when or if the men died they were passed on to a relative. The alternative was they could beg on the streets or become a whore.

It appears that Nabal had a stroke. If Abigail was a smart woman... and it appears she was by her actions.... she was thinking about her future during those days when she was caring for her husband. No doubt she had to make sure he ate and drank during that time... even though he was stone..... and she had to clean him because he probably soiled himself.... even though he was stone. Even if she was feeding and cleaning him... even if God had turned him totally to stone and she was just sitting with him... perhaps even waiting for him to sit up and ask for a beer.....I believe she was thinking about how she was going to survive.

Then word came that David, a good man, the future king of Israel, and a handsome soldier wanted her to become his wife... "yep, no problem.... give me a donkey and get me out of here." It appears that Abigail was his second wife. Did you notice that in the last verse it says that Saul gave Michal away? She was the one who helped David escape from Saul and now she's the wife of another man.

The commentaries took an odd turn, discussing the propriety of taking Abigail as his wife. Apparently he was married again in between Michal and Abigail. In verse 43 we see that he was married to Ahinoam of Jezreel. She was the mother of his first son Amnon.

This is from blueletterbible.org.

Was this inappropriate? Wasn't David already married to Saul's daughter Michal? (1 Samuel 18:27) The writer of 1 Samuel explains that at this time, David was not married to Michal, because Saul had taken her away and given her to another man to spite David (David will get Michal back in 2 Samuel 3:13-16). So, Abigail is not really David's second wife; she is his "second first wife."

"By his marriage with Abigail, it is probable he became possessed of all Nabal's property in Carmel and Maon."

David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and so both of them were his wives: Though Abigail was David's "second marriage," with Ahinoam, David takes his second wife, and will add many more wives.

Was this inappropriate? It wasn't directly sin, because God hadn't commanded against it. But it did go against God's ideal, God's plan for marriage, for oneness in a marriage relationship. David was a man of great passions, and as a part of that he had many wives. But because David never really followed God's plan and purpose for marriage, his family life was never blessed and peaceful. Family trouble would bring David some of the greatest trials of his life.

"Since Ahinoam is always mentioned before Abigail (1 Sa. 27:3; 30:5) and bore David's first son (2 Sa. 3:2), it is likely that David had married her already." (Baldwin)

Apparently David didn't take Abigail in because of her dire outlook. I don't think the law had changed. The issue here may be that Nabal was not a relative of David's. In the Book of Ruth, Boaz went to the nearest relative of Ruth before taking her as a wife. David didn't do that. He knew that Nabal was dead, but he didn't check to see if Nabal had a brother who might want to take Abigail in.

David, apparently, likes women... a lot....

:coffee:
 
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