seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Samuel 25:1 Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David moved down into the Desert of Paran.[a]
2 A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. 3 His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings—he was a Calebite.
4 While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. 5 So he sent ten young men and said to them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name. 6 Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!
7 “‘Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing. 8 Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.’”
2 A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. 3 His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings—he was a Calebite.
4 While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. 5 So he sent ten young men and said to them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name. 6 Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!
7 “‘Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing. 8 Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.’”
a. 1 Samuel 25:1 Hebrew and some Septuagint manuscripts; other Septuagint manuscripts Maon
First of all, Samuel has passed away. We've still got a whole other book of Samuel to get through yet and Samuel has already passed away... but he did his job.... he anointed the first king of Israel [Saul] and then when Saul acted like a spoiled rich kid from a great family [too good for God], he anointed David to take his place as king when the time is right.
Next.... meet Nabal the Calebite. Now since the Bible mentions that Nabal is a Calebite.... maybe I should find the definition of a Calebite. So I went to google and Got Questions popped up with a great answer.
Question: "What is a Calebite?"
Answer: Simply put, a Calebite in the Bible is a descendant of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. Being a Calebite would have made one a member of the tribe of Judah (see Numbers 13:6).
Caleb was a brave and godly man whose great faith in God caused him, along with Joshua, to encourage the fainthearted Israelites to take possession of the land of Canaan. Caleb and Joshua stood alone against a multitude of opposing voices to claim what God had promised them all (Numbers 13–14).
Despite the great legacy that Caleb left his descendants, the term Calebite is used only once in the Bible, and it is applied to a person of less-than-savory character. Nabal was the husband of Abigail. His name means “fool,” and, according to 1 Samuel 25:3, he was a Calebite; that is, Nabal was of the house and lineage of Caleb. Because the Hebrew word translated “Caleb” also means “dog,” the Septuagint translated Nabal’s description as “he was a doggish man.” That particular portrayal would agree with the rest of verse 3, which says Nabal was “surly and mean.” Nabal acted much like a bad-tempered dog, and his selfish words in 1 Samuel 25:10–11 prove the point. One of Nabal’s servants gives this testimony of him: “He is such a wicked man that no one can speak to him” .
Answer: Simply put, a Calebite in the Bible is a descendant of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. Being a Calebite would have made one a member of the tribe of Judah (see Numbers 13:6).
Caleb was a brave and godly man whose great faith in God caused him, along with Joshua, to encourage the fainthearted Israelites to take possession of the land of Canaan. Caleb and Joshua stood alone against a multitude of opposing voices to claim what God had promised them all (Numbers 13–14).
Despite the great legacy that Caleb left his descendants, the term Calebite is used only once in the Bible, and it is applied to a person of less-than-savory character. Nabal was the husband of Abigail. His name means “fool,” and, according to 1 Samuel 25:3, he was a Calebite; that is, Nabal was of the house and lineage of Caleb. Because the Hebrew word translated “Caleb” also means “dog,” the Septuagint translated Nabal’s description as “he was a doggish man.” That particular portrayal would agree with the rest of verse 3, which says Nabal was “surly and mean.” Nabal acted much like a bad-tempered dog, and his selfish words in 1 Samuel 25:10–11 prove the point. One of Nabal’s servants gives this testimony of him: “He is such a wicked man that no one can speak to him” .
This is from the blueletterbible.org.
The name of the man was Nabal: This is another indication of his character, because the name Nabal means fool. In the ancient culture of Israel, names were often connected with a person's character; we don't know if Nabal was given this name or he earned it, but we will certainly see that he matches his own name.
Then there is Abigail. She's Nabal's wife. Based on her description, she is stuck with this man.... then again... husbands were chosen for girls back then... it's not like she fell in love with him.... then again... maybe he had something good in him that we can't see. According to the commentaries.... Abigail was a beautiful woman.
Blueletterbible.org says:
Abigail … a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance: Nabal's wife was both beautiful and wise, in contrast to Nabal himself. The Bible gives Abigail great praise when it says she was of beautiful appearance, because the only other women who have this Hebrew phrase applied to them are Rachel (Genesis 29:7) and Esther (Esther 2:7).
So Nabal the Calebite is a mean man. Abigail his wife is beautiful. It's shearing time at Nabal's house and everyone should be very busy. David and his roughly 600 men are hiding not far away. Now note.... those 600 men have got to be hungry... but they didn't bother Nabal's sheep. Guess it's time for a map again.
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