1 Samuel 25

1 Samuel · Chapter 25

1 Samuel 25:20

1And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.2And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.3Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.4And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.5And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name:6And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast.7And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.8Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David.9And when David’s young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.10And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.11Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?12So David’s young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings.13And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff.14But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them.15But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields:16They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.17Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.18Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.19And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.20And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them.21Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good.22So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.23And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,24And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.25Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.26Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.27And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord.28I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.29Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.30And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel;31That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.32And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me:33And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.34For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.35So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.36And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.37But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.38And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.39And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife.40And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife.41And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.42And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.43David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both of them his wives.44But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which was of Gallim.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
20And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them.As Abigail came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming down toward her, and she met them.And it was so, as she rode on her ass, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that, behold, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them.

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
and it wasוְהָיָ֞הve-ha-YAHH1961
to be

הָיָה (ha.yah) 1) to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out 1a) (Qal) 1a1) --- 1a1a) to happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come to pass 1a1b) to come about, come to pass 1a2) to come into being, become 1a2a) to arise, appear, come 1a2b) to become 1a2b1) to become 1a2b2) to become like 1a2b3) to be instituted, be established 1a3) to be 1a3a) to exist, be in existence 1a3b) to abide, remain, continue (with word of place or time) 1a3c) to stand, lie, be in, be at, be situated (with word of locality) 1a3d) to accompany, be with 1b) (Niphal) …

sheהִ֣יא׀hi'H1931
he/she/it

הוּא (hu) pron 3p s 1) he, she, it 1a) himself (with emphasis) 1b) resuming subj with emphasis 1c) (with minimum emphasis following predicate) 1d) (anticipating subj) 1e) (emphasising predicate) 1f) that, it (neuter) demons pron 2) that (with article)

[was] ridingרֹכֶ֣בֶתro-KHE-vetH7392
to ride

רָכַב (ra.khav) 1) to mount and ride, ride 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to mount, mount and sit or ride 1a2) to ride, be riding 1a3) rider (subst) 1b) (Hiphil) 1b1) to cause to ride, cause to (mount and) ride 1b2) to cause to draw (plough, etc) 1b3) to cause to ride upon (fig)

onעַֽל־'al-H5921A
upon

עַל (al) prep 1) upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against 1a) upon, on the ground of, on the basis of, on account of, because of, therefore, on behalf of, for the sake of, for, with, in spite of, notwithstanding, concerning, in the matter of, as regards 1b) above, beyond, over (of excess) 1c) above, over (of elevation or pre-eminence) 1d) upon, to, over to, unto, in addition to, together with, with (of addition) 1e) over (of suspension or extension) …

the donkeyהַחֲמ֗וֹרha-cha-MORH2543
donkey

חֲמוֹר (cha.mor) (he) ass

and [was] going downוְיֹרֶ֙דֶת֙ve-yo-RE-detH3381
to go down

יָרַד (ya.rad) 1) to go down, descend, decline, march down, sink down 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to go or come down 1a2) to sink 1a3) to be prostrated 1a4) to come down (of revelation) 1b) (Hiphil) 1b1) to bring down 1b2) to send down 1b3) to take down 1b4) to lay prostrate 1b5) to let down 1c) (Hophal) 1c1) to be brought down 1c2) to be taken down

in [the] cover ofבְּסֵ֣תֶרbe-SE-terH5643A
secrecy

סֵ֫תֶר (se.ter) 1) covering, shelter, hiding place, secrecy 1a) covering, cover 1b) hiding place, shelter, secret place 1c) secrecy 1c1) secrecy (of tongue being slanderous)

the mountainהָהָ֔רha-HARH2022G
mountain: mount

הַר (har) : mount/hill hill, mountain, hill country, mount

and there!וְהִנֵּ֤הve-hi-NEHH2009
behold

הִנֵּה (hin.neh) behold, lo, see, if

Davidדָוִד֙da-VIDH1732
David

דָּוִד (da.vid) A king of the tribe of Judah living at the time of United Monarchy, first mentioned at Rut.4.17; son of: Jesse (H3448) and Nahash (H5176I); brother of: Eliab (H0446I), Abinadab (H0041I), Shimeah (H8093), Zeruiah (H6870), Abigail (H0026H)(?), Nethanel (H5417H), Raddai (H7288), Ozem (H0684) and Elihu (H0453J); married to Michal (H4324), Abigail (H0026), Ahinoam (H0293H), Maacah (H4601I), Haggith (H2294), Abital (H0037), Eglah (H5698) and Bathsheba (H1339); …

and men hisוַאֲנָשָׁ֔יוva-'a-na-SHAVH0582
human

אֱנוֹשׁ (e.nosh) 1) man, mortal man, person, mankind 1a) of an individual 1b) men (collective) 1c) man, mankind Aramaic equivalent: e.nash (אֱנָשׁ "man" H0606)

[were] going downיֹרְדִ֖יםyo-re-DIMH3381
to go down

יָרַד (ya.rad) 1) to go down, descend, decline, march down, sink down 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to go or come down 1a2) to sink 1a3) to be prostrated 1a4) to come down (of revelation) 1b) (Hiphil) 1b1) to bring down 1b2) to send down 1b3) to take down 1b4) to lay prostrate 1b5) to let down 1c) (Hophal) 1c1) to be brought down 1c2) to be taken down

to meet herלִקְרָאתָ֑הּlik-ra-TAHH7122H
to encounter: meet

קָרָא (qa.ra) : meet 1) to encounter, befall, meet 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to meet, encounter 1a2) to befall (fig) 1b) (Niphal) to meet, meet unexpectedly 1c) (Hiphil) to cause to meet

and she metוַתִּפְגֹּ֖שׁva-tif-GOSHH6298
to meet

פָּגַשׁ (pa.gash) 1) to meet, join, encounter 1a) (Qal) to meet, encounter 1b) (Niphal) to meet together, meet each other 1c) (Piel) to meet, encounter

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.