Nabal

Nabal is a man living at the time of the united monarchy. He is named in 18 verses of the Bible, first in 1 Samuel 25:3.

Family

Verses

1 Samuel

• 1 Samuel 25:3
  Now 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.His name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.
• 1 Samuel 25:4
  And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep.
• 1 Samuel 25:5
  And 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:So David sent ten young men and instructed them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name
• 1 Samuel 25:9
  And when David’s young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.When David’s young men arrived, they relayed all these words to Nabal on behalf of David. Then they waited.
• 1 Samuel 25:10
  And 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.But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters.
• 1 Samuel 25:14
  But 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.Meanwhile, one of Nabal’s young men informed Nabal’s wife Abigail, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he scolded them.
• 1 Samuel 25:19
  And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.and said to her young men, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
• 1 Samuel 25:25
  Let 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.My lord should pay no attention to this scoundrel Nabal, for he lives up to his name: His name means Fool, and folly accompanies him. I, your servant, did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.
• 1 Samuel 25:26
  Now 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.Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, the LORD has held you back from coming to bloodshed and avenging yourself with your own hand. May your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be like Nabal.
• 1 Samuel 25:34
  For 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.Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, then surely no male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by morning light.”
• 1 Samuel 25:36
  And 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.When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.
• 1 Samuel 25:37
  But 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.In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these events, and his heart failed within him and he became like a stone.
• 1 Samuel 25:38
  And it came to pass about ten days after, that the Lord smote Nabal, that he died.About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead.
• 1 Samuel 25:39
  And 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.On hearing that Nabal was dead, David said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has upheld my cause against the reproach of Nabal and has restrained His servant from evil. For the LORD has brought the wickedness of Nabal down upon his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking for her in marriage.
• 1 Samuel 27:3
  And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife.David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal.
• 1 Samuel 30:5
  And David’s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel, had been taken captive.

2 Samuel

• 2 Samuel 2:2
  So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail Nabal’s wife the Carmelite.So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.
• 2 Samuel 3:3
  And his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;his second was Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; his third was Absalom, the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur;

Notes

1. Names, family links and verses from STEPBible's Translators Individualised Proper Names (TIPNR), STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0.
2. Where several people share a name, which verses belong to which person, and the family links, follow STEPBible's identifications; some are uncertain and are marked so.