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LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

1 Samuel 25

A Literary Analysis Submitted to

Dr. Brian K. Lester

in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for completion of the course,

OBST 591-D05

Old Testament Orientation I

By

Neal Price

Student ID - L23200213

Lynchburg, Virginia

August 14, 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1

LITERARY DEVICES ................................................................................................................ 1

INERPRETIVE ISSUES ............................................................................................................. 2

APPLICATION ........................................................................................................................... 3

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................ 5

BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................ 7

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INTRODUCTION

The writers of Scripture used many different tools with which to communicate the

Word of the Lord. In the case of narratives, scholars have found many literary devices that the

writers used. It is important for the student of the Scripture to analyze these narratives to

discover truths from the Word so that the application of the passage may be revealed. The

writers of the Old Testament were master storytellers and used these tools to aid in

comprehension and understanding. The writer of First and Second Samuel told the stories of

Samuel, Saul, and David with great eloquence and intrigue. One such story that stands out in the

narration is the encounter with David, Nabal, and Abigail. The narrator of the story used these

literary devices, created interest in interpretation, and left the modern-day readers with

application for their daily lives.

LITERARY DEVICES

The story of David’s encounter with Nabal and the meeting of his third wife, Abigail, is

told in 1 Samuel 25:1-44. The narrator of the story sets the scene quite well. We know that this

is shortly after the death, burial, and mourning period for the great prophet Samuel (v. 1). It is

also chronologically after David’s encounter with Saul at the cave at En Gedi (ch. 24). The

action of the story begins as David made his way to the wilderness of Paran with his men. Nabal

was in Carmel at the time shearing his sheep, so the center of the action is in Carmel on the day

of a feast (v. 5, 8).

The characters in this story are central to the plot. David and Abigail would be

considered as round characters, whereas Nabal would be a flat character. In the characterization

of Abigail and Nabal, we see a striking comparison and contrast found in verse 3. Abigail is

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described as “discerning and beautiful”, but Nabal is considered “harsh and badly behaved”.

Nabal is so “worthless” (v. 17) that his name even means “fool” (v. 25).

One characteristic of narratives that can be seen quite clearly in this story is the plot

development. The action begins in the story as David sent his men to see Nabal and request

provisions (v. 5-9). The conflict is generated as Nabal refused to help David and was quite

disrespectful in the process (v. 10-11). The conflict becomes the most intense as David and his

men don their weapons and prepare to completely annihilate Nabal and his entire family (v. 12-

13). The conflict begins to unravel as one of Abigail’s servants tells her of David’s reaction.

She then prepares to go and apologize to David on behalf of her husband and stop David from

his retaliation (v. 18-31). David accepts Abigail’s apology and stops his plans to kill Nabal and

destroy all he had. Through the events of this apology and Abigail’s subsequent telling Nabal,

the Lord struck Nabal and he died. This brought resolution to the original conflict (v. 32-38).

David ultimately took Abigail as his wife, which concludes the action of this story (v. 39-42).

INTERPRETIVE ISSUES

One interpretive issue in this passage of Scripture lies in the multiple marriages of

David as told in verses 42-44. Were multiple marriages acceptable in Israel? If they were not

acceptable, how did the Lord allow David to practice polygamy?1 One must first look at the

passages of Scripture concerning the Law about polygamy. Held within the Laws concerning

Israel’s kings in Deuteronomy 17, Yahweh explicitly stated, “And he shall not acquire many

wives for himself lest his heart turn away (v. 17a).” David very clearly violated that

commandment. In his time, accumulating a large harem of wives and concubines was a symbol

1 Polygamy is the practice of marrying more than one spouse either simultaneously or in consecutive marriages. Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology: Second Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001), 930.

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of regal splendor, and David succumbed to that cultural custom of the day.2 The Lord did not

immediately or explicitly judge David’s practice of polygamy; however, the evil harvest that he

reaped from his multiple wives caused him no end of grief and heartache.3 In examining his

many wives, one can conclude that there were political implications in the marriage of Michal,

the daughter of Saul, and Maacah, the daughter of the king of Geshur.4

Regardless of the circumstances of the marriages, polygamy was forbidden, and David

ultimately reaped the consequences. David’s desire for more wives and his obvious problem

with lust and covetousness, as seen in his affair with Bathsheba, brought great judgment from the

Lord through the word of the prophet, Nathan. His sins he had committed in secret were

revealed in plain sight, and his wives were given to his neighbors so that they may be slept with

in the light of the sun (2 Sam 12:7-14). One might ask how the Lord did not strike David dead

from his sin. Edwards stated, “God’s bestowing special mercies on a person, is no sign that he

approves of every thing he sees in him at that time. David had the presence of God while he lived

in polygamy...”5 David’s ultimate judgment from the Lord came through the enormous problems

and conflicts in his family, including murder, incest, and treachery.

APPLICATION

The applications from this passage of Scripture to a modern-day Christian are rather

obvious. First, Nabal lived up to his name as he turned away David and his men. David

humbled himself before Nabal referring to himself as Nabal’s son (v. 8). David also sent his

2 John F. Walvoord, Roy B. Zuck and Dallas Theological Seminary. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983-), vol. 1, 605.3 H. D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., The Pulpit Commentary: 2 Samuel (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2004), x.4 Samuel J. Schultz, and Gary V. Smith, Exploring the Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001), 67.5 Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Volume 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2008), 409.

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messengers with a blessing of peace on Nabal, his house, and all that he owned (v. 6). This

blessing of peace was not only the peace as we understand it. In this usage of the phrase, David

is speaking a blessing of prosperity on not only Nabal and his household, but also all that he

owned.6 Nabal acted very arrogantly making David’s men wait on a response. When he finally

gave his response, he was rude and called David a servant. In this moment of arrogance, Nabal

did not realize who David was and the power that David would once hold as king of all Israel.

Nabal should have cared for David as a fellow Israelite. His power and wealth had elevated his

ego to a place where he could not receive the blessing that David was bestowing upon him. As

children of God, we are to submit to one another (Eph 5:21). We are commanded to love one

another and care for each other in our time of need. Nabal should have humbled himself and

helped David through this difficult time.

The next application comes from David’s reaction to Nabal’s response. David was

ready to kill Nabal’s entire family. God did not tell him to do this. The only time genocide was

allowed was when the Lord commanded such (Deut 7). David wanted revenge on Nabal and

was prepared to not stop until it was completed. David must have forgotten that vengeance is the

Lord’s (Deut 32:35). This act would have constituted murder on David’s part. Ephesians 4:31

tells us to put away anger and malice. Earlier in the same letter, Paul tells the Ephesian church to

be angry but advised them not to sin. Truly, David had a right to be angry, but that anger cannot

lead to an act of sin. As children of God, we are not to behave in such a way as David.

The third piece of application from 1 Samuel 25 comes from Abigail’s brave plea for

David to cease his mission to kill Nabal. Abigail brought gifts before David as a peace offering

to keep David from following through with his plan. Nabal should have been the one to humble

6 Roger L. Omanson, and John Ellington, A Handbook on the First Book of Samuel. UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 2001), 518.

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himself before David; however, Abigail is the one who fell at his feet and implored David to

have mercy. Instead of calling David a “servant” as Nabal had, she referred to him as “my lord”.

Abigail knew that she would be dead by morning if she did not do something. She had to

somehow make peace in this situation even if that meant David would immediately kill her.

Once she had the pardon from David, she returned to report all of the things that happened to

Nabal. Nabal ultimately died leaving David to take her as his wife. What does this mean to the

modern-day Christian? Abigail became a peacemaker. She stepped in the middle of a conflict

and brought peace. Jesus stated in His Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for

they shall be called the sons of God (Matt 5:9).” Peacemakers are those who have a tendency to

seek out conflict in order to bring peace and restoration between two conflicting parties.7 In his

admonition to those in the church, Simeon used the example of Abigail when he stated,

“See an instance of this in Abigail, who, by her seasonable interposition, restrained the wrath of David, and saved the lives of Nabal and all his family. Thus may you confer blessings on all around you, and heap blessings also on your own heads.”8

CONCLUSION

Abigail’s beauty and discernment awarded her the position of David’s wife after the

death of Nabal. If she had not acted swiftly and decisively, she would have ended up being

slaughtered; however, David had compassion on her and heaped blessings upon her. Nabal

rejected the blessing due to his arrogant nature, but Abigail readily accepted the endowment

from David. Pride ultimately caused Nabal’s death. He was too proud to help David in his time

of need. His ego got in the way of allowing the peace and blessing to flow in his life. If children

of God will not humble themselves to the Lord first and then to each other, the blessing of peace

7 William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 288.8 Charles Simeon, Horae Homileticae Vol. 11: Matthew (London, 1832-63), 74.

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and prosperity will not be able to flow in their lives. They should take note of Abigail’s reward.

She ultimately traded “the fool” and his folly for the king and his wisdom.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker and Walter Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the NewTestament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.

Edwards, Jonathan. The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Volume 1. Bellingham, WA: LogosResearch Systems, Inc., 2008.

Elwell, Walter A. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology: Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI:Baker Academic, 2001.

Omanson, Roger L. and John Ellington. A Handbook on the First Book of Samuel. UBSHandbook Series. New York: United Bible Societies, 2001.

Schultz, Samuel J. and Gary V. Smith. Exploring the Old Testament. Wheaton, IL: CrosswayBooks, 2001.

Simeon, Charles. Horae Homileticae Vol. 11: Matthew. London, 1832-63.

Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. The Pulpit Commentary: 2 Samuel. Bellingham, WA: LogosResearch Systems, Inc., 2004.

Walvoord, John F. Roy B. Zuck and Dallas Theological Seminary. The Bible KnowledgeCommentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, Vol. 1. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983-.

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