Abigail wife of a man rich in possessions but poor in wisdom and love
2 And in Maon there was a man who had his estate in Carmel, who was very rich, and had three thousand sheep and one thousand goats. And it came to pass that he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
3 And that man was called Nabal, and his wife, Abigail. She was that woman of good understanding and of beautiful appearance, but the man was hard and of bad works; and he was from Caleb's lineage.
4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.
5 Then David sent ten young men and said to them, "Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name,
6 and say to him thus: Be peace to yourself, and peace to your family, and peace to all that you have.
7 I know you have shearers. Now your pastors have been with us; We did not treat them badly, nor did they lack anything in the time they have been in Carmel.
8 Ask your servants, and they will tell you. Therefore, these young men find grace in your eyes, because we have come on a good day; I beg you to give what you have on hand to your servants and your son David.
9 When the young men sent by David arrived, they told Nabal all these words in David's name, and they were silent.
10 And Nabal answered the young men sent by David, and said, Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? Many servants today are fleeing from their masters.
11 Shall I now take my bread, my water, and the meat that I have prepared for my shearers, and give it to men I do not know where they are from?
12 And the young men that David had sent turned on their way, and came and said to David all these words.
13 Then David said to his men, "Every man put on his sword. And each girded his sword, and David also girded his sword; and they went after David about four hundred men, and left two hundred with the baggage.
The shearing of the sheep indicates that it was harvest time and was celebrated with a banquet where there was abundance and overabundance.
Then David, who was fleeing from King Saul, with more than 400 men, felt the need to go to Nabal to feed himself and his men, he sent some young men to request to be assisted by Nabal considering that David had been considered other times and noble with the shearers of this man's sheep and had assisted them in their needs.
David never imagined that in a man like Nabal there was such a sick, mean, bitter, resentful being capable of denying him the assistance he was requesting.
David was not only offended by Nabal but rejected and decided to go with his men and exterminate Nabal and all those who were with him.
Abigail woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance!!!
Source[(images.hive.blog/DQmaXUuUo5hhGAPT7c4FZjgp32e9gpZmFQEN61CZjBZRCxC/image.png)]
When Abigail listened to everything that her Naval husband had done with David and his men, this woman acted with understanding, wisdom and submission, to avoid that her people were exterminated by the hands of David.
18 Then Abigail then took two hundred loaves, two hides of wine, five stewed sheep, five measures of roasted grain, one hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred loaves of dried figs, and loaded it all on donkeys.
19 And he said to his servants, Go before me, and I will follow after you; and she declared nothing to her husband Nabal.
20 And riding a donkey, he went down a secret part of the mountain; and behold, David and his men came before her, and she met them.
God used Abigail to defuse a time bomb that would exterminate her people.
***23 And when Abigail saw David, she got down quickly from the donkey, and fell down on his face before David, bowed to the ground;
24 And fell at his feet, and said, My lord, upon me be sin; but I beg you to allow your servant to speak to your ears, and listen to the words of your servant.
25 Now, my lord, ignore that evil man of Nabal; because according to its name, it is so. He is called Nabal, and folly is with him; but I your servant did not see the young men that you sent.
26 Now therefore, my lord, the Lord lives, and your soul lives, that the Lord has prevented you from coming to shed blood and take revenge by your own hand. Therefore, like Nabal, be your enemies, and all those who seek evil against my lord.
27 And now this present that your servant has brought my lord, be given to the men who follow my lord.
28 And I beg you to forgive your servant this offense; For the Lord will surely make my lord a stable house, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord, and evil has not been found in you in your days.
29 Even though someone has risen to persecute you and attempt against your life, nevertheless, the life of my lord will be bound in the bundle of those who live before Jehovah your God, and he will throw the life of your enemies as from the midst of the palm of a sling.
30 And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah do to my lord according to all the good that hath spoken of thee, and establishth you as prince over Israel,
31 then, my lord, you will have no reason for pain or remorse for having spilled blood without cause, or for having taken revenge for yourself. Beware then, my lord, and when Jehovah do good to my lord, remember your handmaid.***
Abigail sets David and herself free
This woman with her attitude not only brought liberation to her people, but also to David by preventing him from staining his hands with blood before taking possession of the kingdom that Jehovah had promised him.
38 And ten days later, Jehovah struck Nabal, and he died.
39 After David heard that Nabal was dead, he said: Blessed be Jehovah, who has judged the cause of my affront received from Nabal, and has preserved his servant from evil; and Jehovah has turned the evil of Nabal upon his own head. Then David sent to speak to Abigail, to take her for his wife.
40 And David's servants came to Abigail in Carmel, and spoke to her, saying, David has sent us to you, to take you for his wife.
41 And she got up and bowed her face to the ground, saying: Behold, your handmaid, who will be a handmaid to wash the feet of my lord's servants.
42 And Abigail rose up with five maidens serving her, and mounted a donkey, and followed David's messengers, and was his wife.
This woman also achieved liberation for her personal and married life because she surely lived with Nabal a yoke of slavery as well as many women today may be living next to a sick person, full of negative emotions that really need the doctor par excellence to bring health and medicine for the soul !!!
