1 Samuel 25:1–11

Then Samuel died; and the Israelites gathered together and lamented for him, and buried him at his home in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.

Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel, and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings. He was of the house of Caleb.

When David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep, David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. And thus you shall say to him who lives in prosperity: ‘Peace be to you, peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt them, nor was there anything missing from them all the while they were in Carmel. Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ”

So when David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David, and waited.

Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, “Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master. Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?”

Nabal’s rejection of David’s request is intentionally sharp and offensive. The phrase, “son of Jesse,” is meant to imply that David is a nobody because he’s from a nobody family. That’s nuts.

Nabal is introduced to us as harsh and evil in his doings, but it’s even worse than that. Nabal is the Hebrew word for fool. How he ended up with that name is a mystery, but it seems unlikely that his parents gave it to him at birth. Given his wealth, it could be a name people only used behind his back.

In any case, his actions here are true to his name. David’s men present their request humbly and make the point that Nabal’s shepherds have done quite well while they were near David’s men. The implication is that the zero “loss rate” for the sheep isn’t just okay; it’s extraordinary.

David’s men have been chasing off any predators.

Nabal’s foolishness is much more than just being harsh and evil in his doings. He lacks thankfulness. He shows this by not caring about the favors David’s men have done for his shepherds. But if he doesn’t appreciate favors from David’s men, then he doesn’t appreciate God’s blessings either.

That’s the essence of a fool.

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These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Saturday ones are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to the DEEP click here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.