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Hereupon one of those that kept the flocks of Nabal, said to his
mistress, Nabal's wife, that when David sent to her husband he had received
no civil answer at all from him; but that her husband had moreover added
very reproachful language, while yet David had taken extraordinary care
to keep his flocks from harm, and that what had passed would prove very
pernicious to his master. When the servant had said this, Abigail, for
that was his wife's name, saddled her asses, and loaded them with all sorts
of presents; and, without telling her husband any thing of what she was
about, (for he was not sensible on account of his drunkenness,) she went
to David. She was then met by David as she was descending a hill, who was
coming against Nabal with four hundred men. When the woman saw David, she
leaped down from her ass, and fell on her face, and bowed down to the ground;
and entreated him not to bear in mind the words of Nabal, since he knew
that he resembled his name. Now Nabal, in the Hebrew tongue, signifiesfolly. So she made her apology, that she did not see the messengers
whom he sent. "Forgive me, therefore," said she, "and thank
God, who hath hindered thee from shedding human blood; for so long as thou
keepest thyself innocent, he will avenge thee of wicked men, 1
for what miseries await Nabal, they will fall upon the heads of thine enemies.
Be thou gracious to me, and think me so far worthy as to accept of these
presents from me; and, out of regard to me, remit that wrath and that anger
which thou hast against my husband and his house, for mildness and humanity
become thee, especially as thou art to be our king." Accordingly,
David accepted her presents, and said, "Nay, but, O woman, it was
no other than God's mercy which brought thee to us today, for, otherwise,
thou hadst never seen another day, I having sworn 2
to destroy Nabal's house this very night, and to leave alive not one of
you who belonged to a man that was wicked and ungrateful to me and my companions;
but now hast thou prevented me, and seasonably mollified my anger, as being
thyself under the care of God's providence: but as for Nabal, although
for thy sake he now escape punishment, he will not always avoid justice;
for his evil conduct, on some other occasion, will be his ruin."
1 In this and the two next sections, we may perceive how Josephus, nay, how Abigail herself, would understand, the "not avenging ourselves, but heaping coals of fire on the head of the injurious," Proverbs 25:22; Romans 12:20, not as we do now, of them into but of leaving them to the judgment of God, "to whom vengeance belongeth," Deuteronomy 32:35; Psalms 94:1; Hebrews 10:30, and who will take vengeance on the wicked. And since all God's judgments are just, and all fit to be executed, and all at length for the good of the persons punished, I incline to think that to be the meaning of this phrase of "heaping coals of fire on their heads."
2 We may note here, that how sacred soever an oath was esteemed among the people of God in old times, they did not think it obligatory where the action was plainly unlawful. For so we see it was in this case of David, who, although he had sworn to destroy Nabal and his family, yet does he here, and 1 Samuel 25:32-41, bless God for preventing his keeping his oath, and shedding of blood, which he had swore to do.
Flavius Josephus. The Works of Flavius Josephus. Translated by. William Whiston, A.M. Auburn and Buffalo. John E. Beardsley. 1895.
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