Schemuel I 25:10 Midrasch: Midrash Tanchuma & Midrash Tehillim

Abraham begot Isaac (Gen. 25:19). R. Isaac stated; No generation lacks scoffers. While Nabal was shearing his flock, David sent some of his young men to him with the request: Give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thy hand, unto thy servants, and to thy son David (I Sam. 25:8). But Nabal retorted: Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays that break away every man from his master; shall I then take my bread and my water and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers and give it unto men of whom I know not whence they are? (ibid., vv. 10–11). When David’s men returned and repeated Nabal’s words, he armed himself and his soldiers, and with their weapons started out to destroy Nabal. But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying: “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; but he hath spoken rudely to them” (ibid., v. 14). As soon as she heard what had transpired, she prepared a gift which she took to David, as it is said: Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of corn … and she said unto her men: “Go on before me; I come after you.” But she told not her husband Nabal (ibid., vv. 18–19). Later on Scripture states: And it came to pass about ten days later, that the Lord smote Nabal so that he died…. and David sent and spoke unto Abigail to take her to him to wife (ibid. 38:39). After he had her brought to him, David stayed apart from her for three months to determine whether or not she had conceived with Nabal. After the third month, David had intercourse with her and she became pregnant. The scoffers in that generation asserted that she had actually conceived from Nabal. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He ordered the angel in charge of the formation of embryos to fashion that embryo in the likeness of its father so that everyone would be forced to acknowledge that David was the father. We know that this is so from the verse And his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and his second, Chileab, of Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite (II Sam. 3:2). Why does Scripture call him Chileab (khilav)? Because he was completely like his father (kulo av), and everyone who saw him said: “David is this child’s father.”

To conquer illness. It is said (Proverbs 18:22) "He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord." There is no end to a good woman, just as there is no end to a bad woman, as it is written (Ecclesiastes 7:26) "And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her." Abigail was better than all the sacrifices in the world, as if David had done the deed he planned to do, he would not have received atonement, but she came to him and saved him. Thus, she was better than all the sacrifices. Conquer illness, for just as sacrifices bring atonement, illness does too. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: "Good shall come and be good for him, and evil shall go in its evil." (1 Samuel 25:38) What caused him to die? It was because his hand was short in observing the commandments, as it says (1 Samuel 25:25) "Let not my lord regard this scoundrel Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him." "Nabal" refers to his evil inclination. Similarly, it says (Deuteronomy 15:9) "Beware that there be not a base thought in your heart." My lord David said to him (1 Samuel 25:25) "Nabal is his name, and folly is with him." Rabbi Simon said: "He is called 'Nabal' because he was foolish; the two words have the same numerical value. Just as Laban was deceitful, so was Nabal. Since both were deceitful, Solomon spoke of both when he said (Proverbs 12:20) "Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of peace is joy." Who are those who make peace between Israel and their Father in Heaven? They are the people of Israel to whom peace was given, as it is said (Psalms 29:11) "May the Lord give strength to His people; May the Lord bless His people with peace." Abigail said to David, "My lord, when this judgment comes before you, what will you do?" The poor man went and said to the master of the house, "Do me justice and give me one piece of bread, and I will not be in need of you." The poor man fell upon him and killed him. If they come to you for judgment, what will you say to them? You are uncertain about the matter and you cannot make a decision. And they say, "He did not act thus with the wicked who did not give to him, and you are doubtful." As it is said (1 Samuel 25:17), "Let not this thing be a stumbling block to you." Do not be doubtful and do not say that because I am king, no one can rebuke me. Rebuke yourself. And so it is said (Zephaniah 2:1), "Search yourselves and seek righteousness." If you want to adorn others, adorn yourself first and then adorn others. Let not this thing be a stumbling block to you. You already have one beam in your own eye. What is (1 Samuel 25:31), "and you will remember your truth"? She said to him, "Do not forget me. I will be before you when this judgment comes before you and when you judge it." "Be mindful of the good that she did for me when I was in distress, so that I did not shed blood. If I had committed that act, I would not be able to atone for it. She said to him, "This is not from you, do not exalt yourself. The Lord sent you to me, as it is said (1 Samuel 25:32-33), 'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me. And blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you.' And you too should be blessed, as it is said (1 Samuel 25:33), 'Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you.' David left sin behind and Nabal entered it, therefore Nabal said in his heart (1 Samuel 25:25), 'There is no God.' When David confronted him, both were corrupt, as it is said (Genesis 6:12), 'All flesh had corrupted their way.' They were both abominations before the Lord, as it is said (Deuteronomy 23:19), 'An abomination of the Lord your God are both of them.' Everything is revealed before you, for I am wise and seek the Lord. As it says (1 Samuel 18:14), 'And David acted wisely in all his ways.' Therefore, Nabal said in his heart, etc. What is the corruption in corruption? Similarly, it says in the generation of the flood (Genesis 6:12), 'All flesh had corrupted their way.' And so Abigail says to David (1 Samuel 25:25), 'Do not pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal.' What is the worthlessness? It refers to revealing secrets. And so it says (1 Samuel 2:12-22), 'The sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the Lord. They lay with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.' Another explanation of 'deceit in the heart of those who plan evil' (Proverbs 12:20) is that it refers to Doeg, who falsely accused David, as it says (1 Samuel 22:9), 'Doeg the Edomite, who was stationed over the servants of Saul.' Similarly, he said (1 Samuel 25:10), 'Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse?' And he denied God, as it says (Psalms 14:1), 'The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."' Everything has gone astray, but anything that has gone astray from the right path can still return through repentance. But here, it does not say that everything has gone astray, but rather everything has denied. They were all denied, both externally and internally."

To the chief musician, with instrumental music. When the wicked came against [David] to seize him. This refers to what is written in (Proverbs 29:12), "If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials become wicked." When Saul's followers saw that he was inclined to listen to slanderous words about David, they immediately came to him and said, "Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse?" (Shmuel Aleph 25:10) Similarly, when Doeg the Edomite came, and when the Ziphites came to Saul and reported on David's whereabouts, they did so with the intention of causing harm to David.