וְשֵׁ֤ם הָאִישׁ֙ נָבָ֔ל וְשֵׁ֥ם אִשְׁתּ֖וֹ אֲבִגָ֑יִל וְהָאִשָּׁ֤ה טֽוֹבַת־שֶׂ֙כֶל֙ וִ֣יפַת תֹּ֔אַר וְהָאִ֥ישׁ קָשֶׁ֛ה וְרַ֥ע מַעֲלָלִ֖ים וְה֥וּא כלבו [כָלִבִּֽי׃]
El nombre de aquel varón era Nabal, y el nombre de su mujer, Abigail. Y era aquella mujer de buen entendimiento y de buena gracia; mas el hombre era duro y de malos hechos; y era del linaje de Caleb.
English Explanation of Mishnah Sanhedrin
“And he shall not have many wives” (Deut. 17:17) eighteen only. Rabbi Judah says: “He may take many wives provided they don’t turn his heart away [from worshipping God]. Rabbi Shimon says: “Even one that might turn his heart away, he should not marry. Why then does it say, “He shall not have many wives”, even if they are like Avigayil. The remainder of the mishnah is a midrash (exegesis) on Deuteronomy 16-19. The first midrash discusses the limitation on the number of wives a king may take. According to the first opinion he may only (!) have 18 wives. Rabbi Judah emphasizes the continuation of verse 17 which says, “lest his heart go astray.” According to Rabbi Judah the verse does not prohibit a certain number of wives, rather it prohibits the king from taking any wife who will lead his heart astray. The Bible itself relates that this is exactly what happened with Solomon in his old age (See I Kings 11). Rabbi Eliezer responds to Rabbi Judah and says that if the verse had only meant to say that he may not marry women who will lead his heart astray then why did it state a specific number. Therefore, Rabbi Eliezer says that he may not marry many wives even if they were like Avigayil, David’s wife, who is the prototypical example of a smart and good wife (see I Samuel 25:3).
Rashi
and Celubai This is Caleb as is indicated below (v. 18): “And Caleb the son of Hezron,” and in I Sam. (25:3), it says: “... and he was a Calebite,” (כָלְבִּי), which the Targum renders: “of the house of Caleb,” and so he explains the word: כָלְבִּי, that he (Nabal) held himself [superior] and boasted that there was no one of such high lineage as he in the entire tribe; i.e, if Samuel gave him (David) the throne, the throne will come to me. Therefore, he said, (ibid. v. 10): “Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? Nowadays, there are many slaves,” for he is descended from Ruth the Moabitess, and Jerahmeel his brother married a gentile woman, as is written below, and that is the meaning of “Celubai,” he was haughty and proud (with everythng); his heart exalted him.
Or HaChaim
ולרבקה אח ושמו לבן, Rebeccah had a brother called Laban. Our sages observe that whenever the Bible mentions righteous people, their name precedes them, whereas the reverse is the case when the Bible mentions wicked people (Esther Rabbah 6,3). Examples are Ruth 2,1; 1,2. Samuel I 25,3. It is puzzling then that Laban is introduced here in the manner of the righteous. In order to understand this we must pay attention to the verse describing Laban as running. Our sages in Yalkut Shimoni 109 state that as soon as Laban saw the nose-ring on Rebeccah he became greedy for money. This does not throw any light on our problem. The Torah should have written: "As soon as he saw the nose-ring, etc., Laban ran," instead of mentioning the fact that Laban saw the nose-ring after he had already commenced to run towards Eliezer. Besides, why did the Torah repeat the words: "to the man outside at the well" in verse 29 and then again in verse 30?