Bible Strands
1 Samuel 25:36
When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Abigail arrives at Nabal’s house to find him hosting a lavish, king-like feast while intoxicated. She withholds the news of her encounter with David until dawn.
The words — The Hebrew מִשְׁתֶּה (mish.Teh) denotes a formal feast, repeated as כְּ/מִשְׁתֵּה (ke./mish.Teh) to emphasize the banquet’s royal scale. This lexical choice highlights the contrast between Nabal’s indulgence and his impending judgment.
The thread — The narrative echoes the delayed disclosure in 1 Samuel 25:19 and parallels the strategic use of feasts and wine in 2 Samuel 13:23 and 2 Samuel 13:28. These connections frame the banquet as a setting for critical, often dangerous, revelations.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that timing and restraint can avert disaster, as Abigail’s silence preserves the life David spared. It asks the reader to evaluate when silence serves wisdom rather than concealment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 25:19 and said to her young men, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
- 2 Samuel 13:23 Two years later, when Absalom’s sheepshearers were at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, he invited all the sons of the king.
- 2 Samuel 13:28 Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant!”
- Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.
- Matthew 10:16 Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
- Romans 13:13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
- 1 Kings 20:16 They marched out at noon while Ben-hadad and the 32 kings allied with him were in their tents getting drunk.
- Esther 1:3 In the third year of his reign, Xerxes held a feast for all his officials and servants. The military leaders of Persia and Media were there, along with the nobles and princes of the provinces.
- Psalms 112:5 It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely, whose affairs are guided by justice.