Bible Strands
1 Samuel 25:37
In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these events, and his heart failed within him, and he became like a stone.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Nabal’s wife informs him of Abigail’s intervention after the feast concludes and morning arrives. The narrative shifts from drunken celebration to sober reckoning.
The words — The Hebrew phrase בְּ/צֵ֤את הַ/יַּ֙יִן (be./Tzet hai./Ya.yin) literally means “when the wine had gone out,” marking the end of his intoxication. This lexical marker signals the transition from altered state to sober awareness.
The thread — This moment of sober realization parallels the divine affliction of confusion described in Deuteronomy 28:28. The narrative tension echoes David’s earlier threats in 1 Samuel 25:22 and 1 Samuel 25:34, which Abigail’s actions averted.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that sobering to truth brings immediate psychological collapse. It requires the reader to recognize the direct consequence of rejecting mediation and facing unvarnished reality.
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
But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 28:28 The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind,
- 1 Samuel 25:22 May God punish David, and ever so severely, if I let one male belonging to Nabal survive until morning.”
- 1 Samuel 25:34 Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, then surely no male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by morning light.”
- Job 15:21 Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
- Proverbs 23:29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes?