Bible Strands
1 Samuel 25:40
When his servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said, “David has sent us to take you as his wife.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David’s servants arrive at Carmel to deliver a formal marriage proposal to Abigail immediately after Nabal’s death and David’s initial command to seek her hand.
The words — עַבְדֵי (avdei) denotes David’s household attendants acting as official agents, while אֲבִיגַיִל (avigail) identifies the recipient as a specific political and familial figure rather than an anonymous bride.
The thread — The proposal structure mirrors the servant’s report in Genesis 24:51 and the boundary restriction against Canaanite wives in Genesis 24:37, framing David’s request within established patriarchal marriage protocols.
Why it lands — The text requires a reader to observe how political necessity and divine providence intersect in a marriage arrangement that bypasses traditional tribal and ethnic boundaries without editorial commentary.
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 when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife.
Cross-references
- Genesis 24:51 Rebekah is here before you. Take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, just as the LORD has decreed.”
- Genesis 24:37 My master made me swear an oath and said, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I dwell,