1 Samuel 25:44

Contextual Overview

³⁶Then Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was in his house, holding a feast fit for a king. Nabal’s heart was cheerful, and he was very drunk, so she didn’t say anything to him until morning light. ³⁶ Avigayil came to Naval; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Naval's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: therefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. ³⁶ 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. ³⁶ Then Abigail went to Nabal, and look, he was holding a feast in his house like the feast of the king. Nabal was enjoying himself, and he was very drunk, so she did not tell him a thing, nothing at all, until the light of morning. ³⁶ And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until the morning light. ³⁶ When Abigail went back to Nabal, he was in the house, eating like a king. He was very drunk and in a good mood. So she told him nothing until the next morning. ³⁶ When Abigail went back to Nabal, he was holding a banquet in his house like that of the king. Nabal was having a good time and was very intoxicated. She told him absolutely nothing until morning's light. ³⁶Then Abigail came to Nabal, and he was holding a feast in his house [for the shearers], like the feast of a king. And Nabal's mood was joyous because he was very drunk; so she told him nothing at all until the morning light. ³⁶ Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was having a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was cheerful within him, for he was very drunk; so she did not tell him anything at all until the morning light. ³⁶ So Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he made a feast in his house, like the feast of a King, and Nabals heart was mery within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore shee tolde him nothing, neither lesse nor more, vntil the morning arose.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

But Saul: Rather, "For Saul," etc., as the particle ו, wav, frequently signifies; this being the cause why David took another wife.

Michal: 1 Samuel 18:20, 1 Samuel 18:27

Phalti: 2 Samuel 3:14, 2 Samuel 3:14, Phaltiel

Gallim: This town appears to have been situated in the tribe of Benjamin, as it is mentioned in Isaiah 10:30, with Michmash, Geba, etc.

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 14:49 - name of the firstborn 2 Samuel 3:15 - Phaltiel 1 Chronicles 15:29 - Michal

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish,.... Or "for Saul", c. i which is a reason for his marrying again, but no reason for marrying more wives than one. Michal was his first wife, and they lived lovingly together, until David was obliged to flee from Saul, and then he gave her to another; partly to vex David, and partly if he could to break the relation between him and David, that he might not be thought to be his son in law, and he to persecute one in such a relation to him; and that this might not give David any show of claim, or be the means of his rising to the throne. This Phalti, to whom he gave her, is called Phaltiel, 2 Samuel 3:15;

which [was] of Gallim; which very probably was a city in the tribe of Benjamin, since it is mentioned with several cities of that tribe, and as near Gibeah of Saul, Isaiah 10:29.

i ושאול "Saul enim", Tigurine version; "nam Saul", Junius Tremcillius, Piscator so Pool and Patrick.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Saul’s giving Michal to Phalti was intended to mark the final rupture of his own relations with David (compare Judges 14:20; 2 Samuel 3:7; 2 Samuel 16:21). Phalti or Phaltiel Was compelled by Abner to restore Michal to David 2 Samuel 3:15.

Gallin - A city of Benjamin, and in the neighborhood of another town called Laish.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 25:44. Phalti — Called also Phaltiel, 2 Samuel 3:16.

Of Gallim. — Probably a city or town in the tribe of Benjamin; see Isaiah 10:30. It is likely therefore that Saul chose this man because he was of his own tribe.

IN this chapter we have the account of the death of Samuel, who from his infancy had been devoted to God and the service of his people. He was born at a time in which religion was at a very low ebb in Israel, as there were but very few prophets, and no open vision - scarcely any revelation from God. Those who might be called prophets had no regular ministry of God's word; they were extraordinary messengers sent for a particular purpose, and not continued in the work any longer than the time necessary to deliver their extraordinary message.

Samuel is supposed to have been the first who established academies or schools for prophets, at least we do not hear of them before his time; and it is granted that they continued till the Babylonish captivity. This was a wise institution, and no doubt contributed much to the maintenance of pure religion, and the prevention of idolatry among that people.

Samuel reformed many abuses in the Jewish state, and raised it to a pitch of political consequence to which it had been long a stranger. He was very zealous for the honour of God, and supported the rights of pure religion, of the king, and of the people, against all encroachments. He was chief magistrate in Israel before the appointment of a king, and afterwards he acted as prime minister to Saul, though without being chosen or formally appointed to that station. Indeed, he seems on the whole to have been the civil and ecclesiastical governor, Saul being little more than general of the Israelitish forces.

In his office of minister in the state, he gave the brightest example of zeal, diligence, inflexible integrity, and uncorruptedness. He reproved both the people and the king for their transgressions, with a boldness which nothing but his sense of the Divine authority could inspire, and yet he tempered it with a sweetness which showed the interest he felt in their welfare, and the deep and distressing concern he felt for their back-slidings and infidelities.

He was incorrupt; he received no man's bribe; he had no pension from the state; he enriched none of his relatives from the public purse; left no private debts to be discharged by his country. He was among the Hebrews what Aristides is said to have been among the Greeks, so poor at his death, though a minister of state, that he did not leave property enough to bury him. Justice was by him duly and impartially administered, and oppression and wrong had no existence.

If there ever was a heaven-born minister, it was Samuel; in whose public and private conduct there was no blemish, and whose parallel cannot be found in the ancient or modern history of any country in the universe.

Let ministers of state who have sought for nothing but their own glory, and have increased the public burdens by their improvident expenditure; who have endeavoured, by their wordy representations, to dazzle and elude the people, and impose false grandeur in the place of true greatness and solid prosperity; who have oppressed the many, and enriched the worthless few; fall down at the feet of THIS heaven-born man, and learn, from this immaculate judge of Israel, what a faithful servant to his king, and an incorruptible minister of state, means, and in retiring from their high station, or in going to appear before the judgment-seat of God, see whether, in the presence of their king, and in the face of the thousands of their people, they can boldly say, "Behold, here am I! Witness against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose ass have I seized? Whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, by the imposition of heavy taxes for the support of needless expenses, and the payment of venal men? Or of whose hand have I taken any bribe to blind my eyes? Scrutinize my conduct, examine the state of my family, compare their present circumstances with what they were previously to my administration, and see if you can find aught in my hands." See 1 Samuel 12:1, c.

O, how seldom in the annals of the world, from the assembled heads of the great body politic, can the departing prime minister hear, "Thou hast not defrauded us, thou hast not oppressed us neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand! " This voice call be heard from Gilgal; but of what other minister can this be spoken but of Samuel the seer, who was the gift of God's mercy to the people of Israel; whose memory was too precious to be intrusted to public monuments, but stands, and alas; almost unique in the BOOK OF GOD? Of Daniel, and his administration, I shall have occasion to speak elsewhere.

A prime minister, deeply devoted to God and faithful to his king and to his country, is so rare a character in the world, that when he does occur, he should be held up to public admiration. But I have no parallel for Samuel. See the notes on 1 Samuel 12:1-25 and on 1 Samuel 24:6.