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A wealthy sheep master of Maon and a member of the house of Caleb (1 Samuel 25:2-39). Nabal was "harsh and evil in his doings" and was "such a scoundrel" that no one could reason with him (1 Samuel 25:3, 17). When David was hiding from Saul, he sent ten men to Nabal to ask for food for himself and his followers. Nabal refused. David, who had protected people in the area from bands of marauding Bedouin, was so angered by Nabal's refusal that he determined to kill Nabal and every male in his household. (1 Samuel 25:4-22).
Nabal's wife Abigail realizing the danger threatening her family because of her husband's stupidity, made haste and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already prepared, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisons, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys (1 Samuel 25:18). She took these gifts to David.
Her quick action soothed David's anger.
When Abigail returned home, she found a great feast in progress, and her husband Nabal "was very drunk" (1 Samuel 25:36). When Abigail told Nabal of the destruction and death that he almost brought upon his household - Immediately, Nabal's "heart died within him, and he became like a stone" (1 Samuel 25:37). He died about ten days later. Abigail later became one of David's wives.
Next person in the Bible: Naboth
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