36 And Abigail went back to Nabal; and he was feasting in his house like a king; and Nabal's heart was full of joy, for he had taken much wine; so she said nothing to him till dawn came.
Wine makes men foolish, and strong drink makes men come to blows; and whoever comes into error through these is not wise.
Now Absalom had given orders to his servants, saying, Now take note when Amnon's heart is glad with wine; and when I say to you, Make an attack on Amnon, then put him to death without fear: have I not given you orders? be strong and without fear.
And she said to her young men, Go on in front of me and I will come after you. But she said nothing to her husband Nabal.
For though they are like twisted thorns, and are overcome as with drink, they will come to destruction like stems of grass fully dry.
And do not take overmuch wine by which one may be overcome, but be full of the Spirit;
For this reason he says, Be awake, you who are sleeping, and come up from among the dead, and Christ will be your light.
But give attention to yourselves, for fear that your hearts become over-full of the pleasures of food and wine, and the cares of this life, and that day may come on you suddenly, and take you as in a net:
And he said to the master of the house, When you give a feast, do not send for your friends and your brothers and your family or your neighbours who have wealth, for they may give a feast for you, and so you will get a reward.
A curse on him who gives his neighbour the wine of his wrath, making him overcome with strong drink from the cup of his passion, so that you may be a witness of their shame! You are full of shame in place of glory: take your part in the drinking, and let your shame be uncovered: the cup of the Lord's right hand will come round to you and your glory will be covered with shame.
Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, drinking wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, while he was overcome with wine, gave orders for them to put before him the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar, his father, had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem; so that the king and his lords, his wives and his other women, might take their drink from them. Then they took in the gold and silver vessels which had been in the Temple of the house of God at Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives and his other women, took wine from them. They took their wine and gave praise to the gods of gold and silver, of brass and iron and wood and stone. In that very hour the fingers of a man's hand were seen, writing opposite the support for the light on the white wall of the king's house, and the king saw the part of the hand which was writing.
And I will make her chiefs and her wise men, her rulers and her captains and her men of war, overcome with wine; their sleep will be an eternal sleep without awaking, says the King; the Lord of armies is his name.
And further, these are uncertain through wine, and have gone out of the right way through strong drink: the priest and the prophet are uncertain through strong drink, they are overcome by wine, they have gone out of the way through strong drink; their vision is false, they go wrong in their decisions. For all the tables are covered with coughed-up food, so that there is not a clean place.
Cursed are those who get up early in the morning to give themselves up to strong drink; who keep on drinking far into the night till they are heated with wine!
A feast is for laughing, and wine makes glad the heart; but by the one and the other money is wasted.
Of laughing I said, It is foolish; and of joy--What use is it? I made a search with my heart to give pleasure to my flesh with wine, still guiding my heart with wisdom, and to go after foolish things, so that I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under the heavens all the days of their life.
All is well for the man who is kind and gives freely to others; he will make good his cause when he is judged.
In the third year of his rule he gave a feast to all his captains and his servants; and the captains of the army of Persia and Media, the great men and the rulers of the divisions of his kingdom, were present before him; And for a long time, even a hundred and eighty days, he let them see all the wealth and the glory of his kingdom and the great power and honour which were his. And at the end of that time, the king gave a feast for all the people who were present in Shushan, the king's town, small as well as great, for seven days, in the outer square of the garden of the king's house. There were fair hangings of white and green and blue, fixed with cords of purple and the best linen to silver rings and pillars of polished stone: the seats were of gold and silver on a floor of red and white and yellow and black stone. And they gave them drink in gold vessels, every vessel being different, and wine of the kingdom, freely given by the king.
Who says, Oh! who says, Ah! who has violent arguments, who has grief, who has wounds without cause, whose eyes are dark? Those who are seated late over the wine: those who go looking for mixed wine. Keep your eyes from looking on the wine when it is red, when its colour is bright in the cup, when it goes smoothly down: In the end, its bite is like that of a snake, its wound like the wound of a poison-snake. Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say twisted things. Yes, you will be like him who takes his rest on the sea, or on the top of a sail-support. They have overcome me, you will say, and I have no pain; they gave me blows without my feeling them: when will I be awake from my wine? I will go after it again.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 1 Samuel 25
Commentary on 1 Samuel 25 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 25
We have here some intermission of David's troubles by Saul. Providence favoured him with a breathing time, and yet this chapter gives us instances of the troubles of David. If one vexation seems to be over, we must not be secure; a storm may arise from some other point, as here to David.
1Sa 25:1
We have here a short account of Samuel's death and burial.
1Sa 25:2-11
Here begins the story of Nabal.
1Sa 25:12-17
Here is,
1Sa 25:18-31
We have here an account of Abigail's prudent management for the preserving of her husband and family from the destruction that was just coming upon them; and we find that she did her part admirably well and fully answered her character. The passion of fools often makes those breaches in a little time which the wise, with all their wisdom, have much ado to make up again. It is hard to say whether Abigail was more miserable in such a husband or Nabal happy in such a wife. A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband, to protect as well as adorn, and will do him good and not evil. Wisdom in such a case as this was better than weapons of war.
Abigail must endeavour to atone for Nabal's faults. Now he had been in two ways rude to David's messengers, and in them to David: He had denied them the provisions they asked for, and he had given them very provoking language. Now,
1Sa 25:32-35
As an ear-ring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear, Prov. 25:12. Abigail was a wise reprover of David's passion, and he gave an obedient ear to the reproof, according to his own principle (Ps. 141:5): Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness. Never was such an admonition either better given or better taken.
1Sa 25:36-44
We are now to attend Nabal's funeral and Abigail's wedding.