"I Married a Fool"

No, this is not Cherie's description of our marriage. This is Abigail's description of her marriage in 1 Sam 25.25. This is another instance where it pays mighty dividends to study the definition of Hebrew proper names. Abigail is married to Nabal. The word Nabal means "a fool."

One wonders what exactly his parents were thinking, "Let's set the little boy off right in life, let's call him "The Fool." We don't know how he got his name, whether it was a nickname he earned through his behavior, or whether that was his name from the start and it doesn't really matter. Nabal means "a fool" and he acts like a fool. He's also described as "churlish and evil" (KJV). One would have to search long and hard to find anyone in the Bible described in a worse way.

One thing that fascinates me about the narrative here is Abigail's character. She is married to a fool, she knows it, the servants know it, David certainly knows it, but what do we find her doing? Being a good wife to Nabal. She ends up saving his life! This is a woman of character.

After Nabal dies (the Lord smote Nabal [KJV]), David sends his servants to take Abigail as his wife (When my wife—who is on the same Bible reading plan as I—read this passage, she said, "Wow, way to woo a woman, David. Send servants to propose." Strange culture, that).

A couple of things stand out to me in this story. First, it's possible to be the richest man in your neighborhood and still be a fool. Second, it's possible to be married to the biggest fool in your neighborhood and still live righteously.

At the House of Salvation

Is it any surprise that when the Philistines sent the captured Ark back to Israel that it stopped at the house of Joshua the Bethshemite? Joshua means "The Lord is salvation," and here came a key piece of that salvation up the road on the back of a cart. It's as if the Lord is reminding the Israelites that salvation comes through him.

Joshua starts out well. He immediately breaks up the cart for wood and then offers up one of the cattle as a burnt offering. The men of Bethshemesh do not end so well. Some of them look into the Ark and a number (the text says 70 and 50,000 which seems improbable and we know that the book of Samuel is the worst preserved of any book in the Scriptures, so there is a good possibility that this is an error in passing down the text) are struck down and die, thus demonstrating that God is holy and his instructions should be followed.

One of the things that strikes me about this whole episode is that God does all of the work himself. The Israelites TOTALLY blow this episode, but the Ark is returned by God's work and initiative. Grace and mercy in action here.

Abigail

Pondering the character and conduct of Abigail this morning in 1 Sam 25. The name Abigail means: Abigail #1 (ab’-e-gul) = Father of exultation; father of joy; cause of joy; the joy of my father; exultation; joy; gladness; my father is joy. She was a cause of joy, perhaps, to her father? From her character and conduct one can imagine that she lived up to her name, although her marriage to Nabal was unfortunate (did her father give her in marriage to Nabal because he was wealthy? It seems like a genuine possibility).

We find her both honest enough to admit the character of her husband (which his servants also recognize and admit, this was not an embittered woman making things up) and filled with tact, diplomacy, and wisdom as she recognizes the slight to David's character by not reimbursing him for protecting Nabal's interests, and acts quickly to defuse the situation. She was also faithful to her worthless husband.

Her humble response to David's marriage proposal (she knew somehow that God had anointed David as the future king of Israel) reveals again her wisdom and tact. One imagines that she was a good wife to her (new) husband.

Hannah

I am in Samuel 1, this morning, and struck again with the character of Hannah. As the New American Commentary points out, this is no accident. The narrative is constructed to point out Hannah's character in such a way that we do not miss it.

Hannah is portrayed as the most pious woman in the Old Testament. Here she is shown going up to the Lord’s house; no other woman in the Old Testament is mentioned doing this. In addition, Hannah is the only woman shown making and fulfilling a vow to the Lord; she is also the only woman who is specifically said to pray (Hb. pll; 1:10, 12, 26–27; 2:1); her prayer is also among the longest recorded in the Old Testament. Furthermore, her prayer includes the most recorded utterances of Yahweh’s name by a woman (eighteen). She is shown avoiding the faults of the first infertile covenant woman by seeking help from Yahweh rather than pursuing crafty schemes (cf. Gen 16:2). She also avoided the fault of Jephthah, who likewise made a vow that separated him from his child; whereas Jephthah gave his daughter as a burnt offering, Hannah gave her child as a living sacrifice (cf. Rom 12:1). NAC

In addition there is also a mystery here. What is the point in emphasizing Hannah's barrenness which the writer specifically says came from the Lord?

The Lord had closed Hannah’s womb. This surprising affirmation—without parallel in Hebrew narrative regarding the Lord’s people (but see Gen 18:20)—appears twice in these verses (vv. 5–6). Hannah’s infertility was no accident of nature; it was the deliberate work of the Lord. There is an inescapable irony in these statements. The same God who in the Torah commanded humanity, and specifically Israel, to be fruitful and multiply (Gen 1:28; 9:1; 35:11) had made Hannah the Israelite incapable of fulfilling the divine command. The text’s statement that it was God who closed Hannah’s womb is significant here, for biblical narratives usually use God’s personal name when they describe activities that are significant in Israel’s covenantal relationship with God. Yet in this pair of statements lies a mystery: What good covenantal purposes can be accomplished through a woman’s sterility? NAC

Don't be fooled into thinking that this is an accident; that the writer did not understand what he was doing. He fully understands the tension between God's command (Be fruitful and multiply) and God's action (he closes Hannah's womb). That is exactly the point. He wants us to see the difficulty here.