1 Samuel 25:17

1Sa 25:17 Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he [is such] a son of Belial, that [a man] cannot speak to him.

Ver. 17. For evil is determined.] As may well be gathered from the strength and animosity of David and his men thus incensed.

For he is such a son of Belial.] Cervicosus et indomitus, biliosus et bellicosus, so extremely froward and foul tempered, that there is no talking to him: Proh durum et dirum caput! Caelius, the Roman orator, mortalium ille iracundissimus, was such another fool. {a}

{a} Sen., De Ira, lib. iii. cap. 8.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa_25:17

For he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.

The bad-tempered man

In this chapter you find a perfect picture of a choleric, bad-tempered man. There is a saying that the worst temper in the house always rules, and often it is so. I have seen father and mother weakly yielding to some boorish, ill-tempered child. You have met the workman who was feared by all his fellows because he was a churl, a sullen, violent-tempered man, a modern Nabal, which means a fool. What a picture of home life is drawn for us here in this chapter. In the foreground is Nabal, the grumpy, sullen, beetle-browed, coarse-tongued, drunken husband--the prototype of hundreds of husbands of today, Who rule in their own little world with all the despotism of a Nero, and who only need a larger platform and greater power to show us how inhuman, how cruel, and how like the devil men can become. That is Nabal in low life, but you find Nabal in high life, in political life, ay! and in church life too. And then there is Abigail, Nabals wife, in the picture, and she is its redeeming feature. She is as tactful as she is beautiful, and she knew her husbands moods well, and she is always particularly gracious when the wind is in the east, and Nabal is most out of temper. Hes gey bad to live with, was the testimony of Carlyles mother, and the reading of some of the letters his wife wrote are nothing less than heart breaking. If he would only be satisfied, she said, but I have learned that when he does not find fault he is pleased, and that has to content me. Such a wife as Abigail is a crown to her husband; a daily blessing from God; but Nabal had the dark spirit within him, and never saw her worth. There are men who will go through a rose garden and never smell its sweet fragrance. Graciousness, and sweetness, and gentleness are wasted on such natures as Nabals, but let those who have to deal with these churls remember that it is always worth while to practise these virtues, if only for their own sake. Abigail did not let Nabal destroy her good temper, although her married life was little better than a martyrdom. The mind, Milton tells us, is its own place, and it can make a heaven of hell, and a hell of heaven, and Abigail, denied the love of her husband, won the love and respect of the servants, and was a shelter in the time of storm to them. Nabal, says Dr. Whyte, died of a strange disease, indebtedness to his wife. He could not brook the thought that he owed his life to the good sense of his wife and to the forbearance of David; it was wormwood and gall, and it poisoned him, and he died of a heart frozen by his own wickedness. Have there not been times when our bad temper has ruled, and we have forgotten to be either just or generous? Nabal died of a frozen heart, but he has had a resurrection in many a life. Boorishness and churlishness were not buried in Nabals grave. Temper, says Bishop Watson, is nine-tenths of religion. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, pleads the Apostle. It is the Christ mind that is the great thing, not simply doing the right thing, but doing it in the right spirit. Nabal was a rich man, but he never was a gentleman; you could not make a gentleman out of such stuff as constituted Nabals nature. Have you met him--this loud-voiced, blatant, well-dressed, overfed churl. A quaint old Methodist used to say, Never judge a man by the size of his house. A very small rabbit may live in a very big hole. Behaviour, says Emerson, is the finest of the fine arts. Manners are the garments of the spirit, the eternal clothing of the being. Even religion turns sour with some men, and that which should spell light, brightness, and cheerfulness spells instead sourness, unrighteousness, and exclusiveness. You remember how Robert Falconers grandmother hid away his fiddle, fearful lest the lad should be tempted by it into worldly things, never dreaming that God melts the heart of some by touching the bow of a fiddle with His own figures, as He speaks to others by the voice of some great preacher. He has many ways of fulfilling Himself. How this churlishness destroys the best in life, and robs it of sweetness. The prodigal came home, and his reception would have been perfect but for the one thing, and that was his brothers churlishness. Sir, said Dr. Johnson, a man has no more right to say an uncivil thing than to act one; no more right to say a rude thing to another than to knock him down. Epictetus has left us a great lesson in his famous saying, If a man is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his own fault; for God hath made all men to be happy. (Samuel Herren.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hebrew, is accomplished.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(17) A son of Belial.—Belial was not a proper name, though it subsequently came to be considered one. It signifies simply worthlessness; here a “son of Belial” is an expression for a bad, worthless fellow.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17. such a son of Belial] Such an evil man. See on 1Sa_1:16. So wilful and obstinate that his servants dared not try to reason with him, but appealed to Abigail instead.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do,.... For the preservation of her family:

for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household; which he concluded, either from something that dropped from David's messengers, as they turned away from Nabal; or from the martial spirit of David himself, who would never put up such an affront and indignity cast upon him; or from some intelligence he had of David's arming his men, and marching to take vengeance:

for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him; meaning Nabal, who was such a worthless, passionate, and ill natured man, such a lawless and imperious one, that he would not suffer a man to speak to him about anything; and it was to no purpose to attempt it, which was a reason this servant did not choose to speak to him about this affair, but to Abigail; and suggests, that it would signify nothing for her to speak to him about it, but it would be most advisable for her to consider with herself what was to be done immediately, without consulting him: the words may be rendered, "for he is a son of Belial that speaks unto him" (a); or when "he speaks unto him", or it is told him; meaning not the servant that reported to David what Nabal said; for Abarbinel observes there were ten of them, and therefore it could not be said of them, he is a son of Belial; but rather David himself, as he and Kimchi observe it may be interpreted of; that though he was so good and upright a man, yet when it should be told him how Nabal had treated him, he would be so provoked at it, that he would become and act like a son of Belial; storm and rage, and vow destruction to Nabal and his family, and come out with his whole army to destroy them; but the first sense is best.

(a) "loquens ad cum".

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Determined, and as if it had already taken place, chap. xx. 7.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Evil is determined against our master; which it was easy to guess; either from some threatening expressions which David’s men used; or from the consideration of David’s great power, and that rage which so high a provocation was likely to produce in military persons.

A man cannot speak to him, to wit, without hazard to himself, and therefore I acquaint thee rather than him with this matter.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

17. Son of Belial — See note on 1Sa_1:16.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Can not speak - But he flies into a passion.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

For the evil has been decided. By Dovid against him.

He is too wicked a person to speak to. Our master is such a base person so that I cannot tell him that which I am telling you, because he will become angry with us.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.