1 Samuel 25:31

1Sa 25:31 That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.

Ver. 31. That this shall be no grief unto thee.] No terror or torment to thy conscience, for shedding innocent blood, which is a crying sin, and lieth heavy upon the soul. The Hebrew word rendered grief signifieth staggering or stumbling: such is the guilt of sin. The Latin rendereth it singultum, sighing. One drop of it may trouble a whole sea of outward comforts.

Then remember thine handmaid.] For the good counsel I have now given thee; and befriend me accordingly.

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 25:31. This shall be no grief unto thee — Thy mind and conscience will be free from all the torment which such an action would cause in thee. By which, she insinuates what a blemish this would be to his glory, what a disturbance to his peace, if he proceeded to execute his purpose; and withal implies, how comfortable it would be to him to remember that he had, for conscience toward God, restrained his passions. Shed blood causeless — Which, she signifies, would be done if he should go on. For though Nabal had been guilty of abominable rudeness and ingratitude, yet he had done nothing worthy of death by the laws of God or of man. And whatsoever he had done, the rest of his family were innocent. Or that my lord hath avenged himself — Which is directly contrary to God’s law, Lev 19:18; Deu 32:35. Then — When God shall make thee king, let me find grace in thy sight.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That he hath not avenged himself, which things would have tormented his conscience.

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

(31) Then remember thine handmaid.—With exquisite grace Abigail wound up her earnest simple words to the king of the future with a reference to the period when those happy days, to which she looked forward with such certainty, should have arrived—then David must have no deeds of violence, of furious passion, and of shed blood to look back upon. When that golden time should have come—as come it surely would—he must remember then that Abigail, who was now speaking to him, had saved him from the commission of a wild and sinful act, and, in grateful memory for the good service, must then look kindly on her from his throne.

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

31. grief] The Heb. word, which occurs nowhere else, probably means stumbling-block. Such a crime as David had meditated would have remained as an obstacle in the way of his enjoying a clear conscience.

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.

This shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord,.... It would give him no trouble, nor distress of mind, or sit uneasy on his conscience:

either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself; which she suggests it might do, if he had shed the blood of Nabal's family, his children and servants, who were no ways concerned with him in his rudeness and ingratitude; or had avenged himself on him for the same, by taking away his life, which such crimes, however great and aggravated, did not deserve; but, on the contrary, it would be a satisfaction and pleasure to him to reflect upon it, that he had passed over such an offence, and shed no blood on account of it:

but when the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord; by delivering him out of the hands of all his enemies, and have raised him to, and settled him on the throne of Israel, of which she made no doubt:

then remember thine handmaid; the advice she gave not to shed blood, and take vengeance, for which he would then be thankful, and gratefully remember: some, as Ben Gersom, think she said this under a spirit of prophecy, that Nabal should die quickly, and she should be David's wife; but rather her meaning is, that when he should be king, and she should apply to him on any account, to have justice done her, and to be assisted and relieved when oppressed, that he would then remember her, and show her favour.

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

Scruple. Hebrew, "scandal," or sin, for David might defend himself, but ought not to attack or take revenge, like a king. (Grotius) --- Innocent. Many of Nabal’s family were such, and even his fault did not deserve death. Hebrew, "shed blood without cause." (Calmet) --- Handmaid, who has suggested this good advice. (Menochius) --- David was so much pleased with her prudence and beauty, that he afterwards married her.

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).

Nor offence of heart unto my lord; thy mind and conscience will be free from all the torment which the guilt and shame of such an action would cause in thee. By which, she cunningly insinuates what a blemish this would be to his glory, what a disturbance to his peace and felicity, if he proceeded to execute his purpose; and withal implies how sweet and comfortable it would be to him to remember, that he had for conscience to God denied himself, and restrained his passions.

That thou hast shed blood causeless; which she signifies would be done if he should go on. For though Nabal had been guilty of abominable rudeness, uncharitableness, and ingratitude; yet he had done nothing worthy of death, by the laws of God or of man. And whatsoever he had done, the rest of his family were innocent.

That my lord hath avenged himself; which is directly contrary to God’s law, Lev 19:18; Deu 32:35, compared with Rom 12:19.

When the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid; when God shall make thee king, and I shall have occasion to apply myself to time for justice or relief, let me find grace in thy sight, and so let me do at this time. Or, and the Lord will bless my lord, and recompense thee for this mortification of thy passion, and thou wilt remember thine hand-maid, i.e. thou wilt remember my counsel with satisfaction to thyself; and thankfulness to me.

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

31. This… no grief unto thee — An act of cruel bloodshed might have been an occasion of anguish to him at a later day, but an act of forgiveness and mercy never.

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

No grief - The mind and conscience will be free from all the torment which such an action would cause in thee. By which, she intimates, what a blemish this would be to his glory, what a disturbance to his peace, if he proceeded to execute his purpose: and withal implies, how comfortable it would be to him to remember, that he had for conscience to God, restrained his passions. Causeless - Which she signifies would be done if he should go on. For though Nabal had been guilty of abominable rudeness, and ingratitude; yet he had done nothing worthy of death, by the laws of God or of man. And whatsoever he had done, the rest of his family were innocent. Avenged - Which is directly contrary to God's law, Levit xix, 18 Deut. xxxii, 35. Then - When God shall make thee king, let me find grace in thy sight.

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

That this not be…an obstacle. As a stumbling block, as in, 'and the stumbling [לְפִיק] of the knees'; for had you done this, you would not be able to open your mouth to reprove anyone in future generations, concerning bloodshed.

And that my master has avenged himself. That you avenge yourself.

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.