The Meaning of 1 Samuel 25:3 Explained

1 Samuel 25:3

KJV: Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.

YLT: And the name of the man is Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail, and the woman is of good understanding, and of fair form, and the man is hard and evil in doings; and he is a Calebite.

Darby: And the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance; but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was a Calebite.

ASV: Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Now the name  of the man  [was] Nabal;  and the name  of his wife  Abigail:  and [she was] a woman  of good  understanding,  and of a beautiful  countenance:  but the man  [was] churlish  and evil  in his doings;  and he [was] of the house of Caleb. 

What does 1 Samuel 25:3 Mean?

Context Summary

1 Samuel 25:2-17 - A Rich Man's Churlishness
This Carmel was a city in the mountains of Judah, ten miles south of Hebron. See Joshua 15:55. Though a descendant of Caleb, Nabal had none of that hero's spirit. He had great wealth, but little wit. Today the Arab tribe which guards the shepherd or caravan, or restrains itself from plundering, expects some acknowledgment. It was unfair that the rich sheep-master should take all the advantage and make no return, and altogether too bad to cap injustice with a coarse jest. Nabal's shepherds were quite explicit in their testimony to the benefits they had received, 1 Samuel 25:7; 1 Samuel 25:15-16. His jibes and churlishness justified the general estimate entertained by those who knew him best.
For David to take the sword to avenge the insult stands out in striking contrast to Him who, "when He was reviled, reviled not again." Revenge for an insult where one has personally suffered has no place in Christ's teaching, and is separated by a whole heaven from the magisterial use of the sword referred to in Romans 13:4. In after-years, David must have been very thankful for the interposition, through Abigail, of God's grace that arrested his hand. See Romans 12:17. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Samuel 25

1  Samuel dies
2  David in Paran sends to Nabal
10  Provoked by Nabal's rudeness, he minds to destroy him
14  Abigail understanding thereof
18  takes a present
23  and by her wisdom
32  pacifies David
36  Nabal hearing thereof, dies
39  David takes Abigail and Ahinoam to be his wives
44  Michal is given to Phalti

What do the individual words in 1 Samuel 25:3 mean?

And the name of the man [was] Nabal of his wife Abigail And [she was] a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance but the man [was] harsh and evil in [his] doings and he [was] - a Calebite
וְשֵׁ֤ם הָאִישׁ֙ נָבָ֔ל אִשְׁתּ֖וֹ אֲבִגָ֑יִל וְהָאִשָּׁ֤ה טֽוֹבַת־ שֶׂ֙כֶל֙ וִ֣יפַת תֹּ֔אַר וְהָאִ֥ישׁ קָשֶׁ֛ה וְרַ֥ע מַעֲלָלִ֖ים וְה֥וּא [כלבו] (כָלִבִּֽי)

וְשֵׁ֤ם  And  the  name 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: שֵׁם  
Sense: name.
הָאִישׁ֙  of  the  man 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
נָבָ֔ל  [was]  Nabal 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: נָבָל  
Sense: a man of Carmel who spurned David’s messengers, then died of shock when he realised it might cause his death; his case was pleaded by his wife Abigail who became David’s wife after his death.
אִשְׁתּ֖וֹ  of  his  wife 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: אִשָּׁה  
Sense: woman, wife, female.
אֲבִגָ֑יִל  Abigail 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֲבִיגַיִל  
Sense: wife of Nabal, then of David.
וְהָאִשָּׁ֤ה  And  [she  was]  a  woman 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אִשָּׁה  
Sense: woman, wife, female.
טֽוֹבַת־  of  good 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular construct
Root: טָבַב 
Sense: good, pleasant, agreeable.
שֶׂ֙כֶל֙  understanding 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֶׂכֶל  
Sense: prudence, insight, understanding.
וִ֣יפַת  and  beautiful 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, feminine singular construct
Root: יָפֶה  
Sense: fair, beautiful, handsome.
תֹּ֔אַר  appearance 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: תֹּאַר  
Sense: shape, form, outline, figure, appearance.
וְהָאִ֥ישׁ  but  the  man  [was] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
קָשֶׁ֛ה  harsh 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: קָשֶׁה  
Sense: hard, cruel, severe, obstinate.
וְרַ֥ע  and  evil 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, masculine singular construct
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.
מַעֲלָלִ֖ים  in  [his]  doings 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: מַעֲלִיל 
Sense: deed, practice.
וְה֥וּא  and  he  [was] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Pronoun, third person masculine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
[כלבו]  - 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
(כָלִבִּֽי)  a  Calebite 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: לֵב 
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.