Saturday, July 26, 2008

Thoughts on 1 Samuel 25:32-33

32 ¶ And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me:
33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
These words were spoken after Nabal, Abigail's husband, refused to give David and his men any provisions; after David and his men set off to kill Nabal and his household, Abigail defuses the situation by bringing supplies. For this, David gives these blessings.

There are three: First, of course, he blesses the "Lord God of Israel." It is appropriate that He comes first.

The third blessing is reserved for the woman who kept him from shedding the blood of Nabal's household.

But the second blessing is upon her "advice." This struck me as being a bit odd, as blessings are usually given to people or to God. I also looked up the word "blessed" in two Hebrew lexicons and discovered that it also has the idea of kneeling in some contexts (Abigail had bowed to the ground when she came into David's presence—and he is saying this to her). The word "advice" has several meanings, including "judgment," "understanding," and "reason."

Putting it all together, David humbly blesses her decision. Wisdom is worthy of blessing, and it is worthwhile to bless it, to pray for its multiplication, and to share it with others.

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