Hebrew word · H5037

נָבָל

naval

Nabal

As a proper name it refers to this man only. It sounds the same as the common noun/adjective nāḇāl (H5036), which does not mean someone low in intelligence. Related words are nəḇālâ, “disgraceful folly” (used of outrageous acts such as rape or sacrilege, e.g.

Appears 22 times in 18 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man living at the time of United Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Sa.25.3; married to Abigail (H0026)

§ Nabhal or Nabal = "fool"

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

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Samuel 25:10

Range of meaning

As a proper name it refers to this man only. It sounds the same as the common noun/adjective nāḇāl (H5036), which does not mean someone low in intelligence. It means a person who is morally and socially senseless: he ignores what he owes to God and to other people, behaves boorishly, and brings shame on himself. Related words are nəḇālâ, “disgraceful folly” (used of outrageous acts such as rape or sacrilege, e.g. Gen 34:7; 2 Sam 13:12), and the verb “to treat with contempt.”

Against the English

English versions simply transliterate the name, which is right, but an English reader loses the pun that every Hebrew hearer caught at once. The usual English gloss for the common noun, “fool,” is also too intellectual. The biblical nāḇāl is the man of Psalm 14:1 who “says in his heart, ‘There is no God,’” and therefore treats people badly. He may be very clever and very rich.

How it drifted

English “fool” has shifted toward “silly” or “unintelligent,” while the Hebrew word is moral and social: a churl, a scoundrel, a man without decency.

Used elsewhere in the period

Abigail spells out the pun in 1 Sam 25:25: “as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and nəḇālâ is with him.” The common noun appears in Deut 32:6, 21; Isa 32:5–6 (where the nāḇāl “speaks folly” and “leaves the hungry empty,” which is exactly Nabal's behaviour here); Ps 14:1; 2 Sam 3:33. Some scholars point to related words in other Semitic languages (for example Arabic nabīl, “noble, skilful”) and suggest the name may once have had a neutral or good meaning. See the debates.

From the study of 1 Samuel 25:26

Range of meaning

As a name, Nabal. As an ordinary word (H5036), nabal means a fool in a moral and social sense: someone who disregards God and his obligations to others, who is ungrateful, boorish and destructive (Ps 14:1, "the fool says in his heart, there is no God"; Isa 32:5–6; 2 Sam 13:12–13, where nevalah is an outrage). It is not about low intelligence.

Against the English

English translations transliterate the name, which is right. But readers lose the pun Abigail has just spelled out in v.25: "as his name is, so is he".

Used elsewhere in the period

Abigail's line in v.25, "Nabal is his name and folly (nevalah) is with him", shows the hearers understood the name as "fool". The story may also play on nevel, a skin or jar of wine: Abigail brings wine-skins (v.18), Nabal is drunk (v.36), and his heart becomes "like a stone" (v.37). Some scholars think the name originally had a neutral meaning, which the narrator puts to work.

From the study of 1 Samuel 25:38

Range of meaning

As a proper name it is Nabal. As a common noun (H5036) nabal means a fool in the moral and religious sense: a person who is senseless, churlish, and contemptuous of God and of obligations to others (Ps 14:1, "The nabal says in his heart, 'There is no God'"; Isa 32:5–6). Nevalah ("folly, outrage") is used for disgraceful acts that violate the community's bonds (Gen 34:7; 2 Sam 13:12).

Against the English

English "fool" suggests someone stupid or silly. The Hebrew nabal is a person who acts shamefully and without regard for God or for the duties of hospitality and gratitude. Nabal's offense was refusing David's men a share of the shearing feast after they had protected his flocks (vv. 7–11, 15–16, 21).

Used elsewhere in the period

Abigail: "As his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and nevalah (folly) is with him" (v. 25). Whether a parent would really name a child "Fool" is debated. Some scholars propose a different original meaning for the name (perhaps "noble" or "skilled," from Arabic or Akkadian cognates), which the storyteller then turned into a pun.

Where it appears

1 Samuel · 20

  1. 1 Samuel 25:3 נָבָ֔ל [was] Nabal

    His name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.

  2. 1 Samuel 25:4 נָבָ֖ל Nabal

    While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep.

  3. 1 Samuel 25:5 נָבָ֔ל Nabal

    So David sent ten young men and instructed them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name

  4. 1 Samuel 25:9 נָבָ֛ל Nabal

    When David’s young men arrived, they relayed all these words to Nabal on behalf of David. Then they waited.

  5. 1 Samuel 25:10 נָבָ֜ל Nabal

    But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters.

    Here: The speaker's name. It sounds exactly like the Hebrew word for a morally senseless, boorish person (nāḇāl, “fool”), a pun the story spells out in v. 25. Every line he speaks is heard through that name.

  6. 1 Samuel 25:14 נָבָ֔ל Nabal

    Meanwhile, one of Nabal’s young men informed Nabal’s wife Abigail, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he screamed at them.

  7. 1 Samuel 25:19 נָבָ֖ל Nabal

    and said to her young men, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

  8. 1 Samuel 25:25 נָבָ֗ל נָבָ֣ל Nabal, [is] Nabal

    My lord should pay no attention to this scoundrel Nabal, for he lives up to his name: His name means Fool, and folly accompanies him. I, your servant, did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.

  9. 1 Samuel 25:26 כְנָבָל֙ like Nabal

    Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, since the LORD has held you back from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, may your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be like Nabal.

    Here: Nabal is her husband's name, and it sounds exactly like the Hebrew word for a senseless, godless fool (v.25). So the wish means both "may your enemies end up as Nabal will" and "may they be fools". Within days Nabal is struck dead by YHWH (v.38).

  10. 1 Samuel 25:34 לְנָבָ֛ל to Nabal

    Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, then surely no male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by morning light.”

  11. 1 Samuel 25:36 נָבָ֡ל נָבָל֙ Nabal

    When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.

    Here: The husband's name sounds exactly like the Hebrew word for a "fool", someone morally senseless and closed off. Abigail herself made the pun in v. 25: "as his name is, so is he".

  12. 1 Samuel 25:37 מִנָּבָ֔ל from Nabal

    In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these events, and his heart failed within him, and he became like a stone.

  13. 1 Samuel 25:38 נָבָ֖ל Nabal

    About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead.

    Here: The man's name. It sounds exactly like the Hebrew word for a morally senseless "fool," which Abigail punned on in verse 25. Some also hear a play on nevel, "wineskin/jar," after the wine has "gone out of" him in verse 37.

  14. 1 Samuel 25:39 נָבָל֒ נָבָ֗ל נָבָ֔ל Nabal

    On hearing that Nabal was dead, David said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has upheld my cause against the reproach of Nabal and has restrained His servant from evil. For the LORD has brought the wickedness of Nabal down upon his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife.

    Here: The man's name, which sounds exactly like the Hebrew word for a morally senseless “fool” (v. 25). Every time the name appears the hearer hears “the Fool.”

  15. 1 Samuel 27:3 נָבָ֖ל Nabal

    David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal.

  16. 1 Samuel 30:5 נָבָ֥ל Nabal

    David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel, had been taken captive.

2 Samuel · 2

  1. 2 Samuel 2:2 נָבָ֥ל Nabal

    So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.

  2. 2 Samuel 3:3 נָבָ֣ל Nabal

    his second was Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; his third was Absalom, the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur;

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.