Naval mocks David and his request, decrying the need to give anything to him, noting that servants are frequently rebelling against their masters these days (an allusion to Shaul and David), and that he was not going to give his own money to total strangers. David’s men return with Naval’s refusal, angering David greatly. He has his men get ready for war and heads off to the house of Naval.

Meanwhile, one of Naval’s servants, having witnessed his master’s acts, tells Avigayil about what has transpired. Backing up David’s story of their aid during their time grazing in that area, the servant suggests to Avigayil that she had better take some action to make up for her husband’s misdeed.

She immediately takes 200 loaves of bread, 2 casks of wine, 5 cooked sheep, and more, and heads off for David. (The size of the gift, which she puts together on extremely short notice, gives an indication of Naval’s wealth). She sends the servants, with the gift, first, obviously trying to mollify David somewhat before she reaches him. David, at the same time, was heading toward Naval’s house, angry that he had futilely guarded Naval’s sheep, intent on wiping out Naval’s household.

Avigayil, seeing David, bows to the ground, immediately declaring that the iniquity was hers, and David should please listen to her story. David, she says, should pay no attention to Naval, since he is as is his name, one who acts coarsely and inappropriately, and it was her fault for not having seen the messengers David had sent, and David should please accept the gift she was now offering. In doing so, David would merit blessings from God, protection from his enemies, and that this incident should not become a problematic stumbling-block for David. At that time, Avigayil says, she hopes David will remember her.

David is full of praise for Avigayil, but emphasizes that had she not come, he would have wiped out Naval and his entire household. David takes the gift, and Avigayil goes back home, where her husband is in the middle of a large feast (celebrating the shearing) and is a little drunk. In the morning, when he hears about what his wife has done, his "heart died within him, and he became like stone" which probably means he had some kind of a stroke. Ten days later, he died.

David, hearing of the death, blesses God for exacting his revenge, and sends some of his servants to see whether Avigayil would consent to be his wife (a remarkably romantic way of wooing a woman). She agrees, and joins Ahinoam of Yizreel as the first two of David’s wives. Meanwhile, the chapter notes, Shaul had given Mikhal to Palti son of Layish as a wife.

WHAT DAVID DID BEFORE HE BECAME KING

It is perhaps relatively easy to argue that we need to know about Shmuel's death and that David married a woman named Avigayil, but the whole story in between seems superfluous, or at least not worthy of a whole section of Tanakh. As always, the answer to this problem lies in the story itself; a full analysis should help us understand why it appears in the Navi at all.

Before we get to the actual story, we might spend a moment on David's reaction, or lack of it, to Shmuel's death. While the people mourn Shmuel who, after all, served them his entire life after being brought to Shiloh, who showed them the path to a sincere and meaningful repentance, and who set up the monarchy for them, David simply goes to Paran. This juxtaposition might be meant to show the pathos of David's position, that the danger from Shaul was so great that he could not even properly mourn Shmuel. It seems to me more likely, however, that David did not actively mourn Shmuel because, as we have noted before, he had little personal relationship with Shmuel, and therefore little reason to mourn him with any depth.

It is also true that the death of Shmuel brings us closer to David's reign. I don't mean chronologically, since every second was bringing David's reign closer, but in terms of significant events. Way back in Chapter 8, we discussed the possibility that God let Shmuel age early so that he would not have to see Shaul's death in his own lifetime. If so, the death of Shmuel in some sense clears the way for the death of Shaul, which will open the way for David to rule. Possibly, then, the mention of Shmuel's death is meant to show us how close David's ascension to the throne is.

THE APPROACH TO NAVAL

Close, but not there yet, a fact that might be relevant to our understanding of the next incident in the Navi. David sends a message to this Naval (there is some debate about the meaning of the word; some commentators see it as generally bad or cheap, while Rashi and Ramban see it as more specifically referring to someone who repays good with evil, someone who refuses to recognize when others do him a favor) asking for a donation in return for having helped his shepherds. The phrasing of that request is worth noting; it is ingratiating, as if David is simply asking, and will take whatever is offered.

Yet when Naval refuses to give, David is ready to kill him. That may mean either that David was insincere in his original request, that he only meant to give Naval a way to feel comfortable doing what David would otherwise force him to do. Along these lines, the simplest reading of the words of the text suggests that David was asking for a donation since he and his men had not bothered Naval's shepherds, which almost sounds like a protection racket. The "request" for a donation would, then, be similarly part of the game.

However, Hazal do not see it that way, nor does Naval's servant who speaks to Avigayil. Both assume that David and his men not only didn't bother the shepherds, but that offered unspecified but significant aid. If so, David may have actually protected Naval's flocks, perhaps from Plishti or Amaleki raiders (later in the book, when David is hiding with Amalek, he would tell the king that he was raiding Jewish villages, as if that were a common Amaleki practice). He may then have expected some material assistance in return-- it has to be expensive to run a band of outlaws who are fleeing from a borderline insane king.

WOULD NAVAL HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIABLY EXECUTED?

Either way, Naval gives nothing, which leads David to decide to kill him, a decision that raises questions about David's justice. Hazal, in Megillah 14a, assume that David convened a court that meted out the death penalty to Naval, although the crime is not specified. It seems most likely that the assumption is that Naval qualifies as a mored be-malkhut, a rebel against the duly anointed king of Israel. 'That means, though, that David already thought of himself as king, at least regarding others than Shaul (and, presumably, Shaul's servants, since David never judges them as rebels; David can apparently tolerate the existence of two kings, and expect ordinary citizens to treat each king with the proper awe).

David's judging Naval as a mored also assumes that Naval knew that David was going to be king. Certainly Naval knows of David's falling-out with Shaul, since he mocks the idea of servants rebelling against their masters. It seems, then, like at least some members of the Jewish people knew the whole story, were aware that Shaul's days were numbered and that David was going to be king. David, in turn, was acting as a king, in at least some arenas, both in terms of extending the protection to others (remember Keilah from last chapter and now Naval) and in terms of expecting their tribute in return.

Putting this incident in the perspective of David's attempt to consolidate his kingly power in preparation for the day he will be king helps us understand his reaction to Naval somewhat better as well. Without knowing David's financial situation, I find it hard to assume that he wouldhave planned on killing Naval and his whole household for the financial misdeed of lack of payment (at least I hope he wouldn't kill people just for that). After all, he could have just raided Naval's house and exacted double the normal fee.

But if Naval's reaction threatened or even only weakened David's position as future king, meaning that putting his kingdom into practice would be more difficult, a harsh reaction might be necessary and permitted. In such circumstances, teaching the people a lesson by the punishment that extends to Naval's household alone would be the most economical way David could find (in terms of aggregate human suffering) to arrange his kingship as securely as necessary.

HOW AVIGAYIL SAVES HER HUSBAND

What Avigayil provides for David, and what he seems to appreciate, is an out that allows him to have made the point about his kingship without having to actually kill anybody (always a better solution). By racing to make her obeisance and declaring her husband irrelevant to the meaningful running of the household, (since he never appreciates the good that others perform for him), she manages to show David the respect he deserved. His kingdom has now been well protected and he can (and does) return home.

I would just note that Avigayil also stresses that killing Naval will hurt David in the end. It is not clear if she means now that she has come-- which we can understand, since the need for those deaths has been removed-- or if she thought it would have been a mistake even had she not come. The commentators there assume that she means that even though David had the right to kill Naval and his household, that she believed the resentment that would have engendered among the people would have on balance hurt his larger project, the attempt to become an effective king.