Chapter 25 in Shmuel A is a chapter of transition: the death of Shmuel, the episode of Naval the Carmelite, and David's meeting with Avigail. The main focus of our study here is Avigail's speech to David - a brief speech that prevents bloodshed, and behind whose words lies a complete chain of hidden dimensions. We will proceed according to the order of the pesukim, explain the words of the Malbim, note the words of the Metzudot and the teachings of Chazal, and conclude with the words of the Arizal that connect the entire episode to its roots.
שָׂא נָא לְפֶשַׁע אֲמָתֶךָ כִּי עָשֹׂה יַעֲשֶׂה יְהֹוָה לַאדֹנִי בַּיִת נֶאֱמָן כִּי מִלְחֲמוֹת יְהֹוָה אֲדֹנִי נִלְחָם וְרָעָה לֹא תִמָּצֵא בְךָ מִיָּמֶיךָ׃ (כח) - Please forgive the transgression of your handmaid, for the Lord will surely make my lord an enduring house, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord, and no evil shall be found in you all your days. (28)
At first glance there is a twofold difficulty here. First, what transgression is Avigail speaking of? Second, why does she suddenly move to an entirely new subject - promises of an enduring house and of the battles of the Lord? She came to save her husband; she should have said: Here, take what you asked for, and go in peace. What is the point of this whole speech?
The Malbim explains: Avigail is about to say to David things that contain, even if only slightly, a concern of touching upon the honor of the king. Therefore she prefaces her words by asking pardon even before she begins: "Please forgive the transgression of your handmaid" - forgive me in advance for what I am about to say. From here onward she enumerates before him three stations in his life, and from each one she proves that it is fitting for him to refrain from the deed he is about to do.
The first station: the occasion on which David first became known - the battle with Goliath and the Philistines. The second station: his being pursued by Shaul, through which too the people came to know him. The third station: the future, when he will reign as the prophet promised him, and he will be recognized as king over Israel.
Against whom have you fought until now? Against Goliath, against the Philistines - the battles of the Lord. The book of your history shows that all your days you have fought for the honor of Heaven. Is it fitting that within this book a chapter be written in which you went out to fight for your personal honor? "And no evil shall be found in you all your days" - is it fitting that you do a deed of which people will say: Behold, even in David evil was found, someone offended him and he went out to kill him over his private affairs? Why should you cast a stain upon your own history?
וַיָּקׇם אָדָם לִרְדׇפְךָ וּלְבַקֵּשׁ אֶת־נַפְשֶׁךָ וְהָיְתָה נֶפֶשׁ אֲדֹנִי צְרוּרָה בִּצְרוֹר הַחַיִּים אֵת יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ וְאֵת נֶפֶשׁ אֹיְבֶיךָ יְקַלְּעֶנָּה בְּתוֹךְ כַּף הַקָּלַע׃ (כט) - And a man has risen to pursue you and to seek your life, but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord your God, and the soul of your enemies He shall sling out from within the hollow of the sling. (29)
"And a man has risen to pursue you" - this is Shaul. Concerning this station Avigail says: it is fitting that the soul of my lord be bound in the bundle of life, that is, guarded from death. A "tzeror" is something that has been packed and tied up within a cloth or within a vessel, as in the expression "and you shall bind the money in your hand." The Holy One, blessed be He, will watch over you with close providence to keep you alive.
And what is the "hollow of the sling" in the plain sense of the verse? It is the strap in which one places a stone and spins it several times before releasing the stone - precisely the instrument with which David killed Goliath. Avigail says: with that very hollow of the sling from which stones and arrows are slung at you to kill you, with that very same hollow the Holy One, blessed be He, will sling out the soul of your enemies. Measure for measure, as the verse states, "and he who rolls a stone, it shall return upon him" - one who rolls a stone to cause others to stumble or to throw at others, the stone returns to him; "he who digs a pit shall fall into it, and he shall fall into the ruin he has made."
There is also a reference here to the reward of the World to Come: the soul of my lord, after death, will be bound up in the bond of life, at rest in the higher spiritual reality. In contrast, your enemies will be flung away with the hollow of a sling, which is the complete opposite of rest. And the sling's pocket, according to what is written in the sacred books, refers to two angels standing at the two ends of the world who pass the soul of the departed between them, slinging it from one to the other.
וְהָיָה כִּי־יַעֲשֶׂה יְהֹוָה לַאדֹנִי כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּר אֶת־הַטּוֹבָה עָלֶיךָ וְצִוְּךָ לְנָגִיד עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ (ל) - And it shall come to pass when Hashem does for my lord according to all the good He has spoken concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel. (30)
Here she says to him: it is precisely from the second station, from the state of the pursued in which you find yourself today, that you are destined to reach kingship. "And God seeks the pursued" - by virtue of your being pursued, the Holy One will make you king. If so, is it worth it now to turn from pursued into pursuer? By doing so you undermine the very reason for which you are destined to reign.
וְלֹא תִהְיֶה זֹאת לְךָ לְפוּקָה וּלְמִכְשׁוֹל לֵב לַאדֹנִי וְלִשְׁפׇּךְ־דָּם חִנָּם וּלְהוֹשִׁיעַ אֲדֹנִי לוֹ וְהֵיטִב יְהֹוָה לַאדֹנִי וְזָכַרְתָּ אֶת־אֲמָתֶךָ׃ (לא) - That this shall not be a stumbling block and an obstacle of heart to my lord, that you shed blood without cause, or that my lord avenged himself; and when Hashem does good to my lord, then you shall remember your handmaid. (31)
If you go now and kill a person without cause, it will become for you a stumbling block and an obstacle. First, from Shaul's perspective: until now he has no grounds to pursue you, and when you said to him "why do you pursue me without cause" he burst into tears and admitted that you are right. But now he will receive exactly what he has been looking for: here is a man who takes the law into his own hands, considers himself a king, goes out and murders people.
And our Sages add: when you are king a case will come before you. A poor man and a rich man will come, and the poor man will say: I asked the rich man for charity, he refused to give, so I rose up and killed him. What will you rule for him? For the murderer will say to you: did you not do the very same thing yourself? The poor man came to ask of the rich man, the rich man refused, and you rose up and killed him. The king is the one who judges cases of Torah law, and so an act done today may prevent you from carrying out justice tomorrow. This is "a stumbling block and an obstacle."
The Metzudas David explains the verse in a different way: Avigail says to David, when you reign you will no longer take account of such things. When a person is at the bottom and someone says a word about him, he is hurt. But a great and wealthy man, whom people talk about all day long, no longer keeps score; from the heights of the tower where he stands, what is said below no longer concerns him. And when you reach there, Naval's remark will not move you in the least.
And note: there is a touch of a sting in these words. For their meaning is: today you are stirred because you are still small, and when you are great this will no longer touch you. She did not say this explicitly, but that is the hint. And this is precisely why she opened with "please forgive the transgression of your handmaid" - the words are true and correct, but they touch upon his honor. When you are king and people tell you "Naval said such and such" - are there any shortage of scoundrels in the marketplace? One is not stirred by that.
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד לַאֲבִיגַל בָּרוּךְ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר שְׁלָחֵךְ הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה לִקְרָאתִי׃ (לב) - And David said to Avigail, Blessed is Hashem the God of Israel who sent you this day to meet me. (32)
David acknowledges to her: the Holy One sent you through Divine providence to prevent me from doing something that would have been a stumbling block and an obstacle to me. Yet the verse here calls her "Avigal," missing a yud. Our Sages say: the ear of the verse is sensitive, and it heard what Avigail asked of David. "And when Hashem shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember your handmaid" - Avigail saw through the holy spirit that Naval was destined to die, and she therefore hinted to David: when Hashem does well by you, remember me, take into account that I am available for proposals. Our Sages say there was a flaw in this - you are still married, and you say such a thing to David? - and so the verse comes and finds fault with her, and removes the letter yud from her name.
And according to what we will explain shortly, the name "Avi Gal" (father of the heap) is well understood in another way too: it comes to hint at the root of her soul. Who made a heap? Yaakov Avinu. It emerges that Yaakov is the "father of the heap," and she says in her name: the root of my soul is from him.
It is brought that since Yaakov thought he was marrying Rachel and Leah came to him, there was in this a kind of "substituted child," and as a result the birthright, the priesthood and the kingship were taken from Reuven and given to Yosef; and following that act of Yaakov came also the act of Reuven who disturbed his father's bed. There is a great deal of discussion in this, and it does not belong here.
Furthermore: Yaakov Avinu served Lavan with unnecessary labor. After all, Lavan said to him only "name your wages," and it was Yaakov who immediately offered "I will serve you seven years" - he could have said one year. What should he have done? He should have trusted in Hashem's promise that He would provide what was his without such hard labor. There are further explanations and considerations that Yaakov had, and this is not the place for them. In any case, it was decreed that a spark of his spirit would be reincarnated in Avigail, who also serves Naval - married to a wicked man whom she was not meant to marry. This corresponds to that: you served Lavan with unnecessary labor, and that same "one spirit" that Yaakov placed in Leah would return and be reincarnated in Avigail, who would serve Naval the Carmelite.
And why specifically did David marry Avigail after Naval's death? As is known, Adam HaRishon was reincarnated three principal times: Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, and each of them rectified a different matter corresponding to the sins of Adam. And after them he was reincarnated in David - "Adam" is an acronym for Adam, David, Mashiach.
It is written that when Adam HaRishon separated from his wife for one hundred and thirty years following the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, two holy drops came forth from him which the Sitra Achra took. The Gemara says that he had a nocturnal emission, and our Sages said it was against his will. Those two souls were reincarnated in Lavan the Aramean, who is like the serpent - which was cunning, and he is the deceiver, the Aramean, entirely cunning and falsehood. And the Kabbalists say he was called "Lavan" (white) after the appearance of the affliction, a white spot that was on him. And from him those souls descended into Rachel and Leah.
From here it is understood why Yaakov had to exert himself so greatly and tend Lavan's flock: in order to return to holiness those two drops that had come forth from him, from Adam HaRishon, which had fallen to the primordial serpent and from there descended to Lavan, who is among the forces of impurity. And how did he know when all the sparks of holiness within Lavan were finished? With his eyes he saw it on his face, in the manner that the Arizal would look at a person and see whether there was a spark of holiness in him. And this is what is written, "And Yaakov saw the face of Lavan, and behold, it was not toward him as before" - he understood that the sparks of holiness had emptied out of him, that he had already taken them all, and immediately he understood that there was nothing more for him to do there, and he rose and took his wives and crossed the ford of Yabok.
And this is also the depth of the expression "he set his eyes upon him and he became a heap of bones": the righteous person connects with his holy eyes to the spark of holiness within a person, and the spark is drawn up to him into holiness, and all that remains of that person is a heap of bones.
Now we can understand why David guarded Naval's flock, exactly as Yaakov guarded Lavan's flock. Yaakov and David are one and the same soul in reincarnation, and the Arizal says that there was a purpose here of extracting the swallowed sparks from his mouth and refining those souls, and this is why he had to shepherd his flock.
Based on this we can understand Avigail's words: "and this shall not be to you a stumbling block and an obstacle of the heart to my master, that you shed blood needlessly." Seemingly, why needless blood, for is Naval not a rebel against the monarchy and deserving of death? Rather, the Arizal says: Avigail is telling David that Naval the Carmelite is the reincarnation of Lavan, and Yaakov did not kill Lavan the Aramean because he knew that all the sparks of holiness had not yet left him. You too, if you kill him now, this will be needless blood, for his refinement is not yet complete. And this is "the heart of my master" (lev adoni) - the letters of Lavan: lev and the nun in "adoni." Do not kill him, for he is Lavan, and Yaakov did not kill him.
In passing, I saw a lovely hint. In the pasuk "Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, Hashem, and do not place innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel, and the blood shall be forgiven them" - the final letters of "Hashem, ve'al, titen, dam, naki, bekerev, amecha, Yisrael, venikhpar" spell Naval HaCarmeli. And this is exactly what she told him: do not place innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel. And why is his blood called innocent? Because although David had already been anointed as king, his kingship had not yet been made public, and therefore the matter would be considered the shedding of innocent blood.
וּבָרוּךְ טַעְמֵךְ וּבְרוּכָה אָתְּ אֲשֶׁר כְּלִתִנִי הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה מִבּוֹא בְדָמִים וְהֹשֵׁעַ יָדִי לִי׃ (לג) - And blessed is your discernment, and blessed are you, who kept me this day from coming into bloodshed and from my own hand saving me. (33)
"Blessed is your discernment" - blessed is your intellect, that you understood all of this. "And blessed are you" - blessed are you yourself, for you are the reincarnation of Leah, and you came to save me from the error. And David spoke precisely, saying "that my own hand saved me" and not "saved him": had I killed him, I would have harmed myself, my own rectification.
וַיְהִי כַּעֲשֶׂרֶת הַיָּמִים וַיִּגֹּף יְהֹוָה אֶת־נָבָל וַיָּמֹת׃ (לח) - And it was about ten days later that Hashem struck Naval and he died. (38)
And why did the Holy One kill him now? Because the moment Avigail went to David - and she herself is the holy spark that was bound up in Naval - the last spark left him, and no spark of holiness remained in him any longer. And immediately "Hashem struck Naval and he died."
וַיִּשְׁמַע דָּוִד כִּי מֵת נָבָל וַיֹּאמֶר בָּרוּךְ יְהֹוָה אֲשֶׁר רָב אֶת־רִיב חֶרְפָּתִי מִיַּד נָבָל וְאֶת־עַבְדּוֹ חָשַׂךְ מֵרָעָה וְאֵת רָעַת נָבָל הֵשִׁיב יְהֹוָה בְּרֹאשׁוֹ וַיִּשְׁלַח דָּוִד וַיְדַבֵּר בַּאֲבִיגַיִל לְקַחְתָּהּ לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה׃ (לט) - And David heard that Naval was dead, and he said: Blessed is Hashem who took up the cause of my disgrace against Naval, and held back His servant from evil, and Hashem returned Naval's evil upon his own head. And David sent and spoke to Avigail, to take her to himself as a wife. (39)
David gives thanks that it was not he who did the deed but the Holy One, for now his time had come to die, after all the sparks of holiness had left him. And immediately he sends to take Avigail as a wife, for she is the holy spark that he needed to rectify: that very drop that came out of Adam HaRishon which the impurity had seized, now David - who is Adam HaRishon - comes and takes her, and thereby completes and restores her to holiness.
Avigail's speech is not a digression from the matter but the heart of the matter. On the revealed level, as the Malbim explains, she lists before David three stations in his life - the wars of Hashem that he fought, his being pursued, and the future kingship - and from each of them she proves that he must not sully his history with a war over his personal honor, and that such an act would be a stumbling block and an obstacle to him, both regarding Shaul and regarding capital cases that would come before him as king. And on the hidden level, as the Arizal explains, she tells him: "the heart of my master" is Lavan - Naval is the reincarnation of Lavan, and Yaakov did not kill him as long as the sparks of holiness had not been exhausted within him, and therefore killing him now would be the shedding of needless blood. And when the last spark left him with Avigail's going to David, Hashem struck him immediately. And thus the circle closes: Adam HaRishon, Yaakov, David; Lavan and Naval; Leah and Avigail - all of it connects in a single chapter of Shmuel A.