What Does 1 Samuel 25:25 Mean in the King James?
Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse binds Nabal (נָבָל, nabal, “fool”) to folly through one root, making the name disclose the nature.
THE MEANING
The verse holds name and nature together: folly is named as part of who Nabal is. It also marks the limit of Abigail’s sight: she did not see the young men who were sent. A person’s nature can be plainly named while a particular event remains unseen by the one speaking.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the assumption that a name is only a label: here, the name and the nature it names coincide.
THE ROOT
נְבָלָה
nevalah
GROWS FROM
נבל
The root נבל (n-b-l) expresses foolishness or senselessness; in another attested use, it means to wither or fade.
The name Nabal and the word for folly share the consonants נבל, making the verse’s name-and-nature link explicit. The same root can also describe withering, so its word-family holds senselessness alongside the image of diminished vitality.
ALSO GROWS
nabal: A fool or senseless person; also the name Nabal in this verse.
נָבָל
The shared root makes the name itself carry the condition Abigail names.
navel: To wither or fade.
נָבֵל
This related use adds an image of diminished vitality to the root’s sense of senselessness.
THE PATTERN
In Scripture, a name can carry a person’s nature or calling rather than function as an empty label.
Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.THE THREAD
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.Psalm 14:1 uses נָבָל (nabal, “fool”), from the same root נבל (n-b-l), for the one speaking in the heart. Here the root becomes both a name and an explicitly named condition, while the psalm reveals the inward speech associated with that word.
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