² A certain man in Maon owned property in Carmel, a town south of Hebron near the Dead Sea. This man was very rich: he owned 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. It was sheepshearing time in Carmel, which was celebrated with feasting and generosity. ³ This rich man’s name was Nabal, which means “foolish,” and his wife was Abigail, which means “my father is joy.” She was smart and beautiful, but he was mean-spirited and bad-tempered, an embarrassment to his Calebite tribe.

⁴ From his hiding place in the wilderness, David heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep,