that this shall be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. When Yahweh has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”
Parallel translations
- KJV That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.
- BSB then my lord will have no remorse or guilt of conscience over needless bloodshed and revenge. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, may you remember your maidservant.”
- NKJV that this will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. But when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”
- NASB this will not become an obstacle to you, or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord’s having avenged himself. When the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember your slave.”
- NLT don’t let this be a blemish on your record. Then your conscience won’t have to bear the staggering burden of needless bloodshed and vengeance. And when the Lord has done these great things for you, please remember me, your servant!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Abigail warns that needless bloodshed would later trouble David's conscience, and asks him to remember her. She helps him avoid a regret that would stain his reign.
Overview
Abigail wisely foresees that shedding blood without cause and avenging himself would become a grief and stumbling block to David in days to come. She urges him to spare himself that burden and to remember her kindness when God prospers him. Her appeal to David's future peace of conscience reflects deep wisdom about the lasting weight of sin and the blessing of restraint.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Gen 40:14But remember me when it will be well with you, and please show kindness to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house.
- Rom 12:19Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.”
- 1 Sam 25:33Blessed is your discretion, and blessed are you, who have kept me today from blood guiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand.
- Luke 23:42He said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”
- 1 Sam 24:15May Yahweh therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and you, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of your hand.”
- 1 Sam 25:40When David’s servants had come to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you, to take you to him as wife.”
- Ps 94:1Yahweh, you God to whom vengeance belongs, you God to whom vengeance belongs, shine out.
- Prov 5:12–13and say, “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
- 2 Sam 22:48even the God who executes vengeance for me, who brings down peoples under me,
- 1 Sam 26:23Yahweh will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; because Yahweh delivered you into my hand today, and I wouldn’t stretch out my hand against Yahweh’s anointed.
- Rom 14:21It is good to not eat meat, drink wine, nor do anything by which your brother stumbles, is offended, or is made weak.
- 2 Cor 1:12For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 25:31 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.