56 Jeffrey C. Geoghegan messengers to Nabal to request meat as compensation for his protection of Nabal’s flock (vv. 5-8). Nabal refuses, asking why he should give to David and his men food intended for his shearers (v. 11). David’s subsequent militaristic response (v. 13), Abigail’s intervention (vv. 18-31) and God’s vindication of David (vv. 37-38) are well known and not central to our investigation. What is central, however, are the several clues in the text that indicate sheepshearing was a significant event in ancient Israel. Our initial clue is found in the words of David’s messengers when explaining the timing of their request: “for we come on a good day”, (sic) wnb bwf µwyAl[ yk (v. 8). The exact meaning of this statement is unclear. Rashi held that the bwf µwy of this passage was Israel’s spring New Year’s festival(3), and the biblical text provides some justification for this interpretation. The only other occurrences of this phrase in the Bible are in Esther (8,17; 9,19.22), where its connections to an actual festival are explicit (4). Rosenthal, however, has argued that the use of bwf µwy to designate a festival is postbiblical (probably Maccabean), and that during the biblical period it merely denotes “a merry day of plenty” (5). Whatever the precise meaning of bwf µwy, the size and significance of Nabal’s sheepshearing is further indicated by its comparison to “the feast of the king” (˚lmh hçmk; v. 36) (6). Part of what makes Nabal’s sheepshearing on par with royalty is the abundance of both food and alcohol. Thus, when Abigail sets out to intercept David, she finds at her disposal “two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred fig cakes” (v. 18). Then, upon her return, she forbears telling Nabal about her rendezvous with David, since he was “extremely drunk” damAd[ rkç (v. 36). Of course, if this was our only evidence for the activities surrounding sheepshearing, then we might ascribe Nabal’s excesses to the debauchery of “a fool” (7). However, as the next narrative makes plain, such excesses were an integral part of Israelite sheepshearings. b) David and Absalom (2 Sam 13,23-29) We encounter sheepshearing again during the reign of David, when Absalom holds his own feast. As before, the size and significance of the event are betrayed by the narrative details. Absalom, like Nabal, hires professional (3) Rashi remarks, “It was the New Year and [David’s servants] said, ‘and we require the festival meal’”, bwf µwy tdw[sl wna ˆykyrxw hyh hnçh çar, where hnçh çar refers to the first of Nisan (see Rashi’s comments on 1 Kgs 6,1). See also, Roπ. Haπ. 1,1. (4) A. CAQUOT – P. DE ROBERT, Les Livres de Samuel (CAT 6; Genève 1994) 308. Cf. µybwf µyd[m, “good festivals” (Zech 8,19). (5) F. ROSENTHAL, “yôm t≤ôb”, HUCA 18 (1944) 157-176. (6) Although most translations render the phrase ˚lmh hçmk adjectively (i.e., “a royal feast”), the author may have intended it literally (i.e., “like the feast of the king”). The syntax of the phrase (construct with the definite article), as well as the use of ˚lmh …k elsewhere (see, for example, 1 Kgs 10,13; Esth 1,7; 2,18; Dan 11,36; 2 Chr 29,15; 30,6; 35,10, 16), favors the latter understanding. As we will see in a moment, the royal house did celebrate such a feast. (7) So G. ROBINSON, Let Us Be Like the Nations. A Commentary on the Books of 1 and 2 Samuel (Grand Rapids 1993) 136: “[Nabal’s] folly was coupled with addiction to alcohol”.