It happened about ten days after, that Yahweh struck Nabal, so that he died.
Nabal’s heart died within him when he finally realized what a fool he had been. The Hebrews used the heart metaphorically to describe the seat of courage. No courage remained in him. Nabal further appears to have gone catatonic; when he realized what had happened, the shock immobilized him. Ten days later he died, perhaps of a stroke. The writer gave God the credit for terminating his life prematurely. Sometimes people who fail to respond to the will of God die prematurely (cf. ch. 31; Numbers 3:2; Numbers 16:32; Joshua 7:25; 1 Corinthians 11:30; 1 John 5:16).