Now therefore, my lord, as Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, seeing Yahweh has withheld you from blood guiltiness, and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now therefore let your enemies, and those who seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.
Abigail was careful "neither to exculpate Nabal nor to appear disloyal to him. . . . In short, she must win David without betraying Nabal. Abigail devises the perfect solution to the dilemma: she intercedes on behalf of Nabal (1 Samuel 25:24), although conceding that he has no case and no hope of survival (1 Samuel 25:25-26). In other words, while overtly defending him, she covertly dissociates herself from him." [Note: Levenson, p. 230.] 