When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be Yahweh, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil: and the evil-doing of Nabal has Yahweh returned on his own head. David sent and spoke concerning Abigail, to take her to him as wife.
Abigail not only took her five maidens with her to David, but it is likely that all of the vast properties of her husband, or at least a substantial part of them, also became the property of David.  The Bible is silent on this question; but as Dr. Dehoff said, "It is quite probable that David came into possession of Nabal's property."[16]  Supportive of this supposition is that no son of Nabal is mentioned; and, even if there were other heirs to claim Nabal's estate, David was on the ground and had possession.  It could have been that this was God's way of financing David's additional twenty-two years of waiting until the death of Saul. According to Josephus, Samuel's death came eighteen years after the beginning of Saul's reign.