Na´bal (stupid, foolish), a descendant of Caleb, dwelling at Maon, and having large possessions near Carmel of Judah, in the same neighborhood. He had abundant wealth, being the possessor of 3000 sheep and 1000 goats, but his churlish and harsh character had not been softened by the prosperity with which he had been favored. He was holding a great sheep-shearing of his numerous flocks at Carmel—which was a season of great festivity among the sheep-masters of Israel—when David sent some of his young men to request a small supply of provisions, of which his troop was in great need. He was warranted in asking this, as, while Nabal's flocks were out in the desert, the presence of David and his men in the neighborhood had effectually protected them from the depredations of the Arabs. But Nabal refused this application, with harsh words, reflecting coarsely upon David and his troop as a set of worthless runagates. On learning this, David was highly incensed, and set out with his band to avenge the insult. But his intention was anticipated and averted by Nabal's wife Abigail who met him on the road with a most acceptable supply of provisions, and, by her consummate tact and good sense, mollified his anger, and, indeed, caused him in the end to feel thankful that he had been prevented from the bloodshed which would have ensued. When Nabal, after recovering from the drunkenness of the feast, was informed of these circumstances, he was struck with such intense terror at the danger to which he had been exposed, that 'his heart died within him, and he became as a stone;' which seems to have been the exciting cause of a malady that carried him off about ten days after. David, not long after, evinced the favorable impression which the good sense and comeliness of Abigail had made upon him, by making her his wife, B.C. 1061 (1 Samuel 25) [ABIGAIL].
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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