Carmel, where Nabal had his estate
A place in the Bible
A town of Judah, south of Hebron, at the edge of the desert. It is not Mount Carmel.
What happened here
- Nabal: he was a very rich man who had his estate at Carmel, with three thousand sheep and a thousand goats.
- Abigail: Nabal’s wife was very wise and beautiful. She brought food to David and his men, and she bowed down before him.
- The wedding: when Nabal died, David sent to Carmel to ask for Abigail, and she married him.
Today
It is identified with Al-Karmil, south of Hebron, in the West Bank.
Where it appears in the Bible
1 Samuel 25:2; 1 Samuel 25:3; 1 Samuel 25:18; 1 Samuel 25:23; 1 Samuel 25:40-42
What the Bible says
1 Samuel 25:2
Now there was a certain man in the wilderness of Maon, and his possessions were in Carmel, and the man was very great: and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and it happened that he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
1 Samuel 25:3
Now the name of the man was Nabal: and the name of his wife was Abigail. And she was a prudent and very comely woman, but her husband was churlish, and very bad and ill natured: and he was of the house of Caleb.
1 Samuel 25:18
Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of dry figs, and laid them upon asses:
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Carmel”; Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), “Carmel”