1. 1 Samuel 25:37 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does it mean for Nabal’s heart to die within him so that he became as a stone?

1 Samuel 25:37 (ESV)

37 In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.

It is not clear how to understand this expression. It could be figurative, in the sense that Nabal hardened himself further to any future dealings with David (see Exodus 15:16).1 It could also be that Nabal had some kind of a stroke which rendered him immobile until he passed away ten days later.2