Discovery Box1 Samuel 25:37-39 
Context25:37 In the morning, when Nabal was sober, 1 his wife told him about these matters. He had a stroke and was paralyzed. 2 25:38 After about ten days the Lord struck Nabal down and he died.
25:39 When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, “Praised be the Lord who has vindicated me and avenged the insult that I suffered from Nabal! 3 The Lord has kept his servant from doing evil, and he has repaid Nabal for his evil deeds.” 4 Then David sent word to Abigail and asked her to become his wife.
1 tn Heb “when the wine had gone out from Nabal.”
2 tn Heb “and his heart died within him and he became a stone.” Cf. TEV, NLT “stroke”; CEV “heart attack.” For an alternative interpretation than that presented above, see Marjorie O’Rourke Boyle, “The Law of the Heart: The Death of a Fool (1 Samuel 25),” JBL 120 (2001): 401-27, who argues that a medical diagnosis is not necessary here. Instead, the passage makes a connection between the heart and the law; Nabal dies for his lawlessness.
3 tn Heb “who has argued the case of my insult from the hand of Nabal.”
4 tn Heb “his servant he has held back from evil, and the evil of Nabal the
