For in very deed, [as] the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
Ver. 34. Which hath kept me back from hurting thee.] The females also therefore had perished, and not the males only, as some have gathered from that proverbial expression, any that pisseth against the wall.
Except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me.] That was a worthy saying of Alphonsus, king of Arragon, a valiant and wise warrior, Decet ducem invictum, habere animum, si res sit iusta; at ubi conatus est iniustus, praestat regredi quam progredi. A general in a good cause should be unalterable, unvanquishable; but if he and it to be otherwise, he had better stop or step backward, than to go on further with it.