And when David's young men came,.... To Carmel:
they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David; they delivered their message punctually and exactly, in the very words, or however according to the purport of them, in David's name, as he enjoined them:
and ceased: from speaking, waiting for Nabal's answer; or "they rested" y, from the fatigues of their journey; which they did not until they had delivered their message to Nabal, and then they took the liberty to sit down and rest themselves; but the former sense seems best, and is preferred by Maimonides z.
y וינוחו "et quieverunt", Pagninus, Montanus, Munster. z Moreh Nevochim par. 1. c. 67.