In saying that Nabal had paid him back evil for good, David was claiming a betrayal of some kind (see Genesis 4:4; Proverbs 17:13; Jeremiah 18:20).1 He expected a reward or wage for the work that he and his men did in protecting Nabal’s crops. Yet, instead of a reward, he received an insult.
21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good.