1 Samuel 25:30 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

And shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel. — The wife of Nabal here speaks of the outlaw captain’s future rule over Israel as king as a matter of absolute certainty. This she, in common with other religious persons of the people, had doubtless heard through the Prophetic Schools. We may fairly suppose that not a few of the pupils of Samuel and his associates had been, when the first meeting of David with Abigail took place, for a considerable time working as teachers and preachers throughout the land. It is most likely that the synagogue, or something out of which the synagogue sprang — some kind of assembly for prayer to the God of Israel for instruction and exhortation — had already taken root among the people. The “sons of the prophets,” we may still with fair probability assume, were the first Teachers — the first rabbis in Israel. It must be remembered that at this time, and even before the murder of the priests at Nob, the central Sanctuary exercised comparatively small influence over the religious life of the people; even the Ark of the Covenant never seems to nave been kept there. The religious life, when Samuel had grown up to manhood, had well-nigh died out of the people.