And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
Samuel died - after a long life of piety and public usefulness, having left behind him a reputation which ranks him among the greatest of Scripture worthies. He stamped his own character on that of his age and country, being the foremost man, the great influential leader in the political, ecclesiastical, literary, and religious world. As a man, he was remarkable through life for his eminent holiness, his energy, and indefatigable activity, his dignified consistency, and his devotional habits, which, commencing in his childhood, grew with his growth and strengthened with his strength. As a magistrate, he embodied in all his public acts the principles of the theocratic constitution; and, called as he was to hold the reins of government at a time of newly-acquired liberty and independence from foreign domination, his uniform object was to realize among his countrymen the idea of the 'chosen generation, the holy nation, the royal priesthood, the peculiar people.' In relation to the Church, his influence was no less beneficial than lasting; for, at a period of great and prevailing corruption, he effected a thorough reformation of religion, re-establishing the authority of the Mosaic law, by enforcing the regular observance of the ordinances of worship, especially by instituting the schools of the prophets, from which a supply of young teachers, duly qualified for instructing the people in sacred knowledge and psalmody, was obtained, and in the formation as well as subsequent continuance of which a great step was taken in the progressive development of the scheme of grace (Edwards' History of Redemption').
In short, Samuel's ministry was an epoch in Israel (Acts 3:21; Acts 13:20); and many of the lessons taught, or measures contemplated by the prophet, and which David learned while resident with him at Naioth, were afterward introduced by that king, among other arrangements he made for improving the sacred music. It is difficult to determine with accuracy the period of Samuel's death. Dr. Horsley ('Biblical Criticism,' 1:, p. 335) says, 'That Samuel was dead at the time of David's final flight from the court of Saul, seems probable from this circumstance, that from this time forward it does not appear that David sought or received advice from Samuel. When he flees from the court he repairs to Nob, where he is entertained, not by Samuel, but by Ahimelech the priest.' But a closer approximation toward ascertaining the actual date of the prophet's death can be made than is furnished by this inferential reasoning. Josephus, in winding up the history of this judge, records ('Antiquities,' b. 6:, ch. 13:, sec. 5) that 'Samuel governed and presided over the people alone, after the death of Eli the high priest, twelve years, and eighteen years in conjunction with Saul the king.' Jahn ('History of the Hebrew Commonwealth') calculates that 'Samuel governed the nation forty years. Supposing Eli's death to occur in the 425th year after Joshua, and adding to these the 60 years between Eli and the close of Samuel's administration the sum is 485.' So that according to these data the prophet died in the 70th year of his age.
And all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him х wayicpªduw (H5594) low (H3807a)] - and mourned for him. This verb is used for the most part with reference to the dead. Higher tribute could not be paid to the worth of a public magistrate. So powerful was the hold which the character and administration of Samuel had taken of the affections of the country, that all classes of people, high and low, volunteered to form a funeral procession, and carried him with almost royal honours to the tomb.
Buried him in his house at Ramah - i:e., not his dwelling-house, but a building contiguous to it, built as a family cemetery; his own mausoleum. The Hebrews took as great care to provide graves anciently as people do in the East still, where every respectable family has its own house of the dead; and often this is in a little detached garden, consisting of a small stone building, where there is no rock, resembling a house, which is called the grave of the family. It has neither door nor window (cf. 1 Kings 2:34; Job 30:23: see Jovett's 'Christian Researches in the Countries of the Levant').
David arose ... This removal had probably no connection with the prophet's death, but was probably occasioned by the necessity of seeking provision for his numerous followers. Some, however, do maintain that as David is related in this passage to have departed from En-gedi immediately after receiving intelligence of Samuel's death, the one event followed the other, as cause and effect; for whatever influence the thought of the living prophet might have imposed on the wayward king was removed, now that the venerable man was dead; and as there was reason to apprehend that Saul's furious outbursts of jealousy and vengeance, formerly restrained, would become more frequent and vehement, David deemed it necessary for his safety to remove to a great distance. [The Vatican copy of the Septuagint has: katebee eis teen ereemon Maoon, went down to the wilderness of Maon. The Alexandrine has: ereemon Faran.]
The wilderness of Paran - stretching from Sinai to the borders of Palestine, in the southern territories of Judah. Like other wildernesses, it presented large tracts of natural pasture, to which the people sent their cattle at the grazing season, but where they were liable to constant and heavy depredations by the prowling Arabs. David and his men earned their subsistence by making reprisals on the cattle of these freebooting Ishmaelites; and frequently, for their useful services, they obtained voluntary tokens of acknowledgment from the peaceful inhabitants.