Samuel's years of being a blessing to all Israel ended at this time. David took his place as God's major channel of blessing to the nation. It is appropriate that the notice of Samuel's death occurs here since Saul had just admitted publicly that David would be Israel's next king (24:20). Samuel's ministry of providing a transition to the monarchy had therefore ended. People all over Israel mourned Samuel's death. Samuel was the last of the judges. David would probably have continued Samuel's ministry and become Israel's first king without the hiatus of Saul's tragic reign if Israel had not insisted on having a king prematurely.
"Since the days of Moses and Joshua, no man had arisen to whom the covenant nation owed so much as to Samuel, who has been justly called the reformer and restorer of the theocracy."246
This chapter opens with one disappointment for David, the death of his mentor, and it closes with another, the departure of his mate (v. 44). This suggests that the events of chapter 25 took place when David was at a low point in his life emotionally. This may account for the fact that David did not conduct himself completely honorably at this time. He is not the hero of this chapter. Abigail is. God used a woman to avert a tragedy in Israel's history (cf. Judg. 4; 2 Sam. 14:2-20; 20:16-22).
The wilderness of Paran to which David fled next lay just southeast of Maon (v. 2).
