The Meaning of 1 Samuel 25:1 Explained

1 Samuel 25:1

KJV: 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.

YLT: And Samuel dieth, and all Israel are gathered, and mourn for him, and bury him in his house, in Ramah; and David riseth and goeth down unto the wilderness of Paran.

Darby: And Samuel died; and all Israel were gathered together, and lamented him; and they buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

ASV: And Samuel died; and all Israel gathered themselves together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does 1 Samuel 25:1 Mean?

Verse Meaning

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 ( 1 Samuel 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." [1]
This chapter opens with one disappointment for David, the death of his mentor, and it closes with another, the departure of his mate ( 1 Samuel 25:44). This suggests that the events of chapter25 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, again (cf. Judges 4; 2 Samuel 14:2-20; 2 Samuel 20:16-22). The wilderness of Paran, to which David fled next, lay just southeast of Maon ( 1 Samuel 25:2).

Chapter Summary: 1 Samuel 25

1  Samuel dies
2  David in Paran sends to Nabal
10  Provoked by Nabal's rudeness, he minds to destroy him
14  Abigail understanding thereof
18  takes a present
23  and by her wisdom
32  pacifies David
36  Nabal hearing thereof, dies
39  David takes Abigail and Ahinoam to be his wives
44  Michal is given to Phalti

What do the individual words in 1 Samuel 25:1 mean?

And died Samuel and gathered together all Israel and lamented for him and buried him at his home in Ramah And arose David and went down to the Wilderness of Paran -
וַיָּ֣מָת שְׁמוּאֵ֔ל וַיִּקָּבְצ֤וּ כָל־ יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וַיִּסְפְּדוּ־ ל֔וֹ וַיִּקְבְּרֻ֥הוּ בְּבֵית֖וֹ בָּרָמָ֑ה וַיָּ֣קָם דָּוִ֔ד וַיֵּ֖רֶד אֶל־ מִדְבַּ֥ר פָּארָֽן ס

וַיָּ֣מָת  And  died 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: מוּת  
Sense: to die, kill, have one executed.
שְׁמוּאֵ֔ל  Samuel 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: שְׁמוּאֵל  
Sense: son of Elkanah by his wife Hannah and judge or prophet of Israel during the days of Saul and David.
וַיִּקָּבְצ֤וּ  and  gathered  together 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Nifal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: קָבַץ  
Sense: to gather, assemble.
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙  Israel 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
וַיִּסְפְּדוּ־  and  lamented 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: סָפַד  
Sense: to wail, lament, mourn.
ל֔וֹ  for  him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
וַיִּקְבְּרֻ֥הוּ  and  buried  him 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural, third person masculine singular
Root: קָבַר  
Sense: to bury.
בְּבֵית֖וֹ  at  his  home 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
בָּרָמָ֑ה  in  Ramah 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: רָמָה 
Sense: a town in Benjamin on the border of Ephraim about 5 miles (8 km) from Jerusalem and near to Gibeah.
וַיָּ֣קָם  And  arose 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: קוּם 
Sense: to rise, arise, stand, rise up, stand up.
דָּוִ֔ד  David 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: דָּוִד  
Sense: youngest son of Jesse and second king of Israel.
וַיֵּ֖רֶד  and  went  down 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָרַד  
Sense: to go down, descend, decline, march down, sink down.
מִדְבַּ֥ר  the  Wilderness 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מִדְבָּר 
Sense: wilderness.
פָּארָֽן  of  Paran 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: פָּארָן  
Sense: wilderness area bounded on the north by Palestine, on the west by the wilderness of Etham, on the south by the desert of Sinai, and on the east by the valley of Arabah; the exodus was through this area and probably all 8 stops were in this area.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation