John Gill Commentary 1 Samuel 25:2

"And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel." — 1 Samuel 25:2 (ASV)

And [there was] a man in Maon
A city of the tribe of Judah, from which the wilderness had its name before mentioned; of which place, see (Joshua 15:55) ; though Ben Gersom takes it to signify a dwelling place; and that this is observed to show, that he did not dwell in a city, but has his habitation where his business lay, which was in Carmel, where his fields, gardens, and vineyards were: wherefore it follows,

whose possessions [were] in Carmel ;
not Carmel in the tribe of Issachar, but in the tribe of Judah, not far from Maon, and are mentioned together, (See Gill on Joshua 15:55); his cattle were there, his sheep particularly, for they are afterwards said to be shorn there; or "his work" ^F18 ; his agriculture, his farming, where he was employed, or employed others in sowing seed, and planting trees:

and the man [was] very great ;
in worldly substance, though not in natural wisdom and knowledge, and especially in true religion and piety:

and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats ;
so the substance of men in those times was generally described by the cattle they had, whether of the herd or flock, in which it chiefly lay:

and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel ;
which was the custom in Judea and Syria, and was a very ancient one, as early as the times of Judah, yea, of Laban, see (Genesis 31:19) (Genesis 38:12Genesis 38:13) ; though the old Romans used to pluck off the wool from the sheep's backs; hence a fleece of wool was called "vellus [a] vellendo", from the plucking it off; and Pliny says {s}, in his time, that sheep were not shorn everywhere, but in some places the custom of plucking off the wool continued; and who elsewhere observes ^F20 , that the time of shearing was in June or July, or thereabouts; at which times a feast was made, and it is for the sake of that this is observed.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F18: (whvem) "opus ejus", Montanus, Vatablus; "eujus opus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
• F20: Ibid. l. 18. c. 27.