Books of Samuel in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE

Contents of the Books and Period of Time Covered by the History. The narrative of the two Books of Samuel covers a period of about a hundred years, from the close of the unsettled era of the Judges to the establishment and consolidation of the kingdom under David. It is therefore a record of the changes, national and constitutional, which accompanied this growth and development of the national life, at the close of which the Israelites found themselves a united people under the rule of a king to whom all owed allegiance, controlled and guided by more or less definitely established institutions and laws. This may be described as the general purpose and main theme of the books, to trace the advance of the people under divine guidance to a state of settled prosperity and union in the promised land, and to give prominence to theocratic rule which was the essential condition of Israel's life as the people of God under all the changing forms of early government. The narrative therefore centers itself around the lives of the three men, Samuel, Saul and David, who were chiefly instrumental in the establishment of the monarchy, and to whom it was due more than to any others that Israel emerged from the depressed and disunited state in which the tribes had remained during the period of the rule of the Judges, and came into possession of a combined and effective national life. If the formal separation therefore into two books be disregarded, the history of Israel as it is narrated in "Samuel" is most naturally divided into three parts, which are followed by an appendix recording words and incidents which for some reason had not found a place in the general narrative: A. The life and rule of Samuel (1 Sam 1 through 15) (death 1 Sam 25:1). B. The life, reign and death of Saul (1 Sam 16 through 2 Sam 1). C. The reign and acts of David to the suppression of the two rebellions of Absalom and Sheba (2 Sam 2 through 20). D. Appendix; other incidents in the reign of David, the names of his chief warriors and his Song or Psalm of Praise (2 Sam 21-24). III. Summary and Analysis. To present a brief and clear analysis of these Books of Samuel is not altogether easy. For as in the Pentateuch and the earlier historical Books of Joshua and Judges, repetitions and apparently duplicate accounts of the same event are found, which interfere with the chronological development of the narrative. Even the main divisions, as stated above, to a certain extent overlap. 1. Life of Samuel (1 Samuel 1 through 15): (1) Visit of Hannah to Shiloh, and promise of the birth of a son (1 Sam 1:1-19); birth and weaning of Samuel, and presentation to Eli at Shiloh (1 Sam 1:19-28). (2) Hannah's song or prayer (1 Sam 2:1-10); ministry of Samuel to Eli the priest...