Companion to the Bible

by E. P. Barrows

III. THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL.

11. The two books of Samuel constituted originally one work. The division was made by the Greek translators as a matter of convenience, so as to close the first book with the death of Saul, and begin the second with David's accession to the throne. This division was followed by the Vulgate, and was introduced by Daniel Bomberg into the printed Hebrew text. To the original whole work the name of Samuel was appropriately given; for he is not only the central personage in the history which it records to the establishment of the kingdom, but it was also through him, as the acknowledged prophet of the Theocracy, that both Saul and David were designated and anointed for the kingly office. The Greek Septuagint designates these books from their contents, First and Second of the Kingdoms, and the Vulgate, First and Second of Kings.

12. In the history of the plan of redemption these two books have a well-defined province. They are occupied with the establishment, under God's direction and guidance, of the kingly form of government in the Theocracy. All the events recorded before the inauguration of Saul were preparatory to that event and explanatory of it. Since, moreover, Saul was afterwards rejected with his family on account of his disobedience, and David and his family were chosen in his stead, it was in the person of David that the kingdom was first fully established, and with the close of his reign the work accordingly ends. The period included in this history, though comparatively brief, was most eventful. Samuel, himself one of the greatest of the prophets, established a school of the prophets, and from his day onward the prophetical order assumed an importance and permanency in the Theocracy that was before unknown. See above, Ch. 15, No. 11. The change to the kingly form of government constituted a new era in the Hebrew commonwealth. Although the motives which led the people to desire a king were low and unworthy, being grounded in worldliness and unbelief, yet God, for the accomplishment of his own purposes, was pleased to grant their request. The adumbration in the Theocracy of the kingly office of the future Messiah, not less than of his priestly and prophetical office, was originally contemplated in its establishment; and now the full time for this had come. While David and his successors on the throne were true civil and military leaders in a secular and earthly sense, their headship over God's people also shadowed forth the higher headship of the long promised Redeemer, the great Antitype in whom all the types contained in the Mosaic economy find at once their explanation and their fulfilment. Under David the Hebrew commonwealth was rescued from the oppression of the surrounding nations, and speedily attained to its zenith of outward power and splendor.

13. The contents of the books of Samuel naturally fall under three main divisions. The introductory part takes up the history of the commonwealth under Eli and continues it to the time when the people demanded of Samuel a king. 1 Sam. chaps. 1-7. This period properly belongs to that of the judges, but its history is given here because of its intimate connection with the events that follow. It describes the birth and education of Samuel; the disorders that prevailed under Eli's administration, for which God denounced upon his family severe judgments; the invasion of the land by the Philistines, with the capture and restoration of the ark; Samuel's administration, and the deliverance of the people under him from the oppression of the Philistines. The second part, extending through the remainder of the first book, opens with an account of the abuses which led the people to desire a king, and then gives an account of the selection, anointing, and inauguration of Saul as king of Israel, with a notice of his exploit in delivering the people of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites. Chaps 8-12. It then gives an account of his first sin at Gilgal, for which Samuel threatened him with the loss of his kingdom, and of his victory over the Philistines, with a general summary of the events of his reign. Chaps. 13, 14. For his second sin in the matter of the Amalekites Saul is rejected, and David is anointed by Samuel as his successor; the Spirit of the Lord forsakes Saul, and an evil spirit from God troubles him; David becomes his minstrel, is in high favor with him, slays Goliath in the presence of the two armies of Israel and the Philistines, returns in triumph to the camp of Saul, marries Michal his daughter, but becomes an object of his jealousy and hatred because he has supplanted him in the affections of the people. Chaps. 15-18:9. The remainder of the first book is mainly occupied with an account of the persecutions to which David was subjected on the part of Saul, and of the wonderful way in which God delivered him. It closes with an account of Saul's distress through the invasion of the Philistines, of his resort in trouble to a woman that had a familiar spirit, of the terrible message that he received at the lips of the risen Samuel, of the defeat of the armies of Israel by the Philistines, and of the death of Saul and his three sons on Mount Gilboa. The third part occupies the whole of the second book. It records the reign of David, first at Hebron over the tribe of Judah, with the accompanying war between the house of Saul and the house of David, and then, after Ishbosheth's death, over all Israel at Jerusalem. With the fidelity of truth the sacred historian describes not only David's many victories over the enemies of Israel, but also his grievous sin in the matter of Uriah, with the terrible chastisements that it brought upon him and his kingdom—Amnon's incest, the murder of Amnon by Absalom, Absalom's rebellion, pollution of his father's concubines, and death in battle. The closing years of David's reign were saddened also by David's sin in numbering the people, for which there fell in pestilence seventy thousand of his subjects.

14. For the evidence that the author of these books availed himself of the writings of the prophets contemporary with the events described, see above, Chap. 15, No. 6. In 1 Chron. 29:29 we read: "Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer." If, as some think, our present books of Samuel were composed shortly after David's death, the author may well have been one of the last two of the above-named prophets; but there are some indications that he lived after the division of the Israelitish people into the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel.

In 1 Sam. 27:6 we read that Achish gave Ziklag to David; "wheretofore," adds the sacred historian, "Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day." The only natural interpretation of these words is that the kings of Judah—not any particular king of Judah, but the kings of Judah as a line—are named in contrast with the kings of Israel. In several other passages, where he is speaking of events that occurred before the separation of the two kingdoms, he puts Judah and Israel together. 1 Sam. 11:8; 17:52; 18:16; 2 Sam. 3:10; 24:1. But this can, perhaps, be explained from the fact that during the seven years of David's reign at Hebron there was an actual separation of Judah from the other tribes. It is a remarkable fact that while the full term of David's reign is given (2 Sam. 5:4, 5), which implies that the writer lived after its close, no notice is taken of his death. The reason of this omission cannot be known. As the first book of Kings opens with an account of David's last days and death, some have conjectured that it was designedly omitted from the books of Samuel as superfluous, when the historical books were arranged in the sacred canon.