I Samuel

In the Hebrew Bible, what we have as the two books of Samuel are in fact one book, simply called Samuel. According to Jewish tradition the first twenty four chapters of I Samuel was written by Samuel himself, and the remainder of the book plus II Samuel by Nathan and Gad. This has support from the scripture quoted below, when read in other translations. The LXX is given here as one example. Whilst this is not conclusive, it is a possibility that I Chronicles is referring to the books of Samuel.

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, with all his reign and his might, and the times that went over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries.

I Chr.29:29-30 KJV

And the rest of the acts of David, the former and the latter, are written in the history of Samuel the seer, and in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the history of Gad the seer, concerning all his reign, and his power, and the times which went over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the earth.

I Chr.29:29-30 LXX

top

2. Outline I Samuel

I Samuel deals with Israel's change from the period of the judges to the beginning of the kings. There are four people about whom the events revolve: Eli, Samuel, Saul and David. The table shows an outline of their histories. Along side David's history are the Psalms he wrote to show their context.

Concerning

Main events

Eli.

Ch.1-4

a) Birth of Samuel	Ch.1
b) Samuel with Eli	Ch. 2
c) Samuel called	Ch.3	Note 3:20 Samuel established as a prophet
d) The Ark taken	Ch. 4

Samuel

Ch.5-8

a) The Philistines smitten	Ch.5
b) The Ark returned	Ch. 6
c) The Philistines subdued	Ch.7	Note 7:15 Samuel judged Israel
d) Israel demand a king	Ch. 8

Saul

Ch.9-15; 28; 30

a) Looks for his father's asses	Ch. 9
b) Anointed king by Samuel	Ch.10
c) The Ammonites slain	Ch.11
d) Samuel pleads with Israel	Ch.12	Note 12:19-23 Praylessness is sin
e) Saul sins in offering the burnt offering.	Ch.13
f) Jonathan's victory	Ch.14
g) Saul disobeys God, and the kingdom is rent from his house	Ch.15	Note 15:35
h) Consults a witch	Ch.28
i) Dies in battle	Ch.30

David

Ch.16-27; 29

a) Anointed king	Ch.16
b) Kills Goliath	Ch.17
c) Jonathan's friendship/Saul's jealousy	Ch.18
d) David flees	Ch.19	Ps. 59
e) David goes into exile	Ch.20
f) With Ahimelech.	Ch.21	Ch.21:7 » Ps.52 Ch.21:10»Ps.34 Ch.21:11»Ps.56
g) At Addulum	Ch.22	Ps.57 Ps.142
h) Fights the Philistines	Ch.23	Ps.54? Ps.63
i) Cuts Saul's skirt	Ch.24
j) The incident with Nabal; marries Abigail	Ch.25
k) David at the cave with Saul	Ch.26	Ps.54?
l) Dwells with Achish	Ch. 27,29

top

3. Notable firsts

The use of the title 'Lord of Hosts' 1:3 ( 281 × altogether in scripture)
The name of Messiah 2:10 ( His anointed)
The first of several precious things in the OT: The Word of God 3:1 ( the others: Ps.49:8; Ps.72:14 & Ps.116:15; Ps.139:17; Prov.20:15)
The words, Ichabod, 4:21; Ebenezer, 7:12 and God save the king, 10:24.

II Samuel