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Authorship, Composition, and Background
The books of 1 and 2 Samuel were originally one book.
According to Jewish sources (Talmudic tractate Bava Batra 14b) and the Fathers of the Church (for example Clement of Alexandria and Jerome), the first inspired writer of the Book of Samuel is the man whose name is included in the book's title: the prophet Samuel. However, after Samuel's death is recorded in 1 Samuel 25, the prophets Gad and Nathan are believed to have completed the book (see 1 Chr 29:29 and Talmudic tractate Bava Batra 15a).
The book opens in what was a dark time in Israel's history. Prior to the Conquest of Canaan, the Israelites were commanded by God to Faithfully keep and obey all these orders which I am giving you, so that you and your children after you may prosper for ever, doing what is good and right in the eyes of Yahweh your God (Dt 12:28).
And yet at the conclusion of the conquest, the Book of Judges records the troubling statement that everyone was doing what is "right in his eyes" (Judg 21:25). The Israelites were in direct violation of their covenant obligation to act as God commanded.
The Book of Judges also makes the repeated statement that the reason for the chaos in this period was that In those days there was no king in Israel (Josh 17:6; 18:1 and 21:25).
The narrative of the Book of 1st Samuel covers the transition from the era of the Judges of Israel (see the Book of Judges) to the period of kingship and Israel's united monarchy. The story begins in c. 1100 BC, in the last years of the period of the rule of Israel's Judges and the story will conclude with the death of Saul, Israel's first king in c. 1010 BC.
The Book of 1 Samuel is composed chiefly of narratives which include life stories of the principal characters along with three poems/songs (the canticle of Hannah and two hymns of David), lists, and the interwoven story of the Ark of the Covenant.
The story of the transition from rule by Israel's Judges to kingship is told through the lives of four men, giving a realistic depiction of their passions, aspirations, successes and failures: the priest Eli, the prophet Samuel, Saul of the tribe of Benjamin, and David of Bethlehem-Judah. The fifth character in the narrative is God who acts behind the scenes by shaping individual destinies to further His divine plan.
Samuel is the only person in the Old Testament whose biography begins prior to his birth and continues after his death. Samuel was called to be God's holy prophet as a youth and succeeded the priest Eli as Israel's last Judge.
The transition of leadership from Eli to Samuel is the first of three transitions. Samuel will be chosen by God to anoint Israel's first king, Saul of Benjamin. Saul is a tall, handsome and unstable man who looks like a king but lacks the confidence to be a successful ruler and resents Samuel's strict tutelage.
The second transition in leadership is from Samuel to Saul. Saul's lack of obedience to God results in a rift in his relationship with God, and Samuel is directed to anoint the great-grandson of Ruth and Boaz (the Book of Ruth), the shepherd boy David of Bethlehem as Israel's new king.
The third transition is when leadership is passed from Saul to the kingship of David, the talented musician, gifted poet, and fierce warrior who deeply loves God and is endowed with a strong sense of justice and obedience to the God of Israel. David is not depicted, however, as a "cardboard" hero in the Book of Samuel: he sins, abuses his kingly power, repents and receives God's promise through an unconditional covenant that his dynasty will endure forever (see the chart on Yahweh's Eight Covenants).
| BIBLICAL PERIOD | #s 5 and 6: The Judges of Israel and The United Kingdom of Israel | ||||
| COVENANT | THE SINAI COVENANT | ||||
| SCRIPTURE | 1:1 | 4:1 | 8:1 | 13:1 | 15:10 31:13 |
| FOCUS | History of the Last Judges of Israel | History of the First Kings of a United Israel | |||
| DIVISION OF TEXT | Transition of Leadership from Eli to Samuel | Samuel: Priest-Prophet & last Judge of Israel | Transition of leadership Samuel to Saul | Reign of King Saul | Transition of leadership Saul to David |
| TOPIC | Decline of Israel as a Theocracy | Rise of Israel as a Monarchy | |||
| ELI | SAMUEL | SAUL | DAVID | ||
| LOCATION | THE PROMISED LAND of ISRAEL | ||||
| TIME | circa 1100-1010 BC | ||||
The Birth and Early Years of Samuel
1 Samuel 1:1-8 ~ Elkanan's Family Pilgrimage to Yahweh's Sanctuary at Shiloh
The genealogy of Samuel's father Elkanan shows that he was of a distinguished lineage from the Ephraimite clan of Zuph. Elkanah was from the town or Ramathaim (two heights/hills), but he later moved his family to the Benjaminite town of Ramah ("height/hill," see 7:17; 18:18; 25:1; 28:3).
Ramah of Benjamin was located in the hill country five miles north of Jerusalem. The mention of the man being an Ephraimite and mention of the village of Ramah are links back to the narratives in the Book of Judges: the Judge and prophetess Deborah was an Ephraimite who sat beneath a palm tree near Ramah to render judgment for the Israelites (also see Judg 17:1; 18:2; 19:1, 13 and 16).
The birth narrative of Samuel takes place in three stages at three locations in Israel:
- At Yahweh's Sanctuary at Shiloh
- At Samuel's hometown of Ramah
- At Shiloh again
The story begins with the first part of the narrative which concerns two families: the family of the priest Eli and his two sons Hophni and Phinehas, and the family of a man named Elkanah who was wealthy enough to have two wives. His wife Peninnah had given him children, but his wife Hannah was barren.
Despite her failure to give him children, Elkanah loved Hannah more than Peninnah. While bigamy is never mentioned in the Old Testament as sanctioned by God, it was a common practice in Israel and in the Gentile nations of Israel's neighboring city-states and nations, especially when one wife was barren.
The practice of divorce and by implication the practice of multiple marriages was condemned by Jesus in Matthew 19:1-9 when He defined marriage as authored by God as an indivisible union between one man and one woman.
Question: Hannah is one of several barren women in the Bible who, with divine intervention, bore sons who had a mission to fulfill in salvation history. Can you name the other barren women and their sons who became God's agents?
Answer:
- Sarah the wife of Abraham who was the mother of Isaac.
- Rebekah wife of Isaac who was the mother of Jacob-Israel.
- Rachel wife of Jacob-Israel who was the mother of Joseph.
- Manoah's wife who was the mother of Samson.
- Elizabeth wife of Zechariah who the mother of John the Baptist.
In each case, God opened the wombs of these barren women to further His divine plan. Sarah bore Isaac with whom God's covenant with Abraham continued. Rebekah bore the twins Esau and Jacob; God's covenant continued with Jacob who He renamed Israel. Jacob-Israel was the father of the twelve tribe of Israel. Rachel bore Jacob's son Joseph who saved his family from famine by bringing them to live in Egypt. He was the father of Ephraim whose descendant Joshua was chosen by God to succeed Moses and to lead the Israelites in the successful invasion of Canaan. Manoah's wife became the mother of Samson who began the deliverance of Israel from the Philistines. Two of these men, Isaac and Jacob, became the ancestors of the covenant people and of the Redeemer-Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Elizabeth was the mother of St. John the Baptist whose mission was to prepare Israel for the advent of Jesus the Son of God and promised Redeemer-Messiah. In each case these women played an important role in salvation history by giving birth to sons whose destiny was to move forward God's divine plan for the nation of Israel and for the salvation of mankind. Hannah's son will also fulfill a divine destiny.
The mention of the yearly celebration at Shiloh is a link to the end of the Book of Judges where we were told the Sanctuary was established at Shiloh (Judg 18:31) and where an annual feast is mentioned at Shiloh (Judg 21:19).
Question: Every adult male of the covenant (age 13 and older) was required to appear before Yahweh's altar three times a year during the "pilgrim feasts." What were these annual three feasts? See Ex 23:14-17; 34:18-23; Dt 16:16; 2 Chr 8:13.
Answer: Every man of the covenant had to appear before God's altar on the feasts of Unleavened Bread (which began the night of the Passover sacrifice), Weeks, and Shelters/Tabernacles.
At this time God's holy Sanctuary and Israel's most precious shrine, the Ark of the Covenant, was still at Shiloh, located about ten miles north of Bethel and east of Jerusalem (see Josh 18:1; Judg 21:19).
Eli and his sons, descendants Moses' brother Aaron, served Yahweh Sabaoth at the Sanctuary at Shiloh. This is the first time the title Sabaoth is associated with God's divine name. It is a Hebrew word meaning "armies/hosts" and identifies Yahweh's sovereignty over the forces of creation that operate at God's command (for example see Ps 89:6-8). The title Yahweh Sabaoth, "Yahweh, [Lord] of Hosts," is used five times in 1 Samuel and is found frequently in the books of the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms and the books of the prophets.
1 Samuel 1:9-18 ~ Hannah's Petition and Vow
It is interesting that Eli is not identified as the anointed high priest, although some scholars suggest that he was sitting in the high priest's chair of authority which identifies him as the Sanctuary's high priest (1:9). Eli was a descendant of Aaron (the first high priest of the Sinai Covenant) and his youngest son Ithamar (1 Chr 24:3; Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 5.11.5 [361]. All the chief priests and those selected to be Yahweh's high priest had to be descendants of Aaron and his sons. Eli's descendant Ahimelech will become the chief priest and co-high priest of God's Sanctuary during the kingship of David (see 21:1-2; 22:9 14:3). It is possible the inspired writer does not identify Eli as the high priest because of his moral and spiritual failures.
The meal Hannah's family was eating at the Sanctuary is probably a communion Todah. There were three kinds of communion meals, but only the Todah (in Hebrew "thanksgiving") was eaten within the Sanctuary (Lev 7:11/1-15/5). Other sacred meals like the Passover victim eaten on the first night of Unleavened Bread could be eaten in the "camp" of God where the Sanctuary was located. In a sacred banquet, God shared the sacrificed animal with the offerer. The most vital parts of the victim were offered to God, a choice portion went to the presiding priest (see Lev 7:28ff) and the rest was eaten by the offerer, his family and friends/members of the congregation with unleavened bread and red wine in the presence of God.
Question: Hannah was so distressed that she could not take part in the meal; instead what petition and what vow did she make to God?
Answer: She asked God to give her a son. If God honored her petition she vowed to give the child to Yahweh as His servant for the rest of his life.
Question: Although Hannah does not expressly state the kind of vow that will bind the child in our translation, what does her promise that a razor will never touch his head suggest and what other hero of Israel comes to mind who was also under such a lifetime vow before he was born? See Num 6:1-21; Judg 13:3-5.
Answer: Hannah has promised to make her son a Nazirite. It was the same vow that bound the Judge Samson in his lifetime service to God, but in Samson's case it was God who placed the obligation on Samson's mother before he was born.
The word "Nazirite" is actually used in the Septuagint Greek translation of this passage and by the Dead Sea manuscript 4QSam in verse 22. Samuel is also called a Nazirite in the Greek translation of Sirach 46:13 (Jewish Study Bible, page 562, note 11). Hannah's prayer isn't just the story of the petition of a devout childless woman. It is the story of how God intervenes and directs Hannah's life to allow her to play a critical role in God's divine plan as the mother of a future prophet and kingmaker. In this dark time in Israel's history, God intervened in Hannah's ordinary life as He continues to intervene in the lives of those who call on Him in their distress in their ordinary lives.
Silent prayer was uncommon, and, since the priest does not hear her praying, he accuses Hannah of being drunk. However, Eli gives Hannah his blessing when he realizes that he is mistaken. After unburdening her heart to God and receiving the priest's blessing, Hannah is at peace and is able to take part in the communion meal.
1 Samuel 1:19-28 ~ The Birth and dedication of Samuel
That Yahweh "remembered her" does not mean that God ever forgot about Hannah; it is a repeat of her vow in 1:11 ~ Yahweh Sabaoth! Should you condescend to notice the humiliation of your servant and keep her in mind [remember her] instead of disregarding your servant, and give her a boy, I will give him to Yahweh for the whole of his life and no razor shall ever touch his head.
The use of the same Hebrew verb for "to remember" [sakar] simply means He honored her petition and she conceived a son. Mary of Nazareth will use the Greek verb "to remember" in her hymn of praise in Luke 1:72 in the literal Greek text.
Hannah named her son "Samuel," which verse 20 suggests is derived from Hannah's "asking" God for a son. While the verb sha'al/sha'ul = "to ask" will reoccur in the narrative several times, including in the name of the first man Samuel will anoint as Israel's king, Samuel's name is derived from shem-el, "name of God" or "God's name." Hannah will keep her vow to give up her son to God after he is weaned. Elkanah, according to the Law, has the responsibility of confirming his wife's vow (Num 30:13), which he does, and he also agrees to her decision to wait until the child is weaned to fulfill the vow.
Samuel was taken to the Sanctuary when he was weaned.
Question: What does 2 Maccabees 7:27 suggest as the age a child was normally weaned?
Answer: A child was usually weaned when three years old.
Hannah reminded Eli of her vow almost four years earlier and then placed her child into his care to be raised as a life-time Nazirite and a servant of God. Samuel's parents worshipped Yahweh as they offered their sacrifice at the Altar of Burnt Offerings and took part in the daily liturgical service where Hannah offered a canticle of praise to God.
Throughout salvation history, women have played a vital role in God's divine plan. In the Old Testament covenants, the mission of many holy women prepared the way for Mary of Nazareth. "Against all human expectation God chooses those who were considered powerless and weak to show forth his faithfulness to his promises: Hannah, the mother of Samuel; Deborah; Ruth; Judith and Esther; and many other women" (CCC 489).
Hannah Presents Samuel (Gerbrand van den Eeckhout)
1 Samuel Chapter 2: Conditions at Shiloh
1 Samuel 2:1-11 ~ The Canticle of Hannah
The Virgin Mary's Magnificat is often compared to Hannah's Canticle of praise. Both hymns have a similar beginning, praising God for His greatness and His deliverance/salvation; although Mary's hymn of praise is more personal.
| Hannah's Canticle | Mary's Magnificat |
| My heart exults in Yahweh, in my God is my strength lifted up, my mouth derides my foes, for I rejoice in your deliverance (1 Sam 2:1). | My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; because he has looked upon the humiliation of his servant (Lk 1:46-48a). |
Both poems also speak of God raising up the lowly and desolate while safeguarding the meek and righteous (1 Sam 2:3-10 and Lk 1:51-54). Both poems speak of the women's belief and confidence in God to guide their lives. In the Hebrew text of Hannah's canticle, she invokes the divine covenant name "Yahweh" nine times in six verses (2:1, 23, 6, 7, 8, 10) and then the passage concludes with a tenth mention of God's divine name in verse 11 with Samuel remaining in Yahweh's service at Shiloh.
Hannah's canticle is one of praise and prophecy. It has a poetic structure that is expressed in an alternating pattern that praises Yahweh's divine sovereignty and then comments on the reversal of human fortune when God dispenses His divine judgment; then the pattern concludes with a prophecy of kingship:
- Yahweh's divine sovereignty (verses 1b-3)
- Reverse of human fortune (verses 4-5)
- Yahweh's divine sovereignty (verses 6-7)
- Reverse of human fortune (verse 8a)
- Yahweh's divine sovereignty (verses 8b-10a)
- Prophecy of kingship (10b)
Question: What contrast does Hannah make in verse 4?
Answer: She recalls the results of Yahweh's mighty deeds and contrasts the fate of the mighty with the lowly in their reversal of destiny when they experience God's divine justice.
Hannah's mention of "the barren woman" in verse 5 is her only direct reference to herself and her experience. Yahweh's holy sovereignty in verses 6-7 give Him authority over life and death in those who He "brings down to Sheol." Sheol is the Hebrew word for the "grave." It is the destination of both the wicked and the righteous before the redeeming work of Jesus Christ (CCC 633; Lk 16:19-31).
Hannah's canticle concludes with the prophetic statement: ...he endows his king with power, he raises up the strength of his Anointed [Messiah] (verse 10c). This is a possible reference to the part Samuel will play as Israel's kingmaker, especially in the anointing of David of Bethlehem. But the prophecy may also point to the distant future in David's descendant the King of kings, Jesus Christ (see Ps 89:24-29 and Mt 1:1).
1 Samuel 2:12-17 ~ The Sons of Eli
Verses 12-26 offer the contrast between Eli's adopted son, young Samuel (verses 18-21 and 26) and his two adult priestly sons (verses 12-17 and 18-21).
In a communion sacrifice, the animal is offered to God who then shares the sacrifice with his righteous covenant children. The fat of the animal is given to God by being burned on the Altar of Burnt Offerings in the Sanctuary courtyard, the blood of the animal is poured out at the base of the altar, a portion of the animal is given to the officiating priest (Lev 7:28-34/18-24), and the rest of the animal is returned to the offerer to be cooked in a pot and eaten in the Sanctuary with his family and any other covenant members who are present for a Todah "thanksgiving" communion offering (Lev 3:1-5, 14-17; 7:11-15/1-5). The eating of the sacred feast in Yahweh's presence restored peace/fellowship with God. In a sin offering, the animal was shared between God and His priest who ate the offerer's sin sacrifice (Lev 6:17-23/24-30).
Question: What was the sin of Eli's sons described in verses 12-17? See Lev 7:28-38; Num 18:8-19 and Dt 18:3-4.
Answer: Eli's sons contemptuously ignored the regulations governing what belonged to Yahweh from the sacrifices and the priest's rightful share of the communion sacrifices according to the Law and what belonged to the people. They placed their desires above what was rightfully due Yahweh. They were not serving God and the people; they were serving themselves.
1 Samuel 2:18-21 ~ Samuel at Shiloh
The favorable account of young Samuel in verses 18-21 and verse 26 will alternate with accounts of the failures of Eli's two sons in verses 12-17 and 22-25.
Question: How did God blessed Hannah and Elkanah?
Answer: He gave them five more children in addition to Samuel.
1 Samuel 2:22-26 ~ The Continuing failure of Eli's Sons
Question: What was Eli's warning to his sons?
Answer: When one man sins against another, God acts as a just judge in arbitrating their conflict. But, to sin against God is far more serious and there is no one with authority to stand up for him against God. Their father's point is that they haven't just sinned against the people; they have sinned against God and have denied His divine authority over them.
Eli's sons did not listen to their father's warning, but it was already too late. Their many sins against God and His covenant people had resulted in God's divine judgment against them.
Question: Does God's decision mean that the sons of Eli had no opportunity to repent?
Answer: It does not mean that they did not have the opportunity to repent and turn back to God. God's decision did not deny their free will. However, the "hardening of their hearts" in disregarding their father's warning was an indication that they had no intention of repenting their sins and they foolishly had no fear of offending God.
In the meantime, Samuel was growing up, pleasing both God and His people.
1 Samuel 2:27-36 ~ The Punishment of Eli and his Sons Foretold
Question: God sends an unnamed prophet to Eli. Who is the prophet referring to as Eli's "father" in Egypt who was chosen to serve at Yahweh's altar?
Answer: He is referring to Eli's ancestor Aaron, the first high priest from whom all chief priests are descended.
After verse 23 the Hebrew Masoretic text adds: and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The phrase is not found in the Septuagint and is believed to be a gloss suggested by Exodus 38:8 where women served the Sanctuary by weaving the textiles hung in the Sanctuary and the priestly tunics. If it was intended to be part of the inspired text, it does demonstrate, however, the depravity of the sons of Eli.
Question: In honoring his sons more than his God, what commandments has Eli broken?
Answer: He has broken what embodies the first three of the Ten Commandments which is summarized in Israel's profession of faith in the first verses of the Shema: You must love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. Let the words I enjoin on you today stay in your heart. You shall tell them to your children, and keep on telling them, when you are sitting at home, when you are out and about .... Eli has not instructed his sons, has left them unpunished for their sins against God and the people and has put caring for his sons before God (verse 29b).
Question: What promise had God made to Eli's "family" from the time of the Exodus? See Ex 28:1; 29:1-9; 40:15; Lev 2:13; Num 18:19; Sir 45:722/27
Answer: Aaron and his descendants were to serve God as His priestly representatives in a perpetual covenant.
Eli has broken the covenant God made with Aaron and with Israel. God's judgment is given in words that are similar to the curses/judgments that are the warnings to Israel of the consequences of for covenant failure in Leviticus 26:14—45 and Deuteronomy 28:15-68.
Question: What is God's judgment concerning Eli, his sons, and his family line? What is meant by their fate being a "sign"?
Answer: The judgment is not only on the sons for their failures but on their father for his failure concerning his sons and their violations of their priestly offices for which he is ultimately responsible:
- The deaths of Hophni and Phinehas are foretold as an omen of more misfortunates in the future that will mean the end of Eli's family line.
- Eli will become blind and spiritually desolate.
- None of his surviving family members will live to old age but will die violently.
- The last of his descendants will be so poor that they will have to beg for assistance.
Question: What is the significance of a Biblical "sign."
Answer: In Scripture a "sign" is always something concrete; it is a visible indicator of a promised spiritual blessing or the fulfillment of a promised divine judgment from God.
The prophecy will be repeated to Eli in 3:15-18 and the prophetic fulfillment will begin in chapter four when Eli's sons are killed by the Philistines. The prophecy will continue in the massacre of the priestly descendants of Eli at Nob during the reign of King Saul (1 Sam 22:18-19) with the exception of one survivor who will be deposed by King Solomon (1 Kng 2:27), signaling the end of Eli's priestly line.
Question: Why where Eli's sons foolish to not take the warnings seriously and to assume that Yahweh would not destroy descendants of Aaron who violated the commands of God concerning the liturgy of worship and in serving God's people? See Lev 10:1-3.
Answer: A precedent had already been set in God's divine judgment in the deaths of their ancestor Aaron's two elder sons for abuses in the liturgy of worship.
Question: What is the focus of events at Shiloh in the second half of chapter 2?
Answer: The focus is the favorable ascent of Samuel who found favor in God's eyes in contrast with the scandalous descent of the sons of Eli. Ironically, both processes were taking place simultaneously at the Sanctuary of Yahweh at Shiloh.
CHALLENGE: “How could the Virgin Mary be sinless? She’s human like everyone else.”
DEFENSE: Despite our state in the present life, being human does not mean being a sinner.
If being human did entail sin, then God would have built sin into human nature, which would make him the author of evil. Instead, human nature was damaged because of the misuse of free will—which is itself a good, as it enables people to freely choose love. Because human nature does not entail sin, it is possible for humans to be free of sin. Thus Adam and Eve were sinless before the fall of man.
There was a time in all of our lives when, in spite of our fallen nature, none of us had committed personal sin. Paul notes that in the womb Jacob and Esau “were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad” (Rom. 9:11). And there will be a time in the future when, if we die in God’s friendship, we will all be sinless, for we will not continue to sin in heaven, because “nothing unclean shall enter it” (Rev. 21:27).
Instead, we will have “the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14), for “when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). All the saved will be given this gift of total holiness, and because of her special role in God’s plan of the ages, Mary was given it early.
Jesus Christ—the Second Adam (1 Cor. 15:45)—was free of all sin (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 2:22; 1 John 3:5). In the same way, Mary—the Second Eve (CCC 411, 494)—was also preserved from all sin.
This gift was given to her because of what Christ did on the cross. It was applied to her early to make her holy in a special way and thus a more fitting mother for the Son of God. Consequently, Mary’s holiness “from the first instant of her conception comes wholly from Christ: She is redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son” (CCC 492). Human nature thus does not entail sin—which can give us all hope of one day being free of it!
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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