1 SAMUEL
Title:
Originally 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel were one book. When the Old Testament was translated into Greek, the translators divided this one book into two.
Author and date:
The human author is unknown. See the note in the introduction to Judges on the authorship of the books of the Bible. The author must have written after the death of Solomon, because 1 Sam 27:6 speaks of the “kings of Judah”, indicating some time after Judah and Israel had become separate kingdoms. This did not happen until the time of Rehoboam, Solomon’s son (1 Kings 12 chapter).
Themes:
The birth, life, and work of Samuel, the last and greatest of the judges (1 Sam 7:15-17); Israel’s rejection of God as King, and the appointment of human kings to rule Israel; the early life of David up to the death of king Saul. As with all parts of the Bible, there are many important spiritual lessons in this book for believers now (2 Tim 3:16-17).
Contents:
Hannah, Samuel’s mother 1:1-20
Samuel’s birth and childhood 1:20-28
Hannah’s song 2:1-10
Eli’s ungodly sons 2:12-17
God against the house of Eli 2:27-36
God calls Samuel 3:1-21
Philistines take away the ark of the LORD 4:1-11
Death of Eli, birth of Ichabod 4:12-22
The ark brings disaster to Philistine cities 5:1-12
Return of the ark to Israel 6:1—7:1
Dedication of the people at Mizpah, and the
defeat of the Philistines 7:2-13
The people’s desire for a king 8:1-22
Saul and Samuel meet 9:1-27
Samuel anoints Saul 10:1-8
Saul becomes king 10:9-27
Saul defeats the Ammonites 11:1-15
Samuel’s final speech to the people 12:1-25
Saul offers a burnt offering, and is rebuked 13:1-15
Soldiers without swords and spears 13:16-22
Jonathan’s great military exploit 14:1-14
Victory over the Philistines 14:15-23
Saul’s reckless vow and Jonathan’s danger 14:24-45
Saul’s victories over enemies 14:46-52
War against Amalekites 15:1-33
Saul’s disobedience 15:1-9
God’s message to Saul through Samuel,
God rejects Saul as king 15:10-29
Samuel anoints David 16:1-13
David in Saul’s house 16:14-23
David and Goliath 17:1-58
Saul’s fear and jealousy of David 18:1-16
Saul hopes for David’s death 18:17-25
David marries Saul’s daughter Michal 18:27
Saul tries to kill David 19:1-11
Michal helps David escape 19:12-17
Saul and his men prophesy 19:19-24
David and Jonathan, a wonderful friendship 20:1-42
David escapes to Nob; the priest helps him 21:1-9
David acts like a madman in Gath 21:10-15
David flees to Adullam and Mizpah 22:1-5
Saul kills the priests of Nob 22:6-23
David saves the town of Keilah 23:1-13
The men of Ziph betray David 23:14-29
David spares Saul’s life 24:1-22
David, Nabal, and Abigail 25:1-44
David spares Saul’s life a second time 26:1-25
David goes back to the Philistines 27:1-12
Saul and the witch of Endor 28:1-25
The Philistines send David back to Ziklag 29:1-11
David finds encouragement in the Lord 30:1-8
David recovers all 30:9-31
Death of Saul and Jonathan on Mt Gilboa 31:1-13