1 Samuel: An Overview
Examining the setting, authorship, message and structure of 1 Samuel, exploring themes of humility versus pride and God's anointed king.
Setting, Occasion, Author, and Dating
The book of Samuel was historically one book in the Hebrew Bible. It was broken into two parts, known today as 1 and 2 Samuel, during the translation of the LXX in the third century BC.[1] As a whole, the book of Samuel takes place in the promised land at the end of the time of the Judges, and the beginning of the Israelite monarchy and recounts the history of Israel from the birth of Samuel around 1120 BC to the last days of King David in 971 BC.[2] 1 Samuel begins with the birth of Samuel, the final judge of Israel (1 Sam 7:15), and serves as a record of the establishment of the Israelite monarchy with Saul, and ends with his death.
The author of 1 Samuel is not attributed in the text, but Jewish and Christian tradition hold that Samuel himself was the author of everything up until he died in chapter 25, and that it was completed by Gad the seer and Nathan the prophet. This would place the end of the writing in about 975 BC. [3]
As part of the “Former Prophets” or “Histories” of the Old Testament, the book of Samuel was written to document for the nation of Israel the reasons and the process of the transition from the period of the Judges to the period of the monarchy, as this was a major shift in the life and community of the Hebrew people.
Message and Structure
1 Samuel brings detail to the promise of God that the offspring of the woman will crush the serpent's head by showing that it will happen through a humble, faithful, Messianic priest-king. 1 Samuel repeatedly contrasts pride and humility.[4] The barren woman gives birth (1 Sam 1:20). The shepherd boy becomes a king (1 Sam 16:13). The giant falls (1 Sam 17:49). The priest's sons are killed (1 Sam 4:11).
God desires a priest who will be faithful to do what is on God’s heart (1 Sam 2:35). God looks on the heart, not the outward appearance, when selecting a king (1 Sam 16:7). Hannah sings of God’s anointed king (1 Sam 2:10), God promises a faithful priest who will do all of God’s will and go in and out before His anointed forever (1 Sam 2:35). 1 Samuel does reference an anointed king,[5] the Messiah.[6]
In fact, it mentions two: Saul (1 Sam 10:1) and David (1 Sam 16:13). Both kings face off against serpents. Saul’s first battle is against Nahash (1 Sam 11), which means “serpent”.[7] But shortly after, Saul falls as well (1 Sam 13:13). David’s first fight is against Goliath of Gath, who is dressed in scaled armor and mocks Yahweh (1 Sam 17). David cuts off Goliath’s head, takes it to Jerusalem (1 Sam 17:54), where it was likely mounted on a stake on a hill outside the city for his enemies to see. There has been speculation that Goliath’s head was later buried in that spot, later called Golgotha, “the place of the skull” in Aramaic (Mark 15:22). It was on this hill that the greater David, the true Priest-King Jesus, the Messiah of God, accomplished the crushing of the serpent’s head once-for-all by his final sacrifice for sin. And it is in pointing to this Messiah that Christians find the relevance and applicability of the book.
The book is structured as a historiography of the end of the period of the judges and the beginning of the period of the Monarchs. First is Samuel’s birth and ministry in judging Israel and anointing its first king (1 Sam 1-9). Next is the rise of King Saul (1 Sam 10-14), and finally is the fall of Saul and the rise of David (1 Sam 15-31).[8]
Relevance and Applicability to Christians Today
In the serpent vs. anointed king theme throughout the book, we can find our relevance and applicability for Christians today. 1 Samuel points to an anointed king who will be king of kings and lord of lords! Saul and David’s failures and falls into sin point to their imperfection in the roles that they were merely pointers to the true Messiah.
1 Samuel shows us that a humble, faithful, anointed priest-king will crush the serpent’s head, but the book only shows imperfect humble people, imperfect anointed ones, and imperfect serpent slayers. Samuel dies. Saul falls. David looks even more promising and gets even better promises, but he, too, goes the way of all flesh. This tells us that there is one yet to come. Jesus Christ, the true and better David. The good shepherd. The anointed. The king of kings. He came and succeeded where Samuel, Saul, and David failed, and crushed the serpent’s head once and for all.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Block, Daniel I. Judges, Ruth. Vol. 6 of The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999.
DeRouchie, Jason. “Lecture on Leviticus.” Video lecture, M-BS2110 Old Testament Survey 1. Midwestern Seminary, July 25, 2023.
Merrill, Eugene H., Mark F. Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti. The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2011.
Webb, Barry G. The Book of Judges. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2012.
Notes
1. 1. Eugene H. Merrill, Mark F. Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti, *The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament* (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2011), 307.
4. 4. Jason DeRouchie, *“Lecture on 1 and 2 Samuel” *video lecture, M-BS2110 Old Testament Survey 1, Midwestern Seminary, July 25, 2023, 00:02:40.