• Hebrew text – There was one book called “Samuel”.
• Greek text – The one book was divided into two books and called “I & II Kings”. I & II Kings as we know them were called “III & IV Kings”.
• English text – Taken from the 15th century Hebrew text it was called I & II Samuel. This is what the Hebrew had at this time. The name Samuel comes from the central character of the two books, Samuel.

There is no authorship ascribed to any particular individual in the two books. Tradition ascribes the books to Samuel but in 1 Samuel 27:6 it seems that Samuel had died at the time of these books being written.

This book follows immediately after the book of Judges and it covers 3 major characters and their careers:-

• Samuel (Judge).
• Saul (1st King).
• David (2nd King).

The books seem to cover about a century of Jewish history. The monarchy starts in I & II Samuel and it continues into I & II Kings. I & II Chronicles covers the two periods covered by I & II Samuel and I & II Kings.

The theme of I Samuel is the establishment of the Kingdom. Samuel is the transitional leader. He was the last of the Judges and it was he who anoints the first two Kings. Saul is appointed King by the people in this book. In 2 Samuel the theme is the consolidation of the Kingdom and it is consolidated by David. The whole of this book is about David.

For 1 Samuel.

• The judgeship of Samuel – Chapters 1-12. This can be sub-divided into:-

1. The birth of Samuel – Chapters 1-3.
2. The call of Samuel – Chapters 1-3.
3. The career or ministry of Samuel – Chapters 4-12.

• The reign of Saul – Chapters 8-31. This can be sub-divided into:-

1. The rise of King Saul to power – Chapters 8-12. Although Saul was the people’s choice of King, he was still part of God’s eternal decree. Saul was anointed by Samuel and then he is coronated King of Israel.
2. The story of his rejection – Chapters 13-16. Saul is eventually rejected as King by God. The main reason for this is because Saul disobeys God (See chapters 15 & 16).
3. The rebellion of Saul – Chapters 17-30. This is Saul’s apostasy.
4. The death of Saul – Chapter 31.

For 2 Samuel. This book is “The story of David”. The book falls into two major divisions:-

• David’s triumphs – Chapters 1 – 10. David won Jerusalem from the enemy and he made Zion the central sanctuary of worship in Israel.
• David can do nothing right – Chapters 11-24. David has troubles with himself, his family and his State. This is a story of great tragedy.

• The death of Saul. He is painted here as a person who is hit by an archer and then falls on his own sword and takes his life. However, in 2 Samuel 1, he is painted here as a person who is agonising in great pain, when one of the Amalekites walks by and Saul asks him to take his life from him and deliver him from his suffering. How do we explain this? There are two possible explanations:-

1. When Saul fell on his sword he did not succeed in killing himself and he wanders around in great pain until he sees the Amalekite who agrees to finish him off, as an act of mercy.
2. The Amalekite was telling a lie to David. Saul was the arch-enemy of David, and the Amalekite was hoping to receive some sort of reward from David. In Chronicles there is no mention of the Amalekite, so this seems to be the best. The critic cannot prove that any of these two explanations are not true.

• Battle of Aphek – See 1 Samuel 4. It is in this chapter that the Philistines come upon Israel and they do three things:-

1. They stole the ark. The ark is the throne of God.
2. They levelled the tabernacle. The tabernacle was the palace of God.
3. They destroyed Shiloh. This was the capital city of Israel at that time.

• Eli and his sons. The two sons of the high priest, Eli, were killed and then Eli dies after hearing the news of his sons’ deaths (vs. 18). A child was born to the wife of Phinehas at this time; one of Eli’s sons; and the child is called Ichabod. Ichabod means “The glory has departed”. This is a turning point in Israel’s history. There had been many failures in Israel up to this point. E.g. the priesthood (Eli’s sons and Eli himself) and the Judges (Samson). The discipline of God has fallen upon Israel, and it is as a result of this that you have the rise of the office of the prophet.
• The office of the Prophet – God at this time raises up the prophets. Prophets are a sign of God’s ability to compensate for the failure of men with the innovation of another programme. An application of this can be applied today. God has raised up Bible school movements, seminaries and mission boards, etc, because of the failures of the local Churches.
• The rise of the Monarchy – The reasons for the Monarchy:-

1. Political – The Philistines were a far superior nation as far as weapons, culture and military tactics go. They were terrified of the Philistines and so they wanted a King.
2. Spiritual – The Israelites were totally corrupt in their idea of leadership. They did not want to be totally dependant on God for raising up a leader, they wanted a King so that there could be a succession. This was agreed by God, who had intended to give them the monarchy anyway. God told the Israelites when He introduced the monarchy that there would be three results:- Loss of charisma – The evidence of the Spirit of God manifested in the leaders of Israel, would be lost. Loss of individual freedom – When a King came to the throne. Loss of equality – I Samuel 8. There would be injustices that would take place within the nation. The church has done exactly what Israel did in their rejection of God as their King, because in the Church there has been the rise of the clergy. Rather than be dependant on Christ alone, the Church has appointed clergymen. The same three end results are produced as with Israel.

• The Davidic covenant – 2 Samuel 7. God makes a covenant with David. There are two major divisions:-

1. God gives to David three promises which are to be fulfilled in his lifetime. (vs. 8-11). David will have a great name. David will have a great place in the land. There will be rest in the land.
2. God makes three promises to David which are to be fulfilled after his life time. (vs 12-16) David is to have an eternal seed. David is to have an eternal throne. David is to have an eternal Kingdom. These are exactly the three things which are mentioned in the announcement of the birth of Jesus to Mary in Luke 1:32 & 33. This is an unconditional covenant that God makes with David, with no strings attached. So why is there no King in Israel ? See I Kings 2:4. They lost the enjoyment of having their King. Later they rejected Christ also as their King. The covenant shall be fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ when he comes to rule for the Millennium and for ever more.