Books of Samuel The two Books of Samuel ( ) are part of a series of Old Testament books ( Joshua , Judges , Samuel and Kings ) making up a theological history of the Israelites that affirm and explain God ' s law for Israel under the guidance of the prophets . The first Book of Samuel begins with a description of the prophet Samuel ' s birth and of how God called to him as a boy . The story of the Ark of the Covenant that follows tells of Israel ' s oppression by the Philistines , which brings about Samuel ' s anointing of Saul as Israel ' s first king . But Saul proves unworthy and God ' s choice turns to David , who defeats Israel ' s enemies and brings the Ark to Jerusalem . God then promises David and his successors an eternal dynasty . According to Jewish tradition the book was written by Samuel , with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan . Modern scholarly thinking is that the books originated by combining a number of independent texts of various ages when the larger Deuteronomistic history ( the Former Prophets plus Deuteronomy ) was being composed in the period c . 630 - 540 BCE . Contents . " See Book of Samuel at Bible Gateway " The childless Hannah vows to Yahweh that if she has a son , he will be dedicated to Yahweh . Eli , the priest of Shiloh ( where the ark of the covenant is located ) , blesses her , and a child named Samuel is born . Eli ' s sons , Hopini and Phinehas , prove unworthy of the priesthood and are destroyed by God , but the child Samuel grows up " in the presence of the Lord . " The Philistines capture the Ark of the Covenant from Shiloh and take it to the temple of their idol Dagon , who recognises the supremacy of Yahweh . The Philistines are afflicted with plagues and return the ark to the Israelites , but to the territory of the tribe of Benjamin rather than to Shiloh . The Philistines attack the Israelites gathered at Mizpah in Benjamin . Samuel appeals to Yahweh , the Philistines are decisively beaten , and the Israelites reclaim their lost territory . In Samuel ' s old age , he appoints his sons as judges , but they are unworthy , and so the people clamour for a king . God reluctantly accedes and gives them Saul of the tribe of Benjamin . Saul defeats the enemies of the Israelites , but commits sins against Yahweh . Yahweh tells Samuel to anoint David of Bethlehem as king , and David enters Saul ' s court as his armour - bearer and harpist . Saul ' s son and heir Jonathan befriends David and recognises him as rightful king . Saul plots David ' s death , but David flees into the wilderness , where he becomes a champion of the Hebrews . David joins the Philistines , but continues secretly to champion his own people , until Saul and Jonathan are killed in battle . The elders of Judah anoint David as king , but in the north Saul ' s son Ishbaal rules over the northern tribes . After a long war Ishbaal is murdered hoping for reward from David , but David has them killed for killing God ' s anointed . David is then anointed King of all Israel . David captures Jerusalem and brings the Ark there . David wishes to build a temple , but Nathan tells him that one of David ' s sons will be the one to build the temple . David defeats the enemies of Israel , slaughtering Philistines , Moab ites , Edom ites , Syrians and Arameans . David commits adultery with Bathsheba and plots the death of her husband ; for this God punishes him , saying that the sword shall never depart from his house . For the remainder of his reign there are problems : one of his sons rapes one of his daughters , another son kills the first , his favourite son rebels and is killed , until finally only two contenders for the succession remain , one of them Bathsheba ' s son Solomon . 1 Kings then relates how , as David lies dying , Bathsheba and the prophet Nathan ensure Solomon ' s elevation to the throne . Composition . Versions . 1 and 2 Samuel were originally ( and still are in some Jewish bibles ) a single book , but the first Greek translation , produced in the centuries immediately before Christ , divided it into two ; this was adopted by the Latin translation used in the early Christian church of the West , and finally introduced into Jewish bibles around the early 16th century CE . The modern Hebrew text ( called the Masoretic text ) differs considerably from the Greek , and scholars are still working at finding the best solutions to the many problems this presents . Authorship and date of composition . According to Jewish tradition the book was written by Samuel up until 1 Samuel 25 , where Samuel dies , and the remainder by the prophets Gad and Nathan . Critical scholars from the 19th century onward have rejected this idea , and instead argue that Samuel , like many other books of the bible is a composite work that developed into its current " fixed " form ( or forms ) over several centuries . Early biblical scholars sought to identify various strata of Samuel with " J " and " E " ( Jahwist and Elohist ) sources . This , view , while popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries , has fallen out of currency . On the other hand , the " fragmentary hypothesis " first posited by H . Gressman remains influential among scholars . A somewhat different and still popular approach was taken by Martin Noth , who in 1943 theorized that Samuel was composed as part of the Deuteronomistic history ( Deuteronomy , Joshua , Judges , Samuel and Kings ) . Although Noth ' s belief that the entire History was composed by a single individual has been largely abandoned , the theory that the History was an attempt to compile a continuous history from the time of the settlement of Canaan to the Babylonian exile ( i . e . , Joshua through Kings ) , by interweaving various sources into a cohesive unit , has been adopted by most scholars . The current scholarly consensus argues for multiple authors active over a considerable period , culminating in the mid - 6th century . These 6th century authors and editors would have drawn on many earlier and well - known sources , including ( but not limited to ) an " ark narrative " ( 1 Samuel 4 : 1 - 7 : 1 and perhaps part of 2 Samuel 6 ) , a " Saul cycle " ( parts of 1 Samuel 9 - 11 and 13 - 14 ) , the " history of David ' s rise " ( 1 Samuel 16 : 14 - 2 Samuel 5 : 10 ) , and the " succession narrative " ( 2 Samuel 9 - 20 and 1 Kings 1 - 2 ) . The oldest of these , the " ark narrative , " may even predate the Davidic era . However , while the bulk of the narrative in Samuel may have been completed by the 6th century , further editing was apparently done even after that . For example , the silver quarter - shekel which Saul ' s servant offers to Samuel in 1 Samuel 9 almost certainly fixes the date of this story in the Persian or Hellenistic periods . Sources . The sources used to construct 1 & 2 Samuel are believed to include the following : The Hebrew text of Samuel is heavily corrupted with errors ( meaning that scribes , over the centuries , have introduced many mistakes while copying the original version ) , while in addition the Greek and Hebrew versions differ considerably ; modern scholars are still working at finding the best solutions to the many problems this presents . Themes . The Book of Samuel is a theological evaluation of kingship in general and of dynastic kingship and David in particular . The main themes of the book are introduced in the opening poem ( the " Song of Hannah " ) : ( 1 ) , the sovereignty of Yahweh , God of Israel ; ( 2 ) , the reversal of human fortunes ; and ( 3 ) , kingship . These themes are played out in the stories of the three main characters , Samuel , Saul and David . Samuel . Samuel answers the description of the " prophet like Moses " predicted in Deuteronomy 18 : 15 - 22 : like Moses , he has direct contact with Yahweh , the God of the Israelites , acts as a judge , and is a perfect leader who never makes mistakes . Samuel ' s successful defence of the Israelites against their enemies demonstrates that they have no need for a king ( who will , moreover , introduce inequality ) , yet despite this the people demand a king . But the king they are given is Yahweh ' s gift , and Samuel explains that kingship can be a blessing rather than a curse if they remain faithful to their God . On the other hand , total destruction of both king and people will result if they turn to wickedness . Saul . Saul is the chosen one , a king appointed by Yahweh , God of Israel , and anointed by Samuel , Yahweh ' s prophet , and yet he is ultimately rejected . Saul loses the chance to establish his dynasty and even to continue to reign through two faults : he carries out a sacrifice in place of Samuel ( 1 Samuel 13 : 8 - 14 ) , and he fails to carry out complete genocide against the Amalekites as God has ordered ( 1 Samuel 15 ) . Instead , Saul spared their livestock in order to sacrifice them to God properly . The Deuteronomist ' s negative view of Saul and desire to show David as the first real king of Israel has obscured Saul ' s real achievements . David . One of the main units within Samuel is the " History of David ' s Rise " , the purpose of which is to justify David as the legitimate successor to Saul . The narrative stresses that he gained the throne lawfully , always respecting " the Lord ' s anointed " ( i . e . Saul ) and never taking any of his numerous chances to seize the throne by violence . As God ' s chosen king over Israel David is also the son of God ( " I will be a father to him , and he shall be a son to me . . . " - 2 Samuel 7 : 14 ) . God enters into an eternal covenant ( treaty ) with David and his line , promising divine protection of the dynasty and of Jerusalem through all time . The story can be compared to that of a 13th - century Hittite king who was forced to take the throne after a lifetime of loyalty when his life was in danger : like David , he was assisted by his god , whose divine will decided the course of events .