Old Testament Survey
1 Samuel
Rick Walker
http://Didaskalia.tripod.com
1. Introduction to 1, 2 Samuel.
A. Title.
1. The title is really inappropriate in that it suggest a
single main character,
Samuel.
2. There are three central characters:
a. 1 Samuel: Samuel and Saul
b. 2 Samuel: Saul and David
B. Authorship: anonymous.
C. Time Frame. The time period covers about one hundred and thirty years of
history,
from the birth of Samuel until the old age of David (c.
1050 -950 B.C.).
D. Purpose: At least two purposes can be detected.
1. Shows the transition of Israel from a loose federation
of tribes to a monarchy
ruled by kings. However, the books give
what appear to be conflicting assessments
of kingship.
a. Favorable view of kingship in 1 Samuel
10:24-27. Samuel explains the regulations
for kingship and writes
them down.
b. Unfavorable view of kingship.
1. 1 Sam. 8:6-8: in
seeking a king, they have rejected God.
2. 1 Sam. 2:19: people
acknowledge that they have done evil in seeking a king.
3. After Saul is
anointed, Samuel calls for a thunderstorm during the wheat
harvest to show them they have done evil in asking for a king (12:16-18).
c. A plausible explanation of this
apparent inconsistency is to suggest that it
was not that they
wanted a king that was evil, but their motives for seeking
one.
2. Second purpose that comes through is a demonstration of
the continuation of
the Deuteronomistic history during the
Monarchal period.
2. Years of Transition Under Samuel (1 Samuel 1-10)
A. Birth and Childhood of Samuel
1. Samuel is called a boy wearing a linen ephod (2:18).
Special circumstances
surrounding the birth of Samuel led to
him serving in the temple even as a very
young boy.
a. Hannah would go to the tabernacle at
Shiloh every year
1. offer sacrifices
2. pray for a child
because she was barren
a.
promises to devote the child to the Lord (1:10).
b.
says no razor will ever touch his head; i.e., he was under a Nazarite
vow (1:11; cf. Num. 6:1-21).
3. Eli, the priest,
thought she was drunk because he saw her lips moving while
in
prayer (1:12-14).
b. God answers Hannah's prayer
1. Names son Samuel
2. Hannah takes him to
the tabernacle where he grows up under the hand of Eli,
the
priest (1:28). "For his whole life, he shall be given over to the
Lord."
3. Every year Hannah
would make him a little robe and take it to him when
she
went up to offer sacrifices (2:19).
2. Samuel is called to be a Prophet (1 Sam. 3:1-21)
a. While still a boy, Samuel is called to
be a prophet.
1. The Lord calls his
name at night (3:4, 5).
a.
Runs to Eli and asks what he wants.
b.
Eli says he did not call Samuel.
c.
Happens two more nights (3:6-8).
d.
Eli tells Samuel that next time he is to answer, "Speak Lord, for your
servant heareth" (3:9).
2. Fourth time, Samuel
answers the Lord.
a.
Lord tells him he is going to judge Eli for the sins of his family.
b.
Eli's sons were wicked
1. Eli's sons sleep with the women who work in the temple (1 Sam. 2:22).
2. Demanding meat from worshipers (2:12-15).
b. Samuel gained a reputation as a
prophet from Dan to Beersheba (3:20).
B. As a Judge, Samuel Delivers Israel from the Philistines (4:1-7:17).
1. The Philistines attack the Israelites and defeat them
(4:2).
2. Israel goes into battle again, this time with the ark of
the covenant, which
was brought from Shiloh (4:3).
a. The Philistines are afraid when they
hear the Israelites shouting because the
ark entered their camp
(4:6).
1. "A god has come
into their camp" (4:7). Pagans would often take their idols
into
battle with them with the thought that the deity would not allow
himself to be captured and would therefore help them defeat their enemies.
2. Who will deliver us
from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods
who
struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert (4:8).
b. Philistines muster the courage to go
into battle.
1. Defeat Israel.
2. Capture the ark of
the covenant and take it with them (3:10).
3. When Eli hears that
the ark has been captured, he falls off his chair and
dies
(4:18).
c. The ark of the covenant continues to
fight for Israel.
1. The Philistines take
ark to Ashdod.
a.
Set it up in the temple of Dagon (5:2).
1. Next morning Dagon has fallen over before the ark.
2. Second morning he has fallen over again and broken into pieces.
b.
People of Ashdod are struck with tumors (5:6).
c.
People of the city decide the smart thing to do is to move it to another
city (5:8)! Make it someone else's problem.
2. The Philistines move
ark to Gath (5:8), but the people were struck with
tumors (5:9)
3. The Philistines move
ark to Ekron (5:10).
a.
Some people died
b.
Some struck with tumors
d. Ark is sent back to Israel (6:1-21).
1. Five gold tumors and
five gold rats sent with ark (6:4).
2. Put ark on a cart
pulled by two calves.
3. People of Beth
Shemesh were harvesting wheat when the cart passed by
(6:13).
a.
Chopped up cart and made fire.
b.
Sacrificed cows as burnt offering.
c.
Seventy men of Beth Shemesh look into the ark and are struck dead by
God (6:19).
e. The ark is put in the house of
Abinadab, who is consecrated to stand guard
over it (7:1).
3. Twenty years later, the people repent of their idolatry,
and Samuel, as a judge,
defeats the Philistines (7:1-6).
a. Samuel summons the men of Israel to
gather at Mizpah (7:5, 6).
1. Philisitines come
out against Israel at Mizpah and attack while Samuel
is
offering a sacrifice to the Lord (7:7, 10).
2. God makes it thunder
loudly and the Philistines were thrown into confusion
and
defeated (7:10, 11).
b. The Lord was against the Philistines
throughout the life of Samuel (7:13).
1. Ekron and Gath were
restored to Israel (7:14).
2. SAmuel continued as
judge all the days of his life (7:15).
C. Samuel Anoints Saul (8:1-10:27).
1. When Samuel is old, Israel asks for a king (8:1-5).
a. Samuel had appointed his sons as
judges, but they were corrupt:
took bribes and
perverted justice (8:3).
b. Elders of Israel ask Samuel to give
them a king to rule over them (8:5).
1. Lord says by asking
for a king, they are rejecting him as their king
(8:7).
2. Samuel is to grant
their request, but warns them of what it means to have
a
king (8:13-17).
a.
take your sons to serve in the king's army and fields.
b.
take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, bakers
c.
take the best of your fields, olive groves and vineyards
d.
take your menservants, maidservants, and the best of your cattle, donkeys
and flocks.
3. Samuel says: You
will cry to the Lord for relief from the king, but the
Lord
will not answer (8:18).
2. Samuel anoints Saul king of Israel (1 Samuel 9, 10).
a. Saul is of the tribe of Benjamin.
b. Out looking for his father's donkey
and his servant suggests they go
the "seer,"
Samuel, to ask where to look for the donkeys (9:6).
c. Lord has told Samuel that a man from
the tribe of Benjamin would come to him
and he is to be the
anointed king of Israel (9:15).
d. When Saul comes to Samuel, Samuel
invites him to go up to the high place to
eat with him (9:19).
1. Saul is seated at
the place of honor (9:22).
2. Brought the choicest
piece of meat (9:23).
3. Next morning, before
Saul leaves, Samuel anoints him king by pouring oil
on
his head and giving him a kiss (10:1).
e. Samuel tells Saul signs by which he
will know he is to be king (10:1).
1. Today you will reach
Rachel's tomb and two men will come to you and say
your
father's donkeys have been found (10:2).
2. Tomorrow you will
come to the great tree of Tabor.
a.
Three men will be carrying three loaves of bread and a skin of wine to
Bethel.
b.
They will give you two loaves of bread.
3. After that you will
meet a procession of prophets coming down from a high
place. The Spirit of God will come upon you and you will prophesy with
them
(10:5, 6).
4. All the signs are
fulfilled.
3. Saul revealed to Israel as their king (10:17-27).
a. Samuel gathers all of Israel together
to reveal their king.
b. All tribes are set before him.
1. Calls out for the
tribe of Benjamin (10:20).
2. Calls out for the
clan of Matri was chosen (10:21).
3. Calls out for Saul,
but he is not among them (10:21).
a.
Where is the king?
b.
Lord tells them, "He has hidden himself among the baggage (10:22).
4. Saul is brought out from the baggage and is presented to
the people: Here is your
king.
a. Some said, "Long live the
king" (10:24).
b. Others said, "How can this fellow
save us?" (10:27).
c. Before Samuel dies (Chapter 12), he
will tell the Jews that if they do not
follow the Lord, both
them and the king shall be swept away (1 Sam. 12:24).
3. Saul, First King of Israel (1 Samuel 11-31).
A. Rescues Jabesh Gilead (11:1-11).
1. Ammonites beseiged Jabesh-Gilead.
2. Jabesh-Gilead wants to surrender and sign a treaty.
3. Ammonites will on agree under the condition that they
can gouge out the right eye
of all the people.
4. Saul comes with three hundred thousand men and defeats
the Ammonites.
B. The Two Sins of Saul (1 Samuel 13, 15)
1. Offers burnt offering before fighting the Philistines (1
Samuel 13)
a. Philistines gather to fight Israel
(13:5).
1. three thousand
chariots (13:5).
2. six thousand chariot
drivers (13:5).
3. innumerable soldiers
(13:5).
b. Israel afraid: hiding in caves,
thickets, cisterns (13:6).
c. Samuel was to come to Gilgal and offer
a sacrifice before Israel could go
into battle.
1. After seven days,
Saul gets impatient and offers the burnt offering
himself (8, 9).
2. As soon as he
finished, Samuel arrived.
3. Saul was then told
that his kingdom would not endure forever (13:14).
2. (1 Samuel 15) Brings Animals for Sacrifice.
a. Samuel tells Saul to attack the
Ammonites and kill all that belongs to them:
men, women, children,
animals (15:3).
b. When he comes back from battle, Samuel
hears the sound of animals and asks Saul
what he has done.
1. Saul says he saved
the best animals to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord
(15:21).
2. To obey is better
than to sacrifice, and heed is better than the fat of
rams
(15:22).
3. Saul is rejected as
king (15:26).
c. Samuel grieved for Saul, but never
went up to see him again (15:35).
d. The Lord was sorry that he had made
Saul king over Israel (15:35).
4. David is Anointed (1 Samuel 16).
A. Samuel anoints David as king over Israel (1 Samuel 16).
1. The Lord sends Samuel to the house of Jesse, of the
tribe of Judah, to anoint
Israel's new king.
a. Jesse has seven sons and the youngest
is David.
b. Samuel has all the sons of Jesse pass
before him. Each time the Lord tells him
that this is not the
king.
c. After six sons have passed by, Samuel
asks if he has any other sons (16:11).
1. The youngest, David,
is tending the sheep (16:11).
2. David is brought. He
is ruddy with fine appearance and handsome features
(16:12).
2. Samuel anoints David king.
a. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon
David with power (16:13).
b. The Spirit of the Lord departs from
Saul (16:14).
B. The Strained Relationship between David and Saul.
1. Saul did not have to leave the throne immediately.
a. He was left to sit on the throne
alone, without God's help through
the Spirit.
b. Saul had rejected the rule of God in
his life and, as the story unfolds, his
life devolves.
1. Possessed by an evil
spirit.
2. Appears to develop a
split personality as he sometimes speaks well of David
and,
at others, tries to kill him.
3. Heart is full of
envy and murder.
4. Commits suicide in
the end.
2. David will not come to the throne immediately.
a. Will continually endure the
persecution of Saul.
b. Has several opportunities to put Saul
to death, but refuses.
5. Saul Tries to Kill David. (1 Sam. 16:1-20:42) There are a number of times when Saul
tries to kill David after he begins to serve the king.
A. David enters into Saul's service.
1. When the evil spirit would come upon Saul, the playing
of a harp would make him
feel better (16:14).
2. Saul's servants seek someone who play a harp, and they
decide on David, who happens
to be the anointed king (16:18).
3. David becomes the king's harp player and also served as
one of his armor-bearers
(16:21-23).
B. David slays Goliath (1 Samuel 17).
1. The Philistine army and Saul's armies were on opposite
hills in the valley of
Elah (17:2, 3).
a. Standoff for forty days.
b. Philistine giant, Goliath, come out
and challenge the armies of Israel every
morning and evening.
c. He would fight any one man of Israel
and the defeated army would become the
subjects of the other.
2. No one could be found to fight Goliath because he was a
giant (17:11).
a. nine feet tall
b. point of his spear weighs fifteen
pounds (17:7).
c. scale armor weighed one hundred twenty
five pounds (17:5).
3. David comes to bring his brothers some cheese and bread.
a. David hears the giants challenge and
tells Saul that he will fight the
Philistine (17:32).
b. Saul has his doubts, but David insists
(17:33-37).
1. David says he
watches sheep and has killed a lion and a bear that attacked
the
flock.
2. Says the Lord who
delivered him from the lion and bear will deliver him
from
the Philistine.
c. Saul agrees and has his own armour put
on the boy, but David takes it off
because it is too big.
4. David kills Goliath.
a. Goes up against the giant with a sling
and five smooth stones (17:40).
b. Goliath is insulted.
1. "Am I a dog
that you come against me with sticks?" (17:43).
2. I will feed your
flesh to the birds.
c. As the Philistine moves closer, David
takes out a stone and hurls it from his
sling.
1. Hits Goliath in
forehead and sunk in (17:49)
2. David killed him and
cut off his head and carried it back to Jerusalem
(17:51, 54).
d. Philistines are defeated.
C. Saul Tries to Kill David.
1. David becomes a celebrated war hero.
a. Continues to have success in battle
(18:5).
b. Jonathan befriends David (18:4).
c. Women sing: Saul has killed his
thousands,and David his tens of thousands
(18:7).
d. All of this causes Saul to be envious
of David (18:8, 9).
2. He makes several attempts to kill David.
a. First Attempt: David is playing harp
for the king, and he throws a javelin at
him (18:10, 11).
b. Second Attempt: Saul's daugher Mical
is in love with David and Saul offers her
hand in marriage
(18:20).
1. Insists that David
bring one hundred Philistine foreskins (18:25).
2. Saul's hope was that
David would be killed by the Philistines (18:21).
3. David brings two
hundred foreskins, twice the number required, and marries
Mical
(18:27).
c. Third Attempt. Saul tells his servants
and Jonathan to kill David (19:1-9).
1. Jonathan tells Saul
that David is an innocent man and should not be
killed (19:4).
2. Saul promised not to
kill David (19:6), but later, he throws a spear at him
while
he is playing the harp (19:9).
d. Fourth Attempt. He goes up to David's
house to kill him, but Mical warned him
and he fled (19:11-18).
e. Fifth Attempt (1 Samuel 20).
1. David and Jonathan
suspect that Saul is still trying to kill him.
2. David plans to be
absent from the New Moon Festival and Jonathan is to
explain to Saul that David had to go to Bethlehem to participate in a
family sacrifice (20:28).
a.
Saul gets angry and throws a spear at Jonathan to try to kill him
(19:30-32).
b.
Jonathan knows that he wants to kill David.
3. David is hiding in
the field and has a pre-arranged signal with Jonathan
(20:21, 22).
a.
Jonathan will shoot arrows in David's direction.
1. If it is safe for David to return, he will shout at his servant that
the arrows are on this side.
2. If it is not safe, the arrows are further away.
b.
David hears Solomon and flees from Saul.
6. David Flees from Saul and Spares His Life (1 Samuel 21-26).
A. David flees from Saul after Jonathan warns David about his intention to
kill him.
1. Saul will begin to pursue David in order to kill him.
2. David has a four hundred men with him (22:2), which
grows to six hundred (23:13).
3. David will have two opportunities to kill Saul, but will
spare his life.
B. Saul kills the priests of Nob (1 Samuel 21, 22).
1. David fled to Nob, where the tabernacle was set up, and
asked the priests for
bread (1 Sam. 21:3).
a. Only bread available was the bread of
the presence, which was unlawful for
any but the priests to
eat (21:4).
b. David assures the priest he is on a
mission, and is given the consecrated bread
to eat.
2. When Saul finds out that the priests have helped David,
he sends Doeg the Edomite
to kill the priests at Nob (22:9, 10).
3. Eighty-five priests were killed (22:18).
C. David continues to have military victories even while being pursued by
Saul.
1. Saves Keilah from the Philistines (23:1-6).
2. Saul comes to Keilah to trap David inside the city, but
David escapes.
D. David Spares Saul's Life at En Gedi (1 Samuel 24).
1. David is hiding in a cave at En Gedi with his men when
Saul comes into to take a
nap (24:3).
2. David's men tell him that the Lord has delivered Saul
into his hands and to kill
him (24:4).
a. David spares his life. Cuts off the
corner of Saul's robe (24:4, 5).
b. Told his men he would not lift his
hand against the Lord's anointed (24:6).
3. When Saul awakes and leaves the cave, David goes out
from a distance.
a. "My Lord the king!" (24:8).
b. David bows down before Saul.
c. Shows Saul the corner of his robe and
shows that he is not trying to kill
Saul (24:11, 12).
d. Saul declares:
1. You are more
righteous than I.
2. You have treated me
well, but I have treated you badly."
3. I know you will be
king and God will establish your kingdom.
4. Promise not to cut
off my family line (24:17ff.).
E. David Spares Saul's Life a Second Time (1 Samuel 26).
1. Saul continues to pursue David, who is now hiding on the
hill of Hakilah (26:1).
a. Saul comes after him with three
thousand men (26:2).
b. Saul sets up camp by the river one
night.
2. David and his servant see Saul sleeping with his spear
near his head (26:7).
a. Servant tells David to kill Saul, but
again, he refuses to killl the Lord's
anointed.
b. Takes the spear and water jug near his
head (26:12).
3. From across the river, David shouts out to Abner
(26:14).
a. Asks Abner why he did not guard the
king.
b. Where is the king's spear and water
jug?
c. Asks Saul why he is pursuing him.
1. Saul says he has
sinned (27:21).
2. David goes on his
way and Saul returns home.
F. David Lives Among the Philistines (1 Samuel 27).
1. David knew that Saul would try to kill him agains and
flees to the land of
the Philistines (27:1, 2).
a. Six hundred men and their families
went with David (27:2, 3).
b. David lived among the Philistines a
year and four months (27:7).
2. The Philistines Go to Attack Saul (28:1).
a. They tell David that he and his men
must fight also (28:1).
b. But, as his men are coming up behind,
a higher commander of the Philistines
insists that David and
his men depart less they attack the Philistines from
the rear when the
battle begins (28:3-5).
3. Saul and The Witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28).
a. Saul is afraid of the Philistines and
consults the witch of Endor because the
Lord would not answer
him (28:7).
b. He tells her to call up Samuel from
the dead (28:11).
c. The witch tells Saul she sees a spirit
coming up from out of the ground (28:13).
d. Saul asks what he looks like, and she
says an old man wearing a robe.
e. Samuel asks why Saul has disturbed him
by bring him up (28:15).
1. The Philistines have
gathered against me.
2. The Lord will not
answer me.
f. Samuel replies:
1. The Lord has torn
the kingdom from your hand (28:18).
2. The Lord will hand
both you and your sons over to the Philistines and
tomorrow you will be with me (28:19).
4. David Defeats the Amalekites (1 Samuel 30:1-30).
a. When David returns to Ziklag after the
Philistines would not let him go into
battle, he found that
the Amalekites had raided the city and taken the families
of David and his men
captive (1 Sam. 30:1-3).
b. David and his men defeat the
Amalekites.
5. Saul is Killed by the Philistines (1 Samuel 31).
a. The Philistines attack Saul's army.
b. Jonathan and Saul's other sons were
killed.
c. Saul critically wounded.
1. Asks his armor
bearer to kill him, but he will not (31:4).
2. Saul takes his own
life by falling on his sword, as did his armor bearer
(31:4, 5).
d. Philistines cut off Saul's head and
fasten his body and his son's bodies to
the wall at Beth Shan
(21:10).
e. People of Jabesh-Gilead come and take
down the bodies of Saul and his sons and
bury them.