Culture & Context: 1 Samuel

Welcome to Culture and Context, a blog that will flesh out the context of the PATH journal and other content that we study here at True North.

There are books of the Bible that tell a narrative, or a story. The Gospels tell a particular story of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. There are Old Testament books that tell the history/story of the Hebrew people, and 1 Samuel is one of those books.

As always, there is Samuel the person, and the two Old Testament books that bear his name. Let’s look at Samuel the person first and then cover the book of 1 Samuel (with some of 2 Samuel).

Samuel the Prophet and Priest

Jack Gault notes that “Samuel came to Israel in a dark day when the nation was in a state of anarchy, the priesthood was corrupt and the Glory was about to depart the house of God... Samuel, the last of the judges, would unite them and lead them again into the right paths.”

The people had created a spiral of sin, discipline by God (often through attacks by nearby nations), repentance and then a God- appointed judge to guide them through their repentance. Samuel was used by God to transition the nation of Israel from the time of the judges to the establishment of the kingdom under King David.

The name Samuel means “name of God” or “his name is El,” where El is the name of the God of strength and power. His parents were a Levite named Elkanah and Hannah, who was unable to have children for many years. Elkanah and Hannah were devout Jews who visited the sanctuary at Shiloh every year to worship and sacrifice (1 Sam. 1:3).

Elkanah had another wife, Penninah, who had many sons and daughters. She was known to provoke Hannah because of her barrenness. Think of how cruel that is- as a woman, Hannah already grieved her inability to bear children, and she had to tolerate Penninah’s taunts as well- but Elkanah loved Hannah and treated her well. During one of her visits to Shiloh, Hannah’s distress was so great that she wept bitterly as she prayed. Eli, the priest of the temple, saw her praying and believed she was drunk because her lips moved but she did not speak aloud. I can imagine that her emotions and grief caused her to look as if she was out of control.

Hannah explained that her deep sorrow was caused by her inability to have children. She had petitioned the Lord and promised to give her son to His service, if he would give her a child. Eli told her to go in peace and prayed that God would grant her petition. God blessed Elkanah and Hannah with a son, Samuel, and she presented him to Eli when he was three years old.

The atmosphere of the sanctuary was not ideal- Eli was old, and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, acted as priests but did not know the Lord. They stole the meat and fat that was sacrificed in the sanctuary and committed sexual sin as well (1 Sam. 2:22). Eli rebuked them but they would not listen to him, and the Lord rejected Eli’s household.

During these years, Hannah continued to visit her son and bring him a new robe to wear in his service to God. We are told in 1 Sam. 2:21 that “the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord.” In 1 Sam. 3, God audibly calls Samuel to service and the chapter ends with this:

"And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground." - 1 Sam. 3:19, ESV

Samuel was likely an adolescent by now. He was faithful and honorable, and “none of his words” falling to the ground indicates that his words were true and would not fail (see Joshua 21:45, Joshua 23:14 and 1 Kings 8:56 for further understanding of this passage). It is commendable that Samuel managed to remain reverent and respectful with Eli’s sons as examples!

As an adult, Samuel became a “traveling judge” as he visited, judged and taught the people, with a goal towards spiritual and national reunification. After twenty years of this ministry, he called for a meeting at Mizpah where the people prayed and fasted, and when the Philistines used this as an opportunity to attack the defenseless worshipers, Samuel offered a sacrifice and the Lord sent a terrible thunderstorm which turned the tide and allowed the Israelites to be the victors.

When the people demanded a king, Samuel was the one who chose first Saul (1 Samuel 11) and then David (1 Samuel 16). And this humble man, the last judge and a prophet, has a single verse that notes his death in 1 Sam. 25:1: “Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah.”

Samuel is mentioned three times in the New Testament as priest and prophet:

• Acts 3:24 - And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. (Samuel being listed first is why some scholars refer to him as Israel’s first prophet).

• Acts 13:20 - All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

• Hebrews 11:32 - And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—

The Book of 1 Samuel

1 Samuel may have been written in part by Samuel himself. He did not write any of 2 Samuel, since his death is noted in 1 Sam. 25. We have a hint about possible authorship in 1 Chronicles 29:29: "Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the Chronicles of Samuel the seer, and in the Chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the Chronicles of Gad the seer.” Some scholars believe that contemporaries of David wrote the two books based on the writings of Samuel, Nathan and Gad. The actual author is unknown. The date of authorship is sometime after 930 BC.

The NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible notes four themes to 1 & 2 Samuel: kingship, kingdom, the sovereignty of God and God’s redemptive covenant. The MacArthur Study Bible has four similar themes: the Davidic covenant, the sovereignty of God, the work of the Holy Spirit in empowering God’s chosen leaders, and a demonstration of the personal and national effects of sin. Referencing more than one commentary can give you a wider perspective, as each author will speak from their denominational and personal belief systems.

Different commentaries will also have differing outlines. The ESV Study Bible outline for 1 Samuel is:

1. The Story of Samuel (1:1 - 7:17)

2. Transition to the Monarchy (8:1-22)

3. The Story of Saul (9:1 – 15:35)

4. The Story of Saul and David (16:1 – 31:13)

Whenever you see a priest/prophet/king or leader in the Old Testament, remember that the priest/prophet/leader points to Jesus, who is our priest, prophet and King. Robert D. Bergen in his article in the New American Commentary states that “Peter affirmed that ‘all the prophets from Samuel on’ foretold the coming of Jesus (Acts 3:24) and revealed ‘that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name’ (Acts 10:43).” When you read about Samuel’s actions in 1 Samuel, think of the ways that Samuel points to Jesus.

Works Cited

• Beetham, C. A., & Erickson, N. L., eds. (2024). The NIV Application Commentary on the Bible (One-Volume Edition). Zondervan Academic.

• Bergen, R. D. (1996). 1, 2 Samuel (Vol. 7). Broadman & Holman Publishers.

• Carson, D. A., ed. (2018). NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible. Zondervan.

• Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible. Crossway Bibles.

• Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). In Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale House Publishers.

• Gault, J. (2015). In Profiles of the Prophets: God’s Bible Messengers. Hayes Press.

• MacArthur, J., Jr., ed. (1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed.). Word Pub.

• Mackay, J. L. (2019). 1-2 Samuel. In I. M. Duguid, J. M. Hamilton Jr., & J. Sklar (Eds.), 1 Samuel–2 Chronicles: Vol. III (pp. 17–490). Crossway.

• Packer, J. I., Grudem, W., & Fernando, A., eds. (2012). ESV Global Study Bible. Crossway.