According to the Babylonian Talmud, “Samuel wrote the book that bears his name” (Baba Bathra 14b). The book itself states that Samuel did some writing that was preserved—though this doesn’t mean that he wrote all of 1 Samuel. At one point, we read, “Then Samuel told the people the ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in the book and placed it before the Lord” (1 Sam. 10:25). After all, Samuel dies in 1 Samuel 25:1. The Talmud notes this, but it states that Nathan and Gad finished the work (Baba Bathra 14b, 15a). 1 Chronicles 29:29 states, “Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of Samuel the seer, in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet and in the chronicles of Gad the seer.” It could be, however, that these were just the names of the books—not the authors.
Ronald Youngblood,[] Robert Bergen,[] Eugene Merrill,[] Joyce Baldwin[], and David Tsumura[] state that the author is simply anonymous. However, according to Bergen, the author was concerned with (1) the “absolute authority of the Torah’s teachings,” (2) a “high estimation of the value of genuine prophetic activity,” (3) the importance of the “Levites in the history of Israel” and the “Zadokite priesthood,” and (4) “the divine right of the descendants of David to rule over Israel.”[]
The NT authors cite from this book and assume the historical veracity of it often. They cite David (54x), Samuel (3x), Saul (once), Uriah (once), and Abiathar (once). Paul summarizes a large swath of its history in Acts 13:21-22. Likewise, Peter affirmed Samuel’s propheticity: “All the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days” (Acts 3:24 NASB). Furthermore, the author of Hebrews affirms the historical events in these books (Heb. 11:32-34). Bergen adds, “The phrase ‘son of David’ is employed sixteen times in the New Testament, mostly in reference to Jesus; it has meaning, however, only in light of 2 Samuel 7."[]
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 554.
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 19.
Eugene H. Merrill, Mark F. Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti, The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2011), 307.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 36.
David Tsumura, The First Book of Samuel, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2007), 11.
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 23-24.
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 54.
James is an elder at Dwell Community Church, where he teaches classes in theology, apologetics, and weekly Bible studies.
