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Topic:
The Books Of Samuel -- A Brief Overview, Part 1 Of 3
The LXX. translators regarded the books of Samuel and of Kings as
forming one continuous history, which they divided into four books,
which they called "Books of the Kingdom." The Vulgate version
followed this division, but styled them "Books of the Kings."
These books of Samuel they accordingly called the "First" and
"Second" Books of Kings, and not, as in the modern Protestant
versions, the "First" and "Second" Books of Samuel.
The authors of the books of Samuel were probably Samuel, Gad, and
Nathan. Samuel penned the first twenty-four chapters of the first book.
Gad, the companion of David (1 Sam. 22:5), continued the history thus
commenced; and Nathan completed it, probably arranging the whole in the
form in which we now have it (1 Chr. 29:29). The contents of the books.
The first book comprises a period of about a hundred years, and nearly
coincides with the life of Samuel. It contains (1) the history of Eli
(1-4); (2) the history of Samuel (5-12); (3) the history of Saul, and of
David in exile (13-31). The second book, comprising a period of perhaps
fifty years, contains a history of the reign of David (1) over Judah
(1-4), and (2) over all Israel (5-24), mainly in its political aspects.
The last four chapters of Second Samuel may be regarded as a sort of
appendix recording various events, but not chronologically. These books
do not contain complete histories. Frequent gaps are met with in the
record, because their object is to present a history of the kingdom of
God in its gradual development, and not of the events of the reigns of
the successive rulers. It is noticeable that the section (2 Sam.
11:2-12: 29) containing an account of David's sin in the matter of
Bathsheba is omitted in the corresponding passage in 1 Chr. 20.
From: Easton's Bible Dictionary. Fair Use. Presented for educational
purposes only.
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