Samuel Background Information; Theories of Authorship, Date Essay

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Samuel

Background information; theories of authorship, date of writing, other relevant background information related to location, other cultures, religious, political, social, etc.

and 2 Samuel was originally one book in the Hebrew Bible and is set in the 11th Century BC, roughly from 1050-970. It begins with the destruction of Shiloh about 1050 BC and in its present form has 55 chapters, although the authors remain anonymous. In the Greek Septuagint there were four "Books of Reigns" (or Kingdoms) while Jerome named them the "Books of Kings" -- with the first dealing mainly with Saul and the second with David (Gordon, 1999, p. 19).

Parts of these books, such as the History of the Throne Succession were very likely written during the time of David and Solomon or shortly afterward. Many stories about these kings were "of ancient origin and in fixed form by the mid-tenth century," and probably based on official annals and court records (Bright, 2000, p. 184). Other 'early' books include the Ark narrative in 1 Sam 4-6 and the History of David's Rise in 1 Sam 16 to 2 Sam 5.

Samuel is almost certainly not the real writer of these books, since he is already described as an old man at the beginning and dies in 1 Sam 25:1, early in David's reign.

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Therefore he can hardly have known much about the events for most of David's rule (Brueggemann, 1990, p. 10). After anointing David in 1 Sam 16: 1-13 he plays very little part in the rest of the narrative (Gordon, p. 19).

Some scholars maintain that the story of the plagues of the Philistines was written in the 8th Century BC, during the period when Assyrian "religious beliefs and practices had swept into the northern kingdom of Israel," and this was a warning of Yahweh's punishment of idolatry (Gordon, p. 26).

Samuel was also edited by the Deuteronomists in the 6th Century BC, who placed a special emphasis on divine punishment of the nation for its sins, but also held out the possibility of repentance and redemption, for "Yahweh has not necessarily cast off his people forever" (Gordon, p. 21).

1 Sam 12: 1-15, for example, has a "substantial Deuteronomist presence," especially in its warnings against the king and people who transgress the Law (Gordon, p. 34).

One word description of each book: 1 Samuel could be called the book of "Saul" and 2 Samuel the book of "David."

Main themes of each book

At the start of 1 Samuel, Israel is threatened by the Philistines and other invaders, as well.....

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