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Books of Scripture

1 Samuel

The rise of Israel's monarchy

31 chapters

1 Samuel, in Hebrew the first half of Shemuel (in Greek, 1 Kingdoms), carries Israel from the sanctuary at Shiloh to its first kings: Hannah's prayer, the boy Samuel, the ark captured by the Philistines, a people demanding a king, Saul's rise and tragic fall, David and Goliath, Jonathan's loyalty, Michal and Abigail, David's years as a fugitive, the medium at En-dor, and the deaths of Saul and Jonathan on Gilboa. It also brings a Dead Sea Scroll that changed the study of the Old Testament's text, a David and Goliath story that survives in two editions, and the archaeology of the Philistines and of Israel's first kingdom.

Lessons

  1. 1Hannah at Shiloh1 Samuel 1 · Elkanah has two wives: Peninnah has children; Hannah has none and is taunted every year at the pilgrimage to Shiloh. Hannah prays silently at the sanctuary, vowing that a son would be given to the LORD. Eli the priest thinks she is drunk, then blesses her. Samuel is born, and when he is weaned she brings him to Shiloh.
  2. 2Hannah's Song and Eli's Sons1 Samuel 2 · Hannah sings of a God who reverses fortunes: the mighty broken, the hungry fed, the barren bearing seven, the poor raised to sit with princes, and strength given to his king, his anointed. Meanwhile Eli's sons take the best of the sacrifices by force and abuse their office. A man of God announces the end of Eli's house.
  3. 3Samuel's Call1 Samuel 3 · In days when the word of the LORD was rare, the boy Samuel sleeps in the sanctuary near the ark. Three times he hears his name and runs to Eli. Eli realizes it is the LORD. The fourth time Samuel answers, "Speak; for thy servant heareth," and receives a hard message against Eli's house. All Israel comes to know that Samuel is a prophet.
  4. 4The Ark Captured1 Samuel 4 · Israel fights the Philistines near Ebenezer and Aphek and loses 4,000 men. The elders bring the ark from Shiloh, expecting it to save them. The Philistines fight harder; Israel loses 30,000, Hophni and Phinehas die, and the ark is captured. Eli falls and breaks his neck; Phinehas's wife dies in childbirth, naming her son Ichabod.
  5. 5The Ark in Philistia1 Samuel 5 · The Philistines set the ark in Dagon's temple at Ashdod. Next morning Dagon has fallen face down before it; the day after, his head and hands are broken off. Ashdod is struck with tumors. The ark is sent to Gath, then Ekron, and each city is struck with panic and disease.
  6. 6The Ark Returns1 Samuel 6 · After seven months the Philistine priests and diviners send the ark back on a new cart drawn by two nursing cows, with five golden tumors and five golden mice as a guilt offering. The cows go straight to Beth-shemesh. The people rejoice, but some look into the ark and are struck down: 70 men, or 50,070, depending on the text. The ark goes to Kiriath-jearim.
  7. 7Mizpah and the Stone of Help1 Samuel 7 · Twenty years pass. Samuel calls Israel to put away the Baals and Ashtaroth. At Mizpah they pour out water, fast and confess. The Philistines attack; the LORD thunders and they are routed. Samuel sets up a stone, Ebenezer, "Hitherto hath the LORD helped us," and judges Israel on a yearly circuit.
  8. 8Israel Asks for a King1 Samuel 8 · Samuel's sons take bribes. The elders ask for a king "like all the nations." Samuel is displeased; God tells him, "they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me," yet tells him to listen. Samuel warns what a king will take: sons for chariots, daughters for the kitchen, fields, a tenth of everything. The people insist.
  9. 9Saul and the Lost Donkeys1 Samuel 9 · Saul, the tall son of Kish of Benjamin, searches for his father's lost donkeys. When he is ready to give up, his servant suggests asking the seer in the next town. God has told Samuel the day before that he will send a man of Benjamin to be prince over Israel. Samuel seats Saul at the head of the feast and keeps him overnight.
  10. 10Saul Anointed and Chosen1 Samuel 10 · Samuel privately anoints Saul with oil and gives him three signs, the last a band of prophets at Gibeah; Saul prophesies with them. Then at Mizpah the tribes are chosen by lot: Benjamin, the clan of Matri, Saul, who is found hiding among the baggage. "God save the king." Some worthless men despise him.
  11. 11Jabesh-gilead Rescued1 Samuel 11 · Nahash the Ammonite besieges Jabesh-gilead and offers terms: he will gouge out every right eye. The town asks for seven days. When Saul hears, coming in from the field behind his oxen, the Spirit comes upon him; he cuts up his oxen and summons Israel. He relieves the town at dawn, refuses to punish his critics, and the kingdom is renewed at Gilgal.
  12. 12Samuel's Farewell1 Samuel 12 · At Gilgal Samuel asks the people to testify whether he ever cheated them; they say no. He reviews Israel's history from Egypt through the judges, then calls on the LORD to send thunder and rain during wheat harvest. The people are afraid. "Fear not… serve the LORD with all your heart… I will teach you the good and the right way."
  13. 13Saul's Offering and the Philistine Smiths1 Samuel 13 · The chapter opens with a verse whose numbers are missing. Jonathan attacks a Philistine garrison, and the Philistines muster a huge army at Michmash. Waiting at Gilgal for Samuel, Saul offers the sacrifice himself; Samuel arrives and announces that his kingdom will not continue. Israel has no smiths: the Philistines control the sharpening of tools, for a fee of a pim.
  14. 14Jonathan's Raid and Saul's Oath1 Samuel 14 · Jonathan and his armor-bearer climb between two crags, Bozez and Seneh, and attack a Philistine outpost; panic spreads and Israel routs the Philistines. Saul has forbidden anyone to eat until evening. Jonathan, unaware, tastes honey. When God gives no answer, Saul casts lots; Jonathan is taken. The people refuse to let him die.
  15. 15Amalek, Agag and Saul's Rejection1 Samuel 15 · Samuel commands Saul to devote Amalek to destruction: men, women, children, animals. Saul attacks, but spares King Agag and the best of the livestock. God says He regrets making Saul king. Samuel confronts him: to obey is better than sacrifice. Saul tears Samuel's robe; the kingdom is torn from him. Samuel kills Agag. Content warning: mass killing.
  16. 16David Anointed; the Harp for Saul1 Samuel 16 · God sends Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint one of Jesse's sons. Seven pass by; God chooses none. The youngest, keeping sheep, is David: "Arise, anoint him." The Spirit comes on David and leaves Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubles him. David is brought to play the lyre, and Saul loves him and makes him his armor-bearer.
  17. 17David and Goliath1 Samuel 17 · In the valley of Elah a Philistine champion from Gath, Goliath, challenges Israel to single combat for forty days. David, bringing food to his brothers, volunteers. He refuses Saul's armor, takes five stones and a sling, and strikes Goliath in the forehead. The story survives in two ancient editions, and Goliath's height differs between witnesses.
  18. 18Jonathan, Michal and Saul's Jealousy1 Samuel 18 · Jonathan loves David as his own soul and gives him his robe and weapons. The women sing that David has slain ten thousands; Saul becomes jealous and twice hurls a spear at him. Saul offers his elder daughter Merab, then gives her to another man. Michal loves David; Saul sets a bride-price of a hundred Philistine foreskins, hoping David will die. David brings two hundred.
  19. 19David Pursued; Michal's Escape Plan1 Samuel 19 · Saul orders David killed. Jonathan persuades his father to swear not to, but Saul's spear flies again. Michal lets David down through a window and puts teraphim in his bed with goat's hair at its head. David flees to Samuel at Ramah; each band of messengers sent to seize him begins to prophesy, and finally Saul himself, lying naked all night.
  20. 20Jonathan's Covenant and the New Moon1 Samuel 20 · David asks Jonathan to find out whether Saul means to kill him. They make a covenant that binds their descendants. At the new moon feast David's seat is empty; when Jonathan defends him, Saul curses Jonathan and hurls a spear at his own son. Jonathan signals with arrows in the field, and the friends part in tears.
  21. 21Nob, the Holy Bread and Gath1 Samuel 21 · David flees to Nob and tells the priest Ahimelech he is on a secret mission for the king. Ahimelech gives him the holy bread and Goliath's sword. Doeg the Edomite, Saul's chief herdsman, is watching. David goes to Achish of Gath, is recognized, and pretends to be mad, scribbling on the gate and drooling.
  22. 22Adullam and the Massacre at Nob1 Samuel 22 · David hides in the cave of Adullam; four hundred debtors, the distressed and the discontented gather to him. He leaves his parents with the king of Moab. Doeg reports that Ahimelech helped David. Saul's guards refuse to kill the priests; Doeg kills eighty-five of them and puts Nob to the sword. Only Abiathar escapes to David. Content warning: massacre.
  23. 23Keilah, Ziph and Jonathan's Last Visit1 Samuel 23 · David asks the LORD through Abiathar's ephod and rescues the town of Keilah from Philistine raiders, then learns that its people would hand him to Saul. In the wilderness of Ziph Jonathan finds him and strengthens him in God. The Ziphites betray him; Saul nearly traps him at the rock of Maon, until a Philistine raid calls Saul away.
  24. 24David Spares Saul at En-gedi1 Samuel 24 · Saul enters a cave near En-gedi to relieve himself, not knowing David and his men are hiding inside. David's men urge him to kill Saul; he cuts off the corner of Saul's robe instead, and is struck in his heart for even that. Outside he shows Saul the corner. Saul weeps: "Thou art more righteous than I."
  25. 25Samuel Dies; Abigail and Nabal1 Samuel 25 · Samuel dies and all Israel mourns. David asks Nabal, a rich sheep-owner of Carmel, for provisions at shearing time; Nabal insults him. David sets out to kill every male of Nabal's house. Nabal's wife Abigail rides out with food, persuades David not to shed blood, and blesses his future. Nabal dies ten days later; David marries Abigail.
  26. 26The Spear and the Water Jar1 Samuel 26 · The Ziphites again betray David, and Saul comes with three thousand men. At night David and Abishai walk into the sleeping camp; Abishai wants to pin Saul to the ground with his own spear. David takes only the spear and water jar by Saul's head. From a distant hill he mocks Abner for failing to guard the king, and pleads with Saul, who blesses him.
  27. 27David Among the Philistines1 Samuel 27 · Convinced Saul will catch him, David goes over to Achish of Gath with six hundred men and two wives. Achish gives him Ziklag. For sixteen months David raids desert peoples, killing every man and woman so no one can report him, while telling Achish he has raided Judah. Achish trusts him completely.
  28. 28The Medium at En-dor1 Samuel 28 · The Philistines gather at Shunem. Samuel is dead, and God does not answer Saul by dreams, Urim or prophets. Saul, who had expelled mediums, disguises himself and goes by night to a woman at En-dor who consults the dead. She sees "a god" rising from the earth: an old man in a robe. Samuel announces that tomorrow Saul and his sons will be with him. The woman feeds the broken king.
  29. 29David Dismissed by the Philistines1 Samuel 29 · The Philistines muster at Aphek. Achish brings David and his men in the rear guard. The other Philistine commanders object: what if David turns on them in battle to win back Saul's favor? Achish reluctantly sends David home, praising him as "an angel of God."
  30. 30Ziklag Destroyed and Recovered1 Samuel 30 · David returns to find Ziklag burned and all the women and children taken by Amalekites. His men talk of stoning him; "David encouraged himself in the LORD his God." Guided by an abandoned Egyptian slave whom they feed, they overtake the raiders and recover everyone. David rules that those who stayed with the baggage share equally, and sends gifts to the elders of Judah.
  31. 31Saul and Jonathan Die at Gilboa1 Samuel 31 · The Philistines defeat Israel on Mount Gilboa. Jonathan and two of his brothers are killed. Saul, badly wounded by archers, asks his armor-bearer to kill him; when he refuses, Saul falls on his own sword. The Philistines hang the bodies on the wall of Beth-shan. The men of Jabesh-gilead walk all night, take them down, burn them and bury the bones under a tamarisk.
  32. 32Investigation: The Ark and the Philistine World1 Samuel 4–7; 13; 17; 27–31 · The Philistines shape the whole of 1 Samuel: they capture the ark, dominate the hills, field Goliath, employ David and kill Saul. This investigation brings together what archaeology, Egyptian records and genetics show about them, and where the evidence stops.
  33. 33Investigation: Archaeology and Israel's First Kings1 Samuel 8–31 · What can archaeology say about Saul and David? A fortified town above the Elah valley, dated about 1000 BC, has an inscription naming "Eshbaal son of Beda." A 9th-century stele from Tel Dan mentions the "House of David." Scholars disagree sharply on what these mean for the early monarchy.
  34. 34Investigation: David and Goliath in Two Ancient Editions1 Samuel 16–18 · The oldest Greek translation of 1 Samuel 17–18 is about 45% shorter than the Hebrew. It lacks David's arrival with food for his brothers, Saul's question "whose son is this?", Jonathan's first covenant and the Merab marriage. Many scholars think two Hebrew versions of David's introduction were combined. Separately, Goliath is six cubits tall in the Hebrew but four in the Greek, Qumran and Josephus.
  35. 35Investigation: Holy War, Prophecy and the Medium at En-dor1 Samuel 15; 22; 27–28 · 1 Samuel includes a command to annihilate Amalek, the execution of Agag, a royal massacre of priests, David's killing of whole communities to hide his deceptions, and a king consulting the dead. This investigation brings the questions together without softening them.

How 1 Samuel came to us

Who wrote it, how it was copied, and how it reached the Bible you hold. These lessons follow the book through history.

  1. ★How 1 Samuel Came to UsSamuel was one book in the Hebrew Bible, divided in two by the Greek translators. Its Hebrew text is unusually difficult, and the Greek often reflects a different Hebrew. A Dead Sea Scroll, 4QSam-a, agrees with the Greek in many places, preserves a paragraph found nowhere else in the Bible, and changed how scholars study the text of the Old Testament.
  2. 3Prophets, Priests, and ScribesAs Israel became a kingdom, royal scribes kept records, prophets' words were written down, and a lost book of the law was found in the Temple.
  3. 6The SeptuagintJews in Egypt translated their Scriptures into Greek, creating the Bible of the early church and of the New Testament writers.
  4. 7The Dead Sea ScrollsA shepherd's discovery in 1947 gave us Bible manuscripts a thousand years older than any known before, and showed how faithfully the text was kept.
  5. 8Hebrew, Greek, and SamaritanThree ancient lines of copying, Hebrew, Greek, and Samaritan, let us compare the text and see where it was preserved and where it changed.
  6. 13Scribes, Jerome, and the MasoretesJerome gave the West its Latin Bible; Jewish scholars called the Masoretes guarded the Hebrew text letter by letter.

Journey of a Passage