SAMUEL
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SAMUEL
ernment " the weapons of whose warfare were not car- nal."
The presidency of Samuel appears to have been emi- nently successful. Its length is nowhere given in the Scriptures; but, from a statement of Josephus (A7if. vi, 13, 5), it appears to have lasted twelve j'ears (B.C. 1105 -1093), up to the time of Saul's inauguration. See Chronology. From the very brief sketch given us of his public life, we infer that the administration of justice occupied no little share of his time and atten- tion. He visited, in discharge of his duties as ruler, the three chief sanctuaries (Sept. tu ttckti rolg iiyiarr- /if I'oit," roiirotc) on the west of the Jordan — Bethel, Gil- gal, and Mizpeh (1 Sam. vii, 16). His own residence was still his native city, Ramah, or IJamathaim, which he further consecrated by an altar (ver. 17), after the patriarchal model, like Abraham. Such a procedure was contrary to the letter of the IMosaic statute; but the prophets had power to dispense with ordinary usage (De Wette, Bib. Dor/inat. § 70 ; Knobel, Be?- Propketism. der Ileb. i, 39 ; Koster, Be?- Prophetism. d. A . und N. T. etc. p. 52). In this case, the reason of Samuel's conduct may be found in the state of the religious economy. The ark yet remained at Kirjath-jearira, where it had been left in terror, and where it lay till David fetched it to Zion. There seems to have been no place of resort for the tribes, the present station of the ark not having been chosen for its convenience as a scene of religious assembly. The shrine at Shiloh, which had been hal- lowed ever since the settlement in Canaan, had been desolate from the date of the death of Eli and his sons — so desolate as to become, in future years, a prophetic sj'mbol of divine judgment (Jer. vii, 12-14; xxvi, 6). In such a period of religious anarchy and confusion, Samuel, a theocratic guardian, might, without any vio- lation of the spirit of the law, superintend the public worship of Jehovah in the vicinity of his habitation (Knobel, Der Prophetism. der Heb. ii, 32).
At Kaniah Samuel married; and two sons grew up to repeat, under his eyes, the same perversion of high office that he had himself witnessed in his childhood in the case of the two sons of Eli. One was Abiah, the other, Joel, sometimes called simply " the second" {vashiii, 1 Chron. vi, 28). In his old age, according to the quasi-hereditary principle already adopted by pre- vious judges, he shared his power with them ; and they exercised their functions at the southern frontier in Beersheba (1 Sam. viii, 1-4), These young men pos- sessed not their father's integrity of spirit, but " turned aside after lucre, took bribes, and perverted judgment" (ver. 3). The advanced years of the venerable ruler himself, and his approaching dissolution; the certain- ty that none of his family could till his office with ad- vantage to the country; the horror of a period of an- archy which his death might occasion; the necessity of having some one to put an end to tribal jealousies, and concentrate the energies of the nation, especially as there appeared to be symptoms of renewed warlike preparations on the part of the Ammonites (xii, 12) — these considerations seem to have led the elders of Is- rael to adopt the bold step of assembling at Kamah with the avowed purpose of effecting a revolution in the form of the government.
4. Retirement from Public Office. — Down to this point in Samuel's life there is but little to distinguish his ca- reer from that of his predecessors. Like many charac- ters in later days, had he died in youth, his fame would hardly have been greater than that of Gideon or Sam- sun. He was a judge, a Nazarite, a warrior, and (to a certain point) a prophet. But his peculiar position in the sacred narrative turns on the events which follow. He is the inaugurator of the transition from what is commonly called the theocracy to the monarchy. The misdemeanor of his own sons precipitated the catastro- phe which had been long preparing. The people de- manded a king. Josephus (^Ant. vi, 3, 3) descriljes the shock to Samuel's mind "because of his inborn sense