SAMUEL, .BOOKS OF
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SAMUEL, BOOKS OF
was to be maintained between the kings of Israel and those of other nations, in the separation of the civil from tlie ecclesiastical, or the secular from the religious authority; and also to describe the origin and influence of the prophetical order in relation both to the mon- archy and to the people. The books of Kings are a history of the nation as a theocracy; those of Chron- icles have special reference to the form and ministry of the religious worship, as bearing upon its rc-establish- ment after the return from Bab}-lon. Samuel is more biographical, yet the theocratic element of the govern- ment is not overlooked. It is distinctly brought to view in the early chapters concerning Eli and his house, and the fortunes of the ark ; in the passages which describe the change of the constitution; in the blessing which rested on the house of Obed-Edom ; in the curse which fell on the Bethshemites and Uzzah and Saul for intru- sive interference with holj"^ things.
VIII. — Pdiiiciila?- Relation io the Books of Chronicles. — That portion of the history which is common to the books of Samuel and of Chronicles is found in 2 Sam. i-xxiv, and 1 Chron. x-xxi, beginning with the account of the death of Saul and ending with the story of the pestilence. Between these two narrations of the same period of history tlie following differences may be point- ed out.
1. The book of Samuel contains, but that of Chron- icles omits:
1. The stoiy of David's kindness to Mephibosheth, 2 Sam. ix.
2. Of Bathsheba and Uriah, 2 Sam. xi, 2-xii, 25.
3. The rebellion of Absalom, 2 Sam. xiii, etc.
4. The surrender of eeveu of the sous of Saul to the Gibeonites, 2 Sam. xxi, 1-14.
5. A war with the Philistines, 2 Sam. xxi, 15-17.
0. David's song (Psa. xviii), 2 Sam. xxii. 7. The last words of David, 2 Sam. xxiii.
2. The book of Samuel omits, but that of Chronicles contains :
1. A list of David's adherents.
2. A list of those who chose David to be king at Ilebron.
3. David's preparation for building the Temple.
4. The arrangement of the Levites and priests for Temple service.
5. David's officers and heroes, etc.
3. The two works present several portions of the his- tory in a different order, such as the following :
2 Sara. V, 11-25 1 Chron. xiv.
2 Sam. vi, 1-10 1 Chron. xi, 1-9.
2 Sam. vi, 3-11 1 Clirou. xiii.
2 Sam. vi, 12-23 1 Chron. xv.
2 Sam. xxiii, 8-10 1 Chron. xi, 10-47.
4. The differences of verbal and grammatical forms in the narration of the same events in these two works are of such a nature as to indicate the greater antiquity of the books of Samuel. Nearly all the points in which Chronicles differ from Samuel may be distinctly ex- plained by the more recent origin of the former. Thev are too numerous and minute to be here mentioned.
5. Many of the numbers in Samuel and Chronicles ctiflter, as
2 Sam. X, 13, IS, 24, and 1 Chron. xix, 12, IS, 25. 2 Sam. xxiii, S, " 1 C'hron. xi, 11.
2 S.^m. xsiv, 9, 13, " 1 Chron. xxi, 5, 12.
These discrepancies are doubtless to be accounted for on the ground of errors of transcription. Whether the num- bers in Samuel are generally right, and those in Chron- icles generally wrong, which is the common (but per- haps usually incorrect) opinion, or whether errors exist in both, cannot be determined until more careful atten- tion shall have been given to the subject, and a more critical edition of the Hebrew text shall have been pre- pared. See Chronicles, Books of.
IX. Chronology. — One of the most striking points of difference between the books of Samuel and of Kings is the more sparing use of dates in the former. The means of determining the periods of time in which the vari- ous events recorded in them happened are exceedingly scanty. The most helpful are found in other parts of Scripture, Thus, in Acts xiii we fiiul that Saul was
king "by the space of forty years." We know already that David reigned over Judah and all Israel forty years, and we have also calculated that Samuel must have lived about 110 years. If, then, Samuel died about live years before Saul, we find that the history covers a period of 155 years, except that brief portion of the life of David not contained in Samuel. These numbers agree with the usual dates assigned to the commence- ment and termination of the books of Samuel. See
ClIUON'OI.OGY.
X. Canonicity, e/c— The historical credibility and ca- nonicity of these books need not be fully discussed in this place. The internal evidence of their truthfulness and the external evidence of their canonical authority are both complete. The style in which they are writ- ten is simple, natural, and bold. Places, times, and oth- er minute details are freely and artlessly given. The course and connection of the history carry with them the proof of their truthfulness. The characters and events are in accordance with the times in which they are placed. Attempts to establish contradiction and dis- crepancy have not succeeded. The history contained in these books fits in and accords with the preceding and subsequent portions of the history of the Israelitish peo- ple, although the several portions were composed at long intervals and by different authors. Portions of tlicm are quoted in the New Test. (2 Sam, vii, 14, in Ileb. i, 5 ; 1 Sam. xiii, 14, in Acts xiii, 22). References to them occur in other sections of Scripture, especially in the Psalms, to which they often afford historic illustration. The old objections of Hobbes, Spinoza, Simon, and Le Clerc are well disposed of by Carpzov {Tntroductio, p. 215). Some of these supposed contradictions we have already referred to, and for a solution of others we refer to Davidson's Sacred Ifermeneutics, p. 544, etc. Some of the objections ofVatke, in his Bibl. Theol. — "cujus mentio est refutatio" — are summarily disposed of by Hengstenberg {Die Authentic des Pentat. ii, 115). See, in addition to the ordinary Introductions to the Old Test. — such as those of Home, lliivernick, Kell, De Wette — the following later works : Bleek, Einleitung in das Alte Testament (Berl. 1860), p. 355-308; Stiihelin, S])ecielle Einleitunr/ in die kanonischen Biicher des A lien Testaments (Elberfeld, 18G2), p. 83-105; Davidson, In- ti-oduction to the Old Testament (Loud, and Edinb. 1802), p. 491-536.