The First Book of

SAMUEL

David Toshio Tsumura

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

© 2006 David Toshio Tsumura

All rights reserved

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

255 Jefferson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503

P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

ISBN-10: 0-8028-2359-9 / ISBN-13: 978-0-8028-2359-5

www.eerdmans.com

For
Susan, Michio and Makoto
in memory of
my parents and Jean Hailer

Contents

Author’s Preface

Abbreviations List

Introduction

i. Title

ii. Text

iii. Date and Authorship

iv. Historical and Religious Background

v. Grammar and Syntax

vi. Discourse Analysis

vii. Prose and Poetry

viii. Literary Structure and Themes

ix. Theology of 1 Samuel

x. Purpose of 1 Samuel

xi. Outline of 1 Samuel

xii. Select Bibliography

Text and Commentary

i. “Story of Samuel” — with the Embedded Story of “the Ark of God” (1:1–7:17)

A. Rise of Samuel as Prophet (1:1–3:21)

B. Story of the Ark of God (4:1–7:1)

C. Judgeship of Samuel (7:2–17)

ii. — Transition to the Monarchy — (8:1–22)

“Appoint Us a King” (8:1–22)

iii. “Story of Saul” (9:1–15:35)

A. Saul Made King (9:1–11:15)

B. Samuel’s Address to Israel (12:1–25)

C. Reign of Saul (13:1–15:35)

iv. “Story of Saul and David” (16:1–31:13)

A. Introduction of David (16:1–23)

B. David and Goliath: Battle at the Valley of Elah (17:1–54)

C. Saul, Jonathan, and David (17:55–18:5)

D. Saul Becomes David’s Enemy (18:6–30)

E. Saul’s Attempts to Kill David (19:1–21:1)

F. David’s Escape from Saul (21:2–26:25)

G. David in Philistia (27:1–30:31)

H. Death of Saul and Jonathan (31:1–13)

INDEXES

i. Subjects

ii. Modern Authors

iii. Scripture References

iv. Foreign Words

Author’s Preface

Writing a commentary, however modest, is a hard task. Only by the grace of God one can complete its work. For a student of the Bible it is certainly a great privilege as well as a heavy responsibility. The task is done by continually learning from the vast information gleaned from preceding commentaries and scholarly works, while facing directly the original text of the book. Among many, I have especially learned from the commentaries of P. K. McCarter and R. P. Gordon, though I often disagree with them.

When dealing with the Hebrew text, training in Semitic philology, especially in Ugaritic, as well as in Canaanite religion by the late Prof. C. H. Gordon has prepared me to make some new suggestions for better understanding of the text of 1 Samuel. Prof. A. Millard of Liverpool University read many parts of the draft, providing valuable information and comments. Prof. T. Ishida, my former colleague at the University of Tsukuba, also gave me a number of significant comments, especially on the introductory section. The series editor Prof. R. L. Hubbard has been most helpful in improving the style and content of this commentary. I am grateful to his patience and encouragement. However, I am fully responsible for what I wrote in this book.

In this commentary I have stuck to the MT as ...