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1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary (Long) is unavailable, but you can change that!

The stories of Samuel, Saul and David are among the most memorable in the Old Testament. Yet the lives of these individuals are bound up in the larger story of God’s purpose for his people. V. Philips Long explores the meaning of the biblical history of Israel’s vital transition from a confederation of tribes to nationhood under a king. He shows how attending to the books of Samuel repays its...

assumed that in this demand the people are rejecting the theocratic ideal. After all, does not Yahweh himself say that they have rejected me as their king (v. 7)? Another view is that they are rejecting what we might call the charismatic ideal, namely, rule by judges whom God raises up as needed and bestows on them the ‘charism’ (gifting) to lead in times of crisis. After all, the ‘judge’ Samuel feels rejected (v. 6). What the elders explicitly say is that they want to be like their neighbours (kĕkol-haggôyim,
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