no direct reference, or even allusion, to the Pentateuch and book of Joshua, (except the doubtful case of v. 4, 5 ;) none to the Law Book or Law of Moses; none to the peculiar Mosaic institutions of the Jehovah cultus, such as worship in a single place, a Levitical priesthood, and formal rites; since, on the contrary, it alludes to traditions not preserved in the Pentateuch, there seems reason for supposing this part of the book is older than the Pentateuch itself.]

CHAPTER IV.

THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL."

§ 176.

NAME AND DIVISION.

THESE books-which, among the Jews, were reckoned as but one,' and were originally but one-bear the name of Samuel, not because he was their author, but the main subject and principal hero of the history contained in them.

Serrarii, Seb. Schmidii, Jo. Clerici, Maur. Commentt.

Jo. Drusii Annotatt. in Locos diffic. Jos., Jud., et Sam.

Victorin. Strigelii Comm. in Librr. Sam., Reg., et Paralipp.; Lips. 1591, fol. Casp. Sanctii Comm. in iv. Libr. Reg. et Paralipp.; 1624, fol.

Hensler, Erläuterungen des 1 B. Sam. u. d. Salom. Denksprüche; Hamb. 1795.

Exeget. Handbuch des A. T. 4 and 5 pt.

[Geddes, 1. c. vol. ii.

Dr. Palfrey, 1. c. vol. ii.]

See Origen, cited above, vol. i. p. 87, note b; vol. i. p. 97, sqq.; and Jerome, in vol. i. p. 111, sqq.

Cyril of Jerusalem, in
The division into two

Abarbanel" says these books are called by Samuel's name, “because all things that occur in each book may, in a certain sense, be referred to Samuel—even the acts of Saul and David, for each of them was anointed by him, and, as it were, the work of his hands.”

The title "Books of Samuel" is not very suitable; neither, indeed, is that which it has in the Vulgate and the Septuagint; namely, "The First and Second Books of the Kings," for that does not indicate the peculiar contents of the book. Bertholdt maintains that both titles are of more modern origin."

§ 177.

CONTENTS OF THE BOOK.

This book contains the history of Samuel's administration as judge, and of the regal government introduced by his mediation, and established in the house of David. The history is divided into three parts:

1. The history of Samuel's administration as prophet and judge; 1 Sam. i.—xii.

2. The history of Saul's government, and of the early destination of David, prospectively anointed king; 1 Sam. xii.-xxxi.

3. The history of David's government; 2 Sam. i. -xxiv.

There are chasms in the history between this and the previous book.

books, which has been general since the time of Bomberg, is made after the LXX. and Vulgate.

a Præf. in Lib. Sam. fol. 74, cited in Carpzov, l. c. p. 211. Compare the extract from Baba Bathra, fol. 14, col. 2, quoted above, vol. i. p. 31, sq.

L. c. p. 890, sq.

[Jahn considers chap. xxi.-xxiv. of 2 Sam. an appendix, which he arranges in six divisions:

1. Account of the famine sent in consequence of the unexpiated murder of the Gibeonites by Saul; xxi. 1 -14.

2. A supplement to the account of David's wars; xxi. 15-22.

3. A triumphal hymn of David; xxii.

4. The last words of David; xxiii. 1-7.

5. List of his most remarkable heroes; xxiii. 8—39. 6. Census of the people, and its consequences; xxiv.]

§ 178.

CHARACTER OF THE NARRATIVE.

It is striking how little influence mythology has upon the history. There is but a single appearance of angels in the book, namely, 2 Sam. xxiv., where an angel brings the pestilence. The miraculous agency consists solely in the divine direction of affairs, brought about by means of the prophets and the oracle. In one passage, (1 Sam. xxviii.,)—the story of the witch of Endor, —a false prophet makes use of this ideal pragmatism, and the true historical connection remains doubtful. The predictions of later events are evidently inserted after the event has taken place. An example may be seen in the following curses denounced on the sons of Eli and on David:

1 Sam. ii. 34-36. And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them. And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine Anointed forever. And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in 27

VOL. II.

thy house, shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, 'Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.'”

1 Kings ii. 26, 27. "And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, 'Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.' So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the Lord; that he might fulfil the word of the Lord, which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh."

2 Sam. xii. 10, sq. "Because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, ...... in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.'”

1 Kings xvi. 22. "So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel."

Elsewhere the narrative bears the marks of a genuine history, and where it is not partly derived from contemporaneous documents,a—as it is in some places, — it is yet drawn from an oral tradition, very lively and true, and is only disturbed and confused here and there. This tradition is in part supported by monuments, proverbs, and significant names. 1 Sam. vi. 18, the stone of Joshua, the Bethshemite, is mentioned as a monument of an important affair. Chap. vii. 12, Saul erects a stone, in honor of a victory, and calls it Ebenezer - Stone of Help. In x. 12, and xix. 24, we have the proverb, "Saul also among the prophets?" In 2 Sam. v. 6—9, the occasion of the following proverb is mentioned, "The blind and lame shall not come into the house." A reason

[The explanation of the matter is, perhaps, as follows: The Jebusites

is given for the name of Samuel-Heard by God, (1 Sam. i. 20.) The wife of Phinehas, hearing of the disasters befallen her country and family, calls her child Ichabod -Inglorious, (iv. 21.) Chap. xxiii. 28, Saul was pursuing David when a messenger informs him that the Philistines have invaded the land. His mind is divided between the two dangers; so the place is called Sela-hammahlekoth-Rock of Escapes, (xxiii. 28.)"

The book is so rich in lively pictures of character, and descriptions, that, in this respect, it deviates from truė history, and sometimes becomes biographical. The connection of affairs is sufficiently natural, though it may not be clearly enough carried out.

However, the chronology is very imperfect and legendary, as it appears from the following examples: 1 Sam. vii. 2, "The time was long, for it was twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord;" xiii. 1, "Saul reigned one year, and when he had reigned two years, . . . . . . he chose," &c. 2 Sam. v. 4, "David reigned thirty years . . . . . . and he reigned forty years; xv. 7, "and it came to pass after forty years that Absa

.....

taunted David, (v. 6,) telling him, substantially, the blind and lame in the city were able to drive him away; so he could not conquer till he took them away. Therefore David offers a reward to him who shall first break into the fortress where the blind and lame were protected. When he had taken the citadel, he forbade such persons ever to enter it, as their presence reminded him of the disgraceful taunt. But see Geddes, in loc., and Kennicott, Diss. ii. p. 27, sqq.]

.

See, also, 2 Sam. ii. 16, v. 20, vi. 8.

See De Wette, Archäologie, § 27, 30.

[In the first passage, a literal translation is, "Saul, son of one year in his kingdom," and of the second, "David, a son of thirty years in his kingdom," &c. Our translators, to give a good sense, say, in the last passage, "David was thirty years old when he began to reign," for which there is no authority in the Hebrew words. They often, in these books, take strange liberties with the text. See Palfrey, 1. c. p. 267.]