Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 5. The Abrahamic Covenant ch. 15
  Abram asked God to strengthen his faith. In response Yahweh promised to give the patriarch innumerable descendants. This led Abram to request some further assurance that God would indeed do what He promised. God graciously ob...
• D. What became of Esau 36:1-37:1
  Moses included this relatively short genealogy (toledot) in the sacred record to show God's faithfulness in multiplying Abraham's seed as He had promised. He also did so to provide connections with the descendants of Esau ref...
• Balaam's seven oracles chs. 23-24
  "Chapters 23 and 24 are two of the brightest chapters in the book of Numbers. Scores of wonderful things are said about Israel, mainly prophetical. The dark sins of the past were forgotten; only happy deliverance from Egypt w...
• 5. Survey of the remaining land 18:1-10
  After the process of assigning land to the three tribes mentioned above, Israel's attention turned to relocating the tabernacle in a more central location (v. 1). God undoubtedly made the choice of Shiloh (lit. rest; cf. Deut...
• Date and Writer
  Statements in the Book of Samuel imply that someone who had witnessed at least some of the events recorded wrote it. However the original writer must have written most of it after Samuel's death (i.e., -1 Sam. 25-2 Sam. 24) a...
• Scope
  The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
• Outline
  I. Eli and Samuel chs. 1-3A. The change from barrenness to fertility 1:1-2:101. Hannah's condition 1:1-82. Hannah's vow 1:9-183. Hannah's obedience 1:19-284. Hannah's song 2:1-10B. The contrast between Samuel and Eli's sons 2...
• 1. The battle of Aphek 4:1b-11
  The Philistines, as we have already seen in Judges, were Israel's primary enemy to the west at this time. Samson, too, fought the Philistines (Judg. 13-16).52There are about 150 references to the Philistines in 1 and 2 Samuel...
• B. Kingship Given to Saul chs. 8-12
  "Clearly these five chapters constitute a literary unit, for they are immediately preceded by the formula that marks the end of the story of a judge (7:13-17) and immediately followed by the formula that marks the beginning o...
• Israel's commitment to Saul 11:12-15
  Admirably Saul sought no personal revenge on those who initially had failed to support him (10:27; cf. Judg. 20:13; Luke 19:27). Furthermore he gave God the glory for his victory (cf. Jon. 2:9; Ps. 20:7; Prov. 21:31). He was ...
• Samuel's second warning to the people ch. 12
  The writer wrote chapters 12-15 very skillfully to parallel chapters 8-11. Each section begins with Samuel warning the people about the dangers of their requesting a king (chs. 8 and 12). Each one also follows with a descript...
• 5. Yahweh's final rejection of Saul ch. 15
  "In the short pericope 13:7b-15a obedience was the stone on which Saul stumbled; here it is the rock that crushes him."147Chapter 15 records one of the battles Saul had with the Amalekites, Israel's enemy to the south (cf. 14...
• 2. The reason for God's selection of David ch. 17
  The exciting story of David and Goliath illustrates what it was that God saw in David's heart that led Him to choose David for the position of king. It also shows how and why others in Israel began to notice David. David foug...
• Saul's slaughter of the priests 22:6-23
  The writer's attention focused next on Saul's activities. He used the literary device of focusing on David, then on Saul, then on David, etc. He used the same technique in chapters 1-3 with Samuel and Eli's sons to contrast S...
• The threat of Philistine attack 28:3-7
  Samuel's death and the mention of Saul's commendable removal of mediums and spiritists prepare for what follows (cf. Lev. 19:3; Deut. 18:11). Mediums are people who communicate with the dead, and spiritists are those who comm...
• Saul's conversation with Samuel 28:15-19
  Samuel's soul had been at peace in the place of departed spirits, but now Saul had disturbed that rest. Saul described his reason for doing so. He wanted to obtain divine guidance concerning the Philistines from Samuel since ...
• Sharing spoil with the Judahites 30:26-31
  David also distributed some of the war plunder to the elders of Judah.293He evidently did so because he viewed the booty as coming from the enemies of all Judah, even the enemies of the Lord (v. 26). He may have also done thi...
• Bibliography
  Ackroyd, Peter R. The First Book of Samuel. Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible series. Cambridge, Eng.: University Press, 1971._____. "The Verb Love--'Aheb in the David-Jonathan Narratives--A Footnote."Vetus ...
• An Amalekite's account of Saul and Jonathan's deaths 1:1-16
  The young Amalekite must have been a mercenary soldier who had joined Saul's army. It seems more likely that this man's account of Saul's death was not accurate rather than that he had had some hand in killing Saul in view of...
• VI. DAVID'S TROUBLES chs. 9--20
  Chapters 9-20 contrast with chapters 2-8 in that this later section is negative whereas the earlier one was positive. It records failure; the former records success. Compare the similar narrative of Saul's triumphs (1 Sam. 7-...
• Solomon's prosperity 4:20-28
  We can explain the writer's unusual reference to Judah and Israel at this time, before the division of the kingdom. When he wrote Kings the nation had split, so probably the writer was using the designation that was common in...
• God's ability to preserve and provide for His people through famine 6:24-7:20
  Aram's cessation of hostilities resumed after some time (v. 24; cf. v. 23), perhaps between 845 and 841 B.C.43The famine in Samaria resulted from the siege that was a punishment from the Lord for Israel's apostasy (cf. Lev. 2...
• 2. Haman's promotion 3:1-6
  The events we read in chapter 3 took place four years after Esther became queen (cf. 2:16; 3:7).Agag was the name of an area in Media that had become part of the Persian Empire.54However, Agag was also the name of the Amaleki...
• Yahweh's day of judgment ch. 34
  This poem depicts the effects of Yahweh's wrath on the self-exalting nations. His judgment will be universal (vv. 1-4). Isaiah particularized it with reference to Edom, a representative nation (vv. 5-17; cf. 25:10-12)."Here w...
• The meeting with the Rechabites 35:1-11
  35:1 This oracle came to Jeremiah during King Jehoiakim's reign (609-598 B.C.) after the Babylonians had begun to invade Judah (v. 11). Second Kings 24:1-2 reads, "In his [Jehoiakim's] days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came...
• The parable of the two servants 24:45-51 (cf. Luke 12:42-48)
  This parable illustrates the two attitudes that people during the Tribulation will have regarding Jesus' return.24:45-47 The servants (Gr. doulos) are Jesus' disciples to whom He has entrusted the responsibility of managing H...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• Saul Rejected
  1 Samuel 15:10-23Again the narrative takes us to Gilgal,--a fateful place for Saul. There they made Saul king before the Lord'; there he had taken the first step on his dark way of gloomy, proud self-will, down which he was d...