Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 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...
• Message6
  First and 2 Samuel are really one story. The translators divided them into two books for convenience, not because of subject matter.First Samuel records Israel's transition from amphictyony to monarchy.The key passage that ex...
• 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...
• A. The Change from Barrenness to Fertility 1:1-2:10
  In the first subsection (1:1-2:10) we have the joyful story of Samuel's miraculous birth and his mother's gratitude to God for reversing her barrenness and making her fertile. The significance of this story is not only that i...
• 1. Hannah's deliverance ch. 1
  "I Samuel 1 is presented as a conventional birth narrative which moves from barrenness to birth. Laid over that plot is a second rhetorical strategy which moves from complaint to thanksgiving. With the use of this second stra...
• The beginning of Samuel's worship 1:28b
  "The future of the story now to be told in I and II Samuel concerns not only the newly born son, but the rule of Yahweh to whom laments are addressed and thanksgiving uttered. No wonder the narrative ends with yielding, grate...
• 2. Hannah's song 2:1-10
  Some commentators have seen Hannah's prayer as a non-essential song of praise included in the text for sentimental reasons, but this magnificent prayer provides the key to interpreting the rest of 1 and 2 Samuel. In this pray...
• B. The Contrast between Samuel and Eli's Sons 2:11-36
  Samuel's innocence and the godlessness of Eli's sons contrast strongly in this pericope (section). Samuel would succeed and become a channel of God's blessing. Eli's sons would fail, would become a source of frustration to El...
• 4. The oracle against Eli's house 2:27-36
  The rest of the chapter explains why God would put Eli's sons to death (v. 25). The specific criticism that the man of God (a prophet, cf. 9:9-10) directed against Eli and his sons was two-fold. They had not appreciated God's...
• 2. Samuel's ministry 3:19-4:1a
  These verses summarize Samuel's continuing ministry as a prophet in Israel. Samuel qualified for this privilege by his faithful obedience to God's will as he knew it. God sovereignly chose Samuel for this ministry, but his di...
• B. Pagan Fertility Foiled by God ch. 5
  The primary purpose of this chapter, I believe, is to demonstrate the superiority of Yahweh over Dagon, the fertility god of the Philistines.655:1-5 Having captured the ark the Philistines brought it from Ebenezer to their ma...
• 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...
• 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 ...
• Message1
  First Samuel records David's preparation. Second Samuel records his service namely his reign. In our study of 1 Samuel I mentioned three aspects of his preparation: as shepherd, as courtier, and as "outlaw."In 2 Samuel we see...
• C. David's Praise of Yahweh ch. 22
  "It has long been recognized that 2 Samuel 22 is not only one of the oldest major poems in the OT but also that, because Psalm 18 parallels it almost verbatim, it is a key passage for the theory and practice of OT textual cri...
• 4. David's repentance 24:18-25
  David proceeded to offer sacrifices in response to Gad's instructions (v. 18). David needed to commit himself again to God (the burnt offering) and to renew his fellowship with God (the peace offering, v. 25). God instructed ...
• Solomon's prayer of dedication 8:22-53
  This great prayer centers on the Mosaic Covenant. That is its heart. Solomon introduced seven petitions with a backward look emphasizing God's faithfulness (vv. 23-26). He concluded with a forward look stressing God's mercy (...
• Psalm 113
  Psalms 113-118 constitute the Egyptian Hallel(lit. praise, cf. Hallelujah). Hallelis the imperative singular and is a command to praise. The Hallelwas a collection of psalms the Jews sang at the three yearly feasts that all t...
• 2. Peacemakers and troublemakers ch. 17
  17:8 The owner of the bribe is the person who gives it. A bribe is an effective tool. It works like a charm. This proverb is not advocating bribery, only acknowledging that money talks. God's view of bribery becomes clear in ...
• A song 26:1-6
  26:1 The prophet revealed another song that will be sung "in that day"(the Millennium, cf. ch. 25) by those in Zion.The New Jerusalem that God will set up will be a place of strength and security for the redeemed (cf. Rev. 21...
• The restored wife 54:1-10
  The prophet emphasized the gracious character of Yahweh as the source of restoration for His people. Returning to the metaphor of the Lord's people as the his wife (51:17-20), Isaiah presented the joyful prospect of reconcili...
• Jeremiah's Temple Sermon 7:1-15
  This message demonstrates a structure that is quite typical of many others in the Book of Jeremiah (cf. 11:1-17; 17:19-27; 34:8-22). First there is an explanation of Yahweh's will (word, law; vv. 1-7), then a description of I...
• A lament concerning Jerusalem's terrible fate 15:5-9
  Invasion and war had already overtaken Jerusalem when Jeremiah wrote this lament, but more destruction was to come (v. 9).15:5 The Lord said that no one would have pity on Jerusalem when she had experienced His judgment (cf. ...
• 2. The consummation of Egypt's judgment 29:17-30:19
  29:17 Ezekiel received another message from the Lord about Egypt's judgment in 571 B.C. (on his New Year's day). This was probably the second to the last recorded prophecy of Ezekiel, and the prophet would have been about 50 ...
• 3. Nebuchadnezzar's account of his dream 4:10-18
  4:10-12 The king described what he had seen in poetic language. His words therefore appear as a prophetic oracle. The ancients frequently used trees to describe rulers of nations (cf. Isa. 2:12-13; 10:34; Ezek. 31:3-17).141Th...
• II. The birth and childhood of Jesus 1:5--2:52
  This section contains material unique in Luke. The only repeated statement occurs in Luke 2:39 and Matthew 2:23. Other unique features are Luke's alternating the reader's attention between John and Jesus, and the joy that sev...
• 3. Mary's visit to Elizabeth 1:39-56
  This section brings the parallel stories of John's birth and Jesus' birth together. The two sons had their own identities and individual greatness, but Jesus was superior. John began his ministry of exalting Jesus in his moth...
• III. Women in Old Testament Times Until the Time of Jesus
  A. Women served in the doorway of the Tabernacle (Exod. 38:8; 1 Sam. 2:22).The same word (saba) is used of their work as that of the Levites. These women were probably widows who devoted themselves to the service of God.B. Mi...
• B. Self-exaltation 4:11-12
  Having dealt with the source of interpersonal and inner personal conflicts that believers in particular and all people generally experience, James dealt next with a different aspect of the same problem. He did so to motivate ...
• The worship of the Lamb 5:6-14
  5:6 As with our dreams, John's vision contained some unusual features. John saw the Messiah as a Lamb.229The Lamb is a symbol of Jesus Christ at His first advent, meek and submissive to a sacrificial death as our substitute (...