Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Public worship 23:1-8
  In the preceding chapter Moses explained the proper types of marital union. In this chapter he set forth the proper types of union of individuals with the covenant community.This section of verses (vv. 1-8) deals with people ...
• 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...
• Jonathan's success at Michmash 14:1-23
  Armed with trust in God and courage Jonathan ventured out to destroy Israel's enemy in obedience to God's command to drive out the inhabitants of Canaan (cf. 9:16). He would have made a good king of Israel. Saul remained in G...
• IV. SAUL AND DAVID 1 Sam. 16--31
  The basic theme in Samuel, that blessing, and in particular fertility of all kinds, follows from faithful commitment to God's revealed will, continues in this section. However another major motif now becomes more prominent. W...
• C. David in Exile chs. 21-30
  In chapters 21-30 we see David's forces growing stronger and stronger while Saul's forces get weaker and weaker. This is a further demonstration of the fertility theme. However these chapters also develop the motif of the pro...
• 1. David's initial movements chs. 21-22
  "The two chapters comprise a literary unit of three sections arranged in chiastic order. Chapters 21:1-9 and 22:6-23 are concerned with the priestly compound at Nob in Benjamin while the central section (21:10-22:5) summarize...
• David's flight to Nob 21:1-9
  Nob stood one and one-half miles northeast of Jerusalem and two and one-half miles southeast of Gibeah. There Ahimelech served as high priest. Priestly activity and evidently the tabernacle were now there (cf. 17:54). It is s...
• David's flight to Moab 22:3-4
  Moab was a reasonable place for David's parents to seek protection since David's great-grandmother, Ruth, was a Moabitess. The exact location of Mizpah (lit. watchtower) of Moab is unknown. David may have wanted to secure the...
• 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...
• David's escape from Keilah 23:6-14
  Abiathar had evidently remained in the forest of Hereth when David took his men to attack the Philistines in Keilah (cf. 22:20-23). Now the priest joined David at Keilah (v. 6). The presence of the ephod made it possible for ...
• David's first sparing of Saul's life ch. 24
  The incident recorded in this chapter concerns cutting off (vv. 4, 5, 11, 21). David had the opportunity and received encouragement to cut off Saul's life but chose to cut off only his robe hem. He ended up promising not to c...
• David's cutting off of Saul's hem 24:1-7
  Engedi lay near the Salt Sea's western shore close to its mid-point north to south. Even today it is a refreshing oasis with waterfall, tropical plants, and wild goats. The Hebrew word means "spring of the kid."It may have be...
• Nabal's foolish response to David 25:9-13
  Nabal was a political loyalist who regarded David simply as a rebel. Perhaps he felt that David was running a protection racket to finance his outlaw way of life. More probably, I think, miserly Nabal simply did not want to p...
• Abishai's offer to kill Saul 26:6-12
  Ahimelech the Hittite may have been a foreign mercenary (cf. Uriah the Hittite, 2 Sam. 11:3). The writer may have mentioned him to show the extent of David's appeal. Abishai was David's nephew, one of the sons of his sister Z...
• The aftermath of the battle 31:7-13
  The other Israelite soldiers retreated when they heard that Saul and his sons had died. This left towns in the region open for Philistine seizure. Instead of driving the native inhabitants out of the land Saul had made it pos...
• 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 ...
• David's lament for Saul and Jonathan 1:17-27
  Students of David's lament over Saul and Jonathan's deaths have called it the Song of the Bow (cf. v. 22).10Many people in Judah learned and sang it (v. 18). The Book of Jasher (v. 18) is no longer extant (cf. Josh. 10:13)."H...
• 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-...
• E. Thirty-seven Mighty Men 23:8-39
  One might conclude from 1 Samuel 22:2 that David's army, made up as it was of malcontents and distressed debtors, would not have been able to accomplish anything. This list testifies to God's blessing David and Israel militar...
• Psalm 57
  David's hiding from Saul in a cave precipitated this psalm (1 Sam. 22; 24; cf. Ps. 142). The tune name means, "Do not destroy."This psalm resembles the preceding one in its general theme and design. It too has a recurring ref...
• 2. Micah's call for the people's response 1:10-16
  The prophet used several clever wordplays in this poem to describe the desolation that God would bring on Judah. He selected towns and villages near his own hometown in Judah's Shephelah whose names were similar to the coming...