Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 1. The victory over Jabin and Sisera ch. 4
  4:1-3 As long as Ehud lived he kept Israel faithful to God (v. 1). However after he died, God's people again turned from the Lord. In discipline God allowed the Canaanites in the North to gain strength and dominate the Israel...
• 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...
• 3. Samuel's regular ministry 7:15-17
  In addition to providing the special leadership just described, Samuel's ministry as a judge in Israel included regular civil as well as spiritual leadership. He was active especially in the tribal territory of Benjamin and i...
• 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...
• The consequences of requesting a king 8:10-22
  Samuel explained what having a king similar to all the nations would mean. The elders were interested in the functionsof monarchy, but Samuel pointed out the natureof monarchy. It meant the loss of freedoms and possessions th...
• 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...
• Samuel's self-vindication 12:1-5
  Why did Samuel feel the need to justify his behavior publicly? Perhaps he knew that because the people had rebelled against God by demanding a king they would experience discipline from the Lord. When it came he did not want ...
• Samuel's reassurance of the people 12:19-25
  The people's rebellion against God was not something they could undo. Consequences would follow. Nevertheless Samuel counselled them to follow and serve the Lord faithfully from then on. They should not fear that God would ab...
• 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...
• The plan for communicating Saul's intentions to David 20:18-23
  Saul would miss David at his feast not only because his seat would be vacant but because warriors normally expressed their support for their king by eating with him at important meals (v. 18). David's absence would have raise...
• 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 ...
• 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-...
• The trial before Pilate 27:11-26 (cf. Mark 15:2-15; Luke 23:3-25; John 18:33-19:16)
  Pilate was a cruel ruler who made little attempt to understand the Jews whom he hated.1047He had treated them unfairly and brutally on many occasions, but recently Caesar had rebuked him severely.1048This probably accounts fo...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• Make Us A King'
  1 Samuel 8:4-20The office of judge was as little capable of transmission from father to son as that of prophet, so that Samuel's appointment of his sons as judges must be regarded as contrary to its true idea. It was God who ...
• I. Note The Ill-Omened Request.
  A formal delegation of the representatives of the nation comes to Ramah, unsummoned by Samuel, with the demand for a king. There must have been much talk through Israel before the general mind could have been ascertained, and...
• III. Note The Obstinacy,
  That, with eyes open to the consequences, persists in its demands. Samuel is bidden to show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.' He sketches, in somber outline, the picture of an Eastern despot, the only k...
• I. The First Thing We Have To Note Is The Premonitory Word Of The Lord.
  Observe the picturesque and forcible expression, had uncovered the ear of Samuel.' It is more than picturesque. It gives in the strongest form the fact of a revelation, both as to its origin and its secrecy. It is vain to rep...
• The King After Man's Heart
  1 Samuel 10:17-27These verses fit on to 1 Samuel 8., 1 Samuel 9, through 1 Samuel 10:16, being probably from another source, inserted here because the anointing of Saul, told in them, did occur between Samuel's dismissal of t...