First Book of Samuel 11-31

The First Book of Samuel has more classic biblical warfare.  Seriously, I bet you could get a lot more people to read at least the Old Testament if they knew how much fighting goes on in it.  Plenty of it could very well read like fantasy fiction (Othniel of Middle Earth the judge!), and you can see where not just many of the names you know came from but also some you wouldn't expect to see here (Endor!) can be found too.

Anyway, Saul is very much a warrior king.  Samuel may have a different or perhaps only from a certain point of view version of biblical history, when he states "Jacob went into Egypt," where it was clearly Joseph his son who made the family mark there, as clearly stated in Genesis and the start of Exodus.  He goes on with further summarizing, which either I wasn't reading closely enough or doesn't exactly follow the Judges record of the judges era, or at least vastly condenses it (no mention of Samson, for instance, who has come to dominate the modern view of that time).

First Samuel doesn't seem so keen on the need for a Hebrew king, that it's kind of a sign of weakness.  May be another foreshadow of how the New Testament develops.

Saul's reign lasts for 2 years.  It's festooned with Philistine conflict.  Those darn Philistines!  Samuel is a little like Moses in interpreting what God thinks of certain circumstances.  He's displeased with how Saul conducts himself after a battle, thinks it has something to do with hubris.  Saul's son Jonathan, as with the remainder of the book, serves as a counterpoint to Saul himself.  When one is presented as generally good, the other is presented as generally bad.

Saul's whole family is laid out, the way genealogies were done in previous books.  This may be the difference in how long ago the events being recorded took place.  His big offense has something to do with preferring sacrifice over obedience.  In the numerous laws of Moses, sacrifice was essential to just about everything.  That was only a few books ago.  Times change.  Please take note, religious observers.

Jesse shows up again.  He's not really important.  It's his offspring, and specifically David, that we really care about.  From here, you will start to know a lot of this.  Samuel anoints David, the new more perfect chosen one.  It's interesting how Saul and David initially interact.  Saul calls for some help dealing with what's described as an evil spirit from God (certainly an interesting twist if it's the same as later and more famous demonic possession) but what I'll call foul moods.  David is called upon to soothe his lord, a sacred cord no doubt (alleluia!), playing a lyre whenever Saul needs it.  Saul is pleased.  He thinks very favorably of young David, at first.

The Philistines return for more trouble!  Goliath!  The valley of Elah looms!

Jesse's sheep are kept in Bethlehem.  New Testament looms!

It's interesting that David's brother describes him as presumptuous and having evil in his heart.  Maybe it's jealousy.  Maybe it's a peek at David's true personality?

Speaking of New Testament looming, David is a "good shepherd," delivered by God from the clutches of predators.  It's impossible that in the midst of all the interpreting of scripture he did, Jesus or his friends wouldn't have noted any of this.

David's weapon isn't so much the slingshot as his faith in God.  Goliath falls.  Head served on a platter, another odd little echo to be found in the New Testament with John the Baptist.

Jonathan's stock is rising as he becomes fast friends with David.  Saul starts thinking more craftily as he begins his pursuit of David.  He becomes a lot more like Samson.  This is where Saul gives David one of his daughters as his wife (David acquires several others, too!), in the hopes he'll have something to use against his new son-in-law later.  Jonathan tells his pal how much trouble he's in.  There's a waiting period of three days (like Jesus) while things build to a head.  David finds himself with the upper hand, which impresses on Saul the nobility of this youth he has become so jealous of.  He quits trying to kill him.

Samuel dies, his role complete.  David's second bride is like one of those encounters Jesus has in the New Testament, but in a thoroughly Old Testament manner.  Saul uses a medium to contact the dead Samuel.  The ban against mediums, wizards, etc. (abominations to God, or so say the books of Moses several times) seems to have been lifted, or the Hebrews simply don't care about that edict anymore.  (They're not exactly flawless these days.)

Jonathan falls in battle with the Philistines.  Saul opts for suicide rather than meeting a similar fate.  End of First Book.

Judges 16-21, Book of Ruth 1-4, First Book of Samuel 1-10

Judges picks up again with the familiar conclusion of the Samson affair, the challenges of Delilah, the lost hair and strength, and the two pillars he still manages to bring down on top of a vast assembly of Philistines.

Wouldn't it be nice if that were the last of the Philistines, or the last heroic judge the Hebrews needed?  Except Samson seemed to spend all his time doing very much his own thing.  His story is a little bit about hubris and personal redemption more than anything directly concerned with Jewish history or faith.

The next judge is Micah, who leads all of Israel, basically, into idolatry, so he's not a very good one at all.  Bethlehem is mentioned.  The Hebrews fall into some of their worst habits.  There's a terrible story about a concubine who's raped all night and then chopped into bits.

However, it's fun on a purely Jewish cultural note when the phrase "such a thing" at the start of a sentence appears.  Apparently it has long roots!

And then they all further degenerate into inter-tribal warfare, and thus ends Judges.

The first incredibly short book of the Bible, the Book of Ruth, comes next, and it's set during the time of the judges.  It's very much a story about the Jewish faith being kept alive despite the troubled times, by a widow and her daughter-in-law, Ruth, who is rewarded by winning a husband, which results in the birth of Obid, who becomes the father of Jesse, who becomes the father of David.  At this point in the beginnings of the Bible, we have what previously could very easily have been included in a larger book, but clearly the books have already begun to be codified.  Ruth's story is intended to fill in a gap that would otherwise have existed, and explain that not all Jews were behaving badly in those times.

The phrase, "the Lord be with you," appears, which later generations of the faithful will certainly recognize.

The First Book of Samuel begins and we find ourselves in familiar echoing material.  Hannah's journey to motherhood would certainly have sounded familiar to those familiar with Genesis and how Rebekah and Isaac ended up conceiving their children Jacob and Esau. It also evokes Abraham and Sarah, Jacob himself with Rachel, and the New Testament's Mary and Elizabeth.  Hannah is the mother of Samuel, by the way.

Hannah's prayer reads a lot like a revised statement of faith in God, now that the relationship between Israel and the Lord has altered since the time of Moses and other such generations.  It's a lot more relaxed, and familiar to our own times, another touchstone in the development of everything we know and believe now.  It includes the phrase, "the pillars of the earth," as well as "not by might shall a man prevail," which is rank contradiction to the time of Moses and Joshua, when I saw all that blatant conquering going on.  It represents another clear theological shift.  One might say that the Jews had begun to distance themselves from the idea that it was God telling them to fight so much.

Eli, who previously appears as Hannah's religious confessor, becomes Samuel's mentor, including the famous moment where Samuel is confused when God begins speaking with him, confusing the Lord for his mentor.  Hey, at this point it was increasingly rare to be granted an audience with the Almighty.

It's stated that "the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and with men," which the gospels later evoke with Jesus.  There's a clear connection between the New Testament and the emerging story of David, and that should come as no surprise.

There's a little summary and a little prophecy, by now standard biblical material.  Samuel is the first person in the Bible since Abraham to speak with God so freely.

The Philistines!  The Hebrew tribes, in their compromised state, do battle with their perennial foes, and make a curious decision on the battlefield.  They elect to use the ark of the covenant as a means of intimidation.  The ark has taken on perhaps a different kind of meaning at this point in history, not so much a symbol of faith and the accord with God, but a totem of power.  The Philistines are suitably impressed (though they seem to believe it represents not God but many Hebrew gods, which wouldn't be far from the mark, and shows just how far the chosen people had fallen).  They end up stealing it!

Eli dies from the shock of learning this.  He lasted as a judge for 40 years.  The ark causes the Philistines a lot of trouble.  They decide it would be a better idea to negotiate it back into the hands of Israel, and so that actually happens, which also has the effect of proving the Philistines aren't always so bad.

Like the later Egyptian pyramids and those who sought to loot them, the returned ark proves a cursed curiosity to some of the happy Hebrews.  They open it.  God smites them.  Raiders of the lost ark.

Twenty years pass.  God tells Samuel about the future Hebrew king, and he accurately describes the coming reign of Saul.  Saul is then introduced.  He's described as the most handsome man in all the land, which funny enough evokes his successor David (and Snow White).  All in all, Saul comes off well in his younger years.  He's even a prophet.  Samuel anoints him, he becomes king.  He might even be described as a sort of John the Baptist figure, or maybe he fights for that role with Samuel.  Either way, David is coming...