The big idea
In short: power exists to serve, not to take. A king “will take” (8:11–17), but “the LORD looketh on the heart” (16:7), and a leader should be able to say “whom have I defrauded?” (12:3).
Judges shows life with no king. 1 Samuel shows the danger of getting one.
The rule underneath: Law 11 · Power serves
Authority serves the people under it and answers to God.
Keep it: People do well under their leaders.
Break it: Leaders take, and kingdoms fall.
Shows up in: Deuteronomy, 1 Kings, Ezekiel, Proverbs, Mark
Other rules in this book: Protect the weakest, Keep your word, God first
Live it: Playbook 09 · How to lead
But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.1 Samuel 16:7 · KJV
At a glance
- What it is
- A history book. 31 chapters: Samuel’s birth and call (1–7), the people demand a king (8–12), Saul’s reign and failure (13–15), and David’s rise while Saul hunts him (16–31).
- Who wrote it
- No author is named, and Samuel dies in chapter 25. Jewish tradition credits Samuel, Nathan, and Gad (1 Chronicles 29:29). Many scholars see it as part of a longer history finished around the exile (when Babylon carried the people away), using older sources. debated
- History
- It covers roughly 1050–1010 BC. A stone inscription from about 840 BC (the Tel Dan Stele) mentions “the house of David,” the earliest outside reference to his dynasty. debated
- The name
- 1 and 2 Samuel are one book in the Hebrew Bible. Greek and Orthodox Bibles call 1–2 Samuel and 1–2 Kings “1–4 Kingdoms.”
- In which Bibles
- The same book in Jewish, Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Bibles.
- Read it in
- About 2½ hours.
What it says
1–7 · Samuel. Hannah, childless and mocked, prays and has a son, Samuel. Her song says God “raiseth up the poor out of the dust” (2:8). The priest Eli’s sons steal from the offerings and abuse women at the sanctuary (2:12–22). The boy Samuel hears God call at night and answers, “Speak; for thy servant heareth” (3:10).
8–12 · “Give us a king.” The elders ask for a king “like all the nations” (8:5). God tells Samuel they have rejected God, not him (8:7). Samuel warns them: a king will take your sons, daughters, fields, and a tenth of your grain, and you will cry out (8:11–18). They insist. Saul is anointed. In his farewell Samuel asks the people to name anything he took by force or bribe, and they can’t (12:3–4).
11And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. 12And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.1 Samuel 8:11-12 · KJV
13–15 · Saul fails. Saul offers a sacrifice he was told to wait for (13). He makes a rash oath that nearly kills his son (14). He keeps loot and a captured king he was told to destroy (15). Samuel says, “to obey is better than sacrifice” (15:22).
16–31 · David. Samuel anoints the youngest son of Jesse, passed over by everyone (16). David kills Goliath: “the battle is the LORD’s” (17:47). Saul’s son Jonathan makes a covenant (a binding agreement) with David (18:3). Saul tries to kill David again and again. Twice David could kill Saul and refuses (24; 26). Abigail talks David out of a massacre (25:33). Saul consults a medium, loses his last battle, and dies (28–31).
Go deeper
- Original words. Lāqaḥ, “take,” repeats four times in Samuel’s warning about a king (8:11–17). Leb, “heart” (16:7), means the whole inner person.
- Structure. Samuel (1–7), the demand for a king (8–12), Saul (13–15), and David’s rise (16–31).
- How the laws interlock. Law 11 is tested in two kings: Saul grasps, David refuses to seize the throne (24:6). Law 4 is in Hannah’s song (2:8), and Law 6 in Jonathan’s covenant (18:3).
Hard parts
“Utterly destroy Amalek” (15)
What it says Samuel tells Saul, “slay both man and woman, infant and suckling” (15:3). Saul spares the king and the best animals and is rejected for it (15:9, 23).
The rule underneath Never use a person as a tool. Every human bears God’s image (Genesis 9:6).
What people added Readers take it as a judgment for Amalek’s attack on Israel’s weakest in the desert (Deuteronomy 25:17–18); as ancient war language; as something to read through Jesus’ command to love enemies; or as a moral problem kept in Scripture. Scholars differ too. Churches have split; this page does not settle it.
Is a king good or bad?
What it says Chapter 8 treats the request for a king as rejecting God (8:7). Chapters 9–10 show God choosing Saul and giving him a new heart (10:9).
The rule underneath Power serves and answers to God. Deuteronomy already set limits on a king (Deuteronomy 17:14–20).
What people added Many scholars think two older sources, one for and one against kingship, were joined. Others read one author showing God working through a bad choice. debated
David and Jonathan
What it says Jonathan “loved him as his own soul” (18:3). He gives David his robe and sword (18:4). At Jonathan’s death David says his love was “passing the love of women” (2 Samuel 1:26).
The rule underneath Keep your word. Their covenant holds across a king’s hatred (20:42), and David later keeps it to Jonathan’s disabled son (2 Samuel 9).
What people added Most traditions read this as deep covenant friendship. Some modern readers see a romantic or sexual bond. Churches have split on how to read it; this page does not settle it.
The medium at Endor (28)
What it says Saul, who had banned mediums, asks one to call up the dead Samuel. She sees “gods ascending out of the earth” (28:13), and Samuel speaks and predicts Saul’s death.
The rule underneath Love God. The law forbids seeking the dead (Deuteronomy 18:10–11).
What people added Some readers think Samuel really appeared; some think it was a demon or a trick. The text reports it without explaining.
Translation notes that change meaning
- 17:4. The Hebrew gives Goliath’s height as six cubits and a span (over 9 feet). The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Greek say four cubits and a span (about 6½ feet).
- 13:1. The Hebrew is missing numbers for Saul’s age and reign. The KJV fills the gap one way; modern versions differ.
- The Greek text. The Greek of 1 Samuel is often shorter, and in chapters 17–18 it lacks several verses. Scholars debate which is older.
Where it leads
- 09 · How to lead: “he will take” (8:11–17), and a leader who took nothing (12:3).
- 10 · How to repair: Abigail stops a revenge killing (25).
- 02 · How to love: Jonathan’s covenant friendship.
- Also feeds 06 money (30:24: those who guarded the supplies share equally with those who fought) and 04 speech (Saul’s rash oath, 14:24).
One thing to do
This week
The Samuel audit
Samuel asked, “whose ox have I taken?… whom have I oppressed?” (12:3). In any place you have power, at work, at home, or in a group, ask one person you lead whether you have taken anything from them: time, credit, money, or a voice. Listen without defending yourself, and make one thing right. Write it in your journal.
How to read it. Read 1–3 and 8 as the setup. Then read Saul and David side by side (15–17 and 24–26): the same power, two different uses. End with Abigail (25).