Smith's Bible Dictionary.pdf - Online Christian Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary
thought complete without his blessing. Ibid. (1 Samuel 9:13) A peculiar virtue was believed to
reside in his intercession. After Saul was rejected by God, Samuel anointed David in his place and
Samuel became the spiritual father of the psalmist-king. The death of Samuel is described as taking
place in the year of the close of David’s wanderings. It is said with peculiar emphasis, as if to mark
the loss, that “all the Israelites were gathered together” from all parts of this hitherto-divided country,
and “lamented him,” and “buried him” within his own house, thus in a manner consecrated by being
turned into his tomb. (1 Samuel 25:1) Samuel represents the independence of the moral law, of the
divine will, as distinct from legal or sacerdotal enactments, which is so remarkable a characteristic
of all the later prophets. He is also the founder of the first regular institutions of religious instructions
and communities for the purposes of education.
Samuel, Books Of
are not separated from each other in the Hebrew MSS., and, from a critical point of view, must
be regarded as one book. The present, division was first made in the Septuagint translation, and
was adopted in the Vulgate from the Septuagint. The book was called by the Hebrews: “Samuel,”
probably because the birth and life of Samuel were the subjects treated of in the beginning of the
work. The books of Samuel commence with the history of Eli and Samuel, and contain all account
of the establishment of the Hebrew monarchy and of the reigns of Saul and David, with the exception
of the last days of the latter monarch which are related in the beginning of the books of Kings, of
which those of Samuel form the previous portion. [Kings, First And Second Books Of, B00KS OF]
Authorship and date of the book,—
•As to the authorship. In common with all the historical books of the Old Testament, except the
beginning of Nehemiah, the book of Samuel contains no mention in the text of the name of its
author. It is indisputable that the title “Samuel” does not imply that the prophet was the author of
the book of Samuel as a whole; for the death of Samuel is recorded in the beginning of the 25th
chapter. In our own time the most prevalent idea in the Anglican Church seems to have been that
the first twenty-four chapters of the book of Samuel were written by the prophet himself, and the
rest of the chapters by the prophets Nathan and Gad. This, however, is doubtful.
•But although the authorship cannot be ascertained with certainty, it appears clear that, in its present
form it must have been composed subsequent to the secession of the ten tribes, B.C. 975. This
results from the passage in (1 Samuel 27:6) wherein it is said of David, “Then Achish gave him
Ziklag that day wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah to this day:” for neither Saul,
David nor Solomon is in a single instance called king of Judah simply. On the other hand, it could
hardly have been written later than the reformation of Josiah, since it seems to have been composed
at a time when the Pentateuch was not acted on as the rule of religious observances, which received
a special impetus at the finding of the Book of the Law at the reformation of Josiah. All, therefore,
that can be asserted with any certainty is that the book, as a whole, can scarcely have been composed
later than the reformation of Josiah, and that it could not have existed in its present form earlier
than the reign of Rehoboam. The book of Samuel is one of the best specimens of Hebrew prose
in the golden age of Hebrew literature. In prose it holds the same place which Joel and the
undisputed prophecies of Isaiah hold in poetical or prophetical language.
Sanballat
(strength), a Moabite of Horonaim. (Nehemiah 2:10,13; 13:28) He held apparently some
command in Samaria at the time Nehemiah was preparing to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, B.C.
445, (Nehemiah 4:2) and from the moment of Nehemiah’s arrival in Judea he set himself to oppose
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William Smith