The Book of Samuel: Its Composition, Structure and Significance as ...

2 JOURNAL OF HEBREW SCRIPTURES
THE BOOK OF SAMUEL:
ITS COMPOSITION, STRUCTURE AND
SIGNIFICANCE AS A HISTORIOGRAPHICAL
SOURCE
MOSHE GARSIEL
BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY
INTRODUCTION
The book of Samuel treats a crucial period in the history of the
Israelites—the transition from the period of the judges, represented
by the last two judges, Eli and Samuel, to the period of the united
monarchy, represented by the first two kings, Saul and David. The
book, as is seen even at first sight, is a unique combination of historiography,
literary poetics and ethical and theological perceptions.
In order to reassess these and other characteristics of the book and
its significance, a reexamination of the different approaches to the
questions of the stages of the book’s composition, and its literary
and ideological structure is necessary. Such analyses were presented,
to some extent, by early exegetes and medieval commentaries,
and were intensified and enriched by new methods and perspectives
in modern scholarship. In the last two decades, the historical
value of the book once again became a subject of bitter disagreement
in the light of archaeological findings (or the lack thereof).
In this article, 1 I intend to review some of the main findings
and conclusions of past and present scholars, and integrate some of
them with various new conclusions. This reassessment and integration—so
I hope—will bring about a better understanding of the
development of the book and its present historiographical and
1 This article is a further elaborated and updated version of my previous
articles that had been published in Hebrew in Beit Mikra 54 (2009),
21–69; and Hidushim Be-Heqer Yerushalaim 15 (2009), 45–87. The current
publication was completed in the summer of 2009 when I stayed as a
visiting scholar at Cornell University. I am grateful to Professor Ranon
Katzoff (Bar Ilan Univ.) for reading the article draft and making many
helpful observations.