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

THE BOOK OF SAMUEL
so called ‘necessary linkage’ to the development of statehood. 118
Furthermore, the shift from emblems to writings upon seals may
be interpreted in a different way. While in earlier time there were
relatively few individuals who needed seals, and these could have
been recognized just by their emblem, later on, in the eighth to
sixth centuries BCE, the remarkable increase of newly wealthy
individuals as well as of state officials and dignitaries made it harder
for them to be recognized by emblems alone, and hence they
shifted to writing beside the emblem or remained content with just
having an inscription of name and title.
Actually, the issue of the book of Samuel’s compilation does
not depend on intensive and widespread literacy. An alternative
possibility is that only a few scribes had an access to the book, and
that from time to time some copies were added by scribes. Along
with the slow growth of the written copies of the book, its contents
were read or passed orally to the public by the scribes who owned
copies. 119 In other words there was probably a double process of
transmission—scribes copying the book, and scribes reading and
teaching it orally. Both were linked to the scribal community. On
the one hand, it helped to sustain the original version and promoted
the public awareness of the book and its contents, and, on
the other hand, sometimes the oral transmission brought about
parallel motifs and errors. The latter may explain blunders in the
traditional text or differences between it and other ancient versions.
There is yet more archaeological evidence that may support a
relatively early compilation of the book of Samuel. Dever drew
attention to the pim weight mentioned in 1 Sam 13:21 as an indication
that the book of Samuel was compiled no later than the seventh
century BCE, since after that this weight was replaced. 120
Additionally, the description in 1 Samuel of the Philistine monopoly
on metal weaponry and agricultural tools (13:19–23) is correct
only for the eleventh century BCE. Later the pendulum swung and
the Israelites were well equipped in terms of metallic weaponry and
tools. 121 This suggests that the book of Samuel was composed no
later than the tenth century BCE.
Intensive archaeological excavations at the Philistine city of
Gath (Tel Ṣafit) revealed a flourishing city in the Iron Age 1 and
Iron Age 2a, which was destroyed at the late ninth century BCE
probably by King Hazael of Aram (2 Kgs 12:18). After this destruc-
118 This argument has lately been discussed by S.L. Sanders, “Writing
and Early Iron Age Israel: Before National Script, Beyond Nation and
States,” Tappy and McCarter (eds), Literate Culture and Tenth-Centtury Canaan,
103–104.
119 A similar general outline has already been suggested by Carr, Writing
on the Tablet of the Heart, passim.
120 See H. Shanks, “Is The Bible Right After All?– BAR Interviews
William Dever, Part Two,” BAR 22/5 (1996), 34.
121 See, e.g., NEAEHL, vol. 5, 1647, 1688.
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