Questions about 1 Samuel

[barnz]

I hope these questions have simple answers, but maybe not. Let us try to stay on topic if we can, thanks everyone for helping me.

Did Samuel write 1 and 2 Samuel? He died around 3/4 of the way into 1 Samuel, so is it possible that he somehow wrote about events that happened in the events after his death in 1 Samuel and all of 2 Samuel?

In 1 Samuel, Saul had a medium communicate with dead Samuel. Since death is supposed to be like a sleep, how is it that she was able to speak to Samuel?

[phkrause]

Saul wasn't speaking directly with Samuel, he was speaking to an evil spirit.

[Lysimachus]

Good question!

I've never even thought of that!

I wonder who wrote the parts of 1 and 2 Samuel after Samuel was dead?

[miz3]

I am speculating here but could they have been named such because the main character had such an impact during this era of Jewish history?

This is an interesting question.

[Gibs]

The last two times the name Samuel was used was 1 Sam 1 28:16, 20. His name never came up in 2 Samuel. Seems it was history after that.

1Jo 4:4 ¶ Ye--of God ye are, little children, and ye have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the world.

[phkrause]

Did Samuel write 1 and 2 Samuel? He died around 3/4 of the way into 1 Samuel, so is it possible that he somehow wrote about events that happened in the events after his death in 1 Samuel and all of 2 Samuel?

According to the SDA Bible Commentary the first 24 chapters of 1 Samuel were written by Samuel and the rest and 2 Samuel by Nathan and Gad. And they say to see 1 Chron. 29:29 The activities of David the king, from first to last, are written in the records of Sh'mu'el the seer, Natan the prophet and Gad the seer, I thought that was pretty interesting.

[skyblue888]

Thanks for sharing this with us pk.

Very interesting to say the very least of it.

sky :)

[barnz]

Originally Posted By: alexamasan

Did Samuel write 1 and 2 Samuel? He died around 3/4 of the way into 1 Samuel, so is it possible that he somehow wrote about events that happened in the events after his death in 1 Samuel and all of 2 Samuel?

According to the SDA Bible Commentary the first 24 chapters of 1 Samuel were written by Samuel and the rest and 2 Samuel by Nathan and Gad. And they say to see 1 Chron. 29:29 The activities of David the king, from first to last, are written in the records of Sh'mu'el the seer, Natan the prophet and Gad the seer, I thought that was pretty interesting.

Ahh, now THAT makes sense.

I'm assume Sh'mu'el = Samuel; Natan = Nathan; and Gad = Gad ^^

Thank you pkrause.

However, this still leaves the question about the medium that Saul used to talk to dead Samuel. An evil spirit does seem to fit, but I think more explanation will need to go along with that answer.

[miz3]

According to the SDA Bible Commentary the first 24 chapters of 1 Samuel were written by Samuel and the rest and 2 Samuel by Nathan and Gad. And they say to see 1 Chron. 29:29 The activities of David the king, from first to last, are written in the records of Sh'mu'el the seer, Natan the prophet and Gad the seer, I thought that was pretty interesting.

Thanks PK now I need speculate no more. You have given us the FACTS.

[Kevin H]

Theologians have felt that the books Joshua through 2 Kings were compiled by the same person, the more conservatives and moderates believe it was based on older information and history that was researched, the liberals or modernists, believed that the person was the author either making up the stories or recording old legends. Although theories from the 1800s are hard to kill, the archaeological evidence has been supporting the moderates and althought not to the extent that conservatives would have liked, that the conservatives are generally in the right ballpark. They also see these books as very much based on Deuteronomy, with the Conservatives believing that Deuteronomy as we have it today was a finished product of Moses and that it was a major influence on the author/editor of these books. The Modernists believing that Deuteronomy is written by the same guy who wrote the books, and the moderates believing in a literal Moses who started the book of the law but which was continued by Joshua, Samuel and in the Northern Kingdom with the Eijah and Elisha movements and edited in it's final form by the person who wrote/edited Joshua through 2 Kings.

While debated, it is noted that there are major language similarities with Jeremiah, and also if you trace most, if not all, of the curses in this history, if you trace the people cursed down, most if not all the curses fall on Jeremiah, so there are theologians from all 3 groups, conservatives, moderates and Liberals tend to see the connection to Jeremiah. The SDA Bible Commentary is open to the Jeremiah connection, not like the Modernists who thinks that it is not historical, but a number of conservatives and moderates would see it as if the book "Jeremiah" is Jeremiah's "Testimonies to the churches" and that Joshua - 2Kings is Jeremiah's "Conflect of the Ages Series" with being strongly influenced by Deuteronomy.

I hope this helps

[Kevin H]

Oh, for the medium: there are 2 theories that sound the most convincing. The first of course is that this was Satan or a demon impersonating Samuel. But others point out that this being was disterbed (as from a deep sleep) was unfamiliar with events that happened since he died and needed to be updated, and all he had to say was the curse from Deuteronomy for going to mediums, and repeat the last message that Samuel had for Saul when alive. So some have argued (not overly convincing from my understanding but credibe enought to at least debate) is that since Saul was in a very special position in the role of God's people, that God did wake up Samuel for a few minutes (notice the woman screamed as this was something that she was not expecting either) to remind Saul "hey, you have the record of the prophets, if they were to wake up they would have nothing new for you, only the words that they have left us so trust in what they said instead of hoping they would do something new." This second view does not change our understanding of the state of the dead eithere. As for Mrs. White, her job is to apply Biblical principles to us, not what it meant to them back there (she was not an exeget, she told us that was our job to do exegesis), and for us we are not in the special place that Saul was in, plus we have this message as well, so what we would run into is either human fraud or Demonimic deceptions.