Editing Books of Samuel (section)

===1 Samuel===

====Samuel (1:1–7:17)====

=====The childhood of Samuel (1:1–4:1a)=====
A man named [[Elkanah]], an [[Tribe of Ephraim|Ephraimite]] from the city of [[Ramathaim-Zophim]], has two wives, [[Peninnah]] and [[Hannah (biblical figure)|Hannah]], the latter of whom is his favourite wife. A rivalry between the two develops based on the fact that Peninnah has children and Hannah does not. The childless Hannah vows to [[Yahweh]], the [[Sabaoth|lord of hosts]], that if she has a son, he will be dedicated to God. [[Eli (Bible)|Eli]], the priest of [[Shiloh (biblical city)|Shiloh]], where the [[Ark of the Covenant]] is located, thinks she is drunk, but when he realises she is praying, he blesses her. A child named [[Samuel (Bible)|Samuel]] is born, and Samuel is dedicated to the Lord as a [[Nazirite]]{{snd}}the only one besides [[Samson]] to be identified in the Bible. Hannah sings a [[Song of Hannah|song of praise]] upon the fulfilment of her vow.

Eli's sons, [[Hophni and Phinehas]], sin against God's laws and the people, specifically by demanding raw rather than boiled meat for sacrifice and having sex with the [[Tabernacle]]'s serving women. However, Samuel grows up "in the presence of the Lord": his family visits him each year, bringing him a new coat, and Hannah has five more children. Eli tries to persuade his sons to stop their wickedness but fails. As punishment for this, a holy man arrives, prophesying that Eli's family will be cut off and none of his descendants will see old age.

One night, God calls Samuel, and, thinking Eli is calling him three times, he rushes to Eli. Eli informs him that God wishes to speak to him, and God informs Samuel that the earlier prophecy about Eli's family is correct. Samuel is initially afraid to inform Eli, but Eli tells him not to be, and that God will do what is good in His sight. Over time, Samuel grows up and is recognised as a prophet.

=====The Ark in Philistine hands (4:1b–7:17)=====
The [[Philistines]], despite their initial worries when hearing the Israelite ritual of the entrance of the [[Ark of the Covenant]], defeat the Israelites at the [[Battle of Aphek]], [[Philistine captivity of the Ark|capturing the Ark]] and killing Hophni and Phinehas, thus fulfilling the earlier prophecy. When Eli hears of these two events, particularly the capture of the Ark, he falls off his chair and dies. His daughter-in-law, in turn, goes into labour at this, and names her son [[Ichabod]] ('without glory') in commemoration of the capture of the Ark.

Meanwhile, the Philistines take the Ark to the temple of their god [[Dagon]], who recognizes the supremacy of Yahweh. The Philistines are afflicted with plagues, are unable to take the Ark into any city on account of the fear of the populations of those cities, and return the ark to the Israelites, but to the territory of the [[tribe of Benjamin]], to the city of [[Beit Shemesh|Beth Shemesh]], rather than to Shiloh, from where it is passed to the city of [[Kiriath-Jearim|Kiriath Jearim]], where a new priest, [[Eleazar, son of Abinadab]], is appointed to guard the ark for the twenty years it is there. The Philistines attack the Israelites gathered at [[Mizpah in Gilead (Judges)|Mizpah]] in Benjamin. Samuel appeals to God, the Philistines are decisively beaten, and the Israelites reclaim their lost territory. Samuel sets up the [[Eben-Ezer]] (the stone of help) in remembrance of the battle, and takes his place as judge of Israel.

====Samuel and Saul (8:1–15:35)====

=====The institution of the monarchy (8:1–12:25)=====
In Samuel's old age, he appoints his sons [[Joel (son of Samuel)|Joel]] and [[Abijah]] as judges but, because of their corruption, the people ask for a king to rule over them. God directs Samuel to grant the people their wish despite his concerns: God gives them [[Saul]] from the tribe of Benjamin, whom Samuel anoints during an attempt by Saul to locate his father's lost donkeys. He then invites Saul to a feast, where he gives him the best piece of meat, and they talk through the night on the roof of Samuel's house. Samuel tells Saul to return home, telling him the donkeys have been found and his father is now worrying about him, as well as describing a series of signs Saul will see on the way home. Saul begins to prophesy when he meets some prophets, confusing his neighbours. Eventually, Samuel publicly announces Saul as king, although not without controversy.

Shortly after, [[Nahash of Ammon]] lays siege to [[Jabesh-Gilead|Jabesh Gilead]] and demands that everyone in the city have their right eye gouged out as part of the peace treaty. The Jabeshites send out messengers, looking for a saviour. When Saul hears of the situation, he gathers a 330,000-strong army and launches a surprise attack at night, leading Israel to victory and saving Jabesh, thus proving those who doubted him wrong. Saul's kingship is renewed.

Samuel is aware he is the final judge and that the age of kings is about to begin, and speaks to the Israelites, demonstrating his innocence and recapping the history of Israel. He calls on the Lord to send thunder and rain, and rebukes the people for their desire for a king. Nonetheless, he tells them that as long as they refrain from idol worship, they will not perish – but if they do, calamity will befall the kingdom.

=====The beginning of Saul's reign (13:1–15:35)=====
Despite his numerous military victories, Saul disobeys Yahweh's instructions. First of all, after a battle against the Philistines, he does not wait for Samuel to arrive before he offers sacrifices. Meanwhile, it turns out that the Philistines have been killing and capturing blacksmiths in order to ensure the Israelites do not have weapons, and so the Israelites go to war essentially with sharpened farm instruments. Saul's son [[Jonathan (1 Samuel)|Jonathan]] launches a secret attack by climbing a pass into the Philistine camp and kills twenty people in the process. The panic this creates leads to a victory for the Israelites. Jonathan finds some honey and eats it, despite a royal decree not to eat until evening. 

Jonathan begins to doubt his father, reasoning an even greater victory could have been achieved if the men had eaten. The royal decree has other unintended knock-on effects, namely that the men start killing and eating animals without draining the blood. To counteract this, Saul sets up an altar so the proper laws can be observed. When a priest suggests asking God before launching another attack, God is silent, leading Saul to set up a pseudo-legal procedure to ascertain whose fault it is that God has abandoned them. The lot falls on Jonathan, but the men refuse to let him be executed since he is the reason for their victory.

Over time, Saul fights the [[Moab|Moabites]], the [[Ammon|Ammonites]], the [[Edom|Edomites]], the [[Zobah|Zobahites]], the Philistines and the [[Amalek|Amalekites]], winning victory over them all. His kingdom is in a constant state of war, and he constantly recruits new heroes to his army. However, he disobeys God's instruction to destroy Amalek: Saul spares [[Agag]], the Amalekite ruler, and the best portion of the Amalekite flocks to present them as sacrifices. Samuel rebukes Saul and tells him that God has now chosen another man to be king of Israel. Samuel then kills Agag himself.

====Saul and David (16:1–31:13)====

=====David at court (16:1–19:7)=====
Samuel travels to [[Bethlehem]] to visit a man named [[Jesse (biblical figure)|Jesse]], with God promising Samuel can anoint one of his sons as king. However, while inspecting Jesse's sons, God tells Samuel that none of them are to be king. God tells Samuel to anoint [[David]], the youngest brother, as king. Saul becomes ill and David comes to play the harp to him. Saul takes a liking to David and David enters Saul's court as his [[Squire|armor-bearer]] and [[harp]]ist.

A new war against the Philistines begins, and a Philistine champion named [[Goliath]] emerges, challenging any Israelite to one-on-one combat, with the loser's people becoming subject to the winner. David goes to take food to his brothers in the Israelite camp, learns of the situation and the reward Saul is willing to give to the person who kills him great wealth, his daughter's hand in marriage and exemption from taxes for the killer's family and tells Saul he will kill Goliath. Saul wants him to wear his armour, but David finds he cannot because he is not used to it. Seeing David's youth, Goliath begins to curse him. David slings a stone into Goliath's forehead, and Goliath dies. David cuts off Goliath's head with Goliath's sword.

Jonathan befriends David. Saul begins to send David on military missions and quickly promotes him given his successes, but begins to become jealous of David after the Israelites make up a song about how much more successful David is than Saul. One day, Saul decides to kill David with a spear, but David avoids him. Saul realises that God is now with David and no longer with him, making him scared of David. He therefore seeks other ways to pacify David. First, he sends him on military campaigns, but this only makes him more successful. 

Next, he tries to marry him off to his daughter Merab, but David refuses, and so Merab is married off to the nobleman [[Adriel]]. However, [[Michal]], another of Saul's daughters, is in love with David. Although David is still unsure about becoming son-in-law to the king, Saul requires only 100 Philistine foreskins as dowry. Although this is a plan to have David captured by the Philistines, David kills 200 Philistines and brings their foreskins back to Saul.

Saul then plots David's death, but Jonathan talks him out of it.

=====The flight of David (19:8–21:16)=====
Once again Saul tries to kill David with his spear, and so David decides to escape, lowered out of a window by Michal, who then takes an idol, covers it in clothes and places goat's hair on its head to cover David's escape. David visits Samuel. When Saul finds this out, he sends men to capture David, but when they see Samuel they begin prophesying, as does Saul when he tries to capture David himself.

David then visits Jonathan, and they argue about whether Saul actually wants to kill David. David proposes a test: he is to dine with the king the following day for the [[Rosh Chodesh|New Moon festival]]. However, he will hide in a field and Jonathan will tell Saul that David has returned to Bethlehem for a sacrifice. If the king accepts this, he is not trying to kill him, but if he becomes angry, he is. Jonathan devises a code to relay this information to David: he will come to the stone Ezel, shoot three arrows at it and tell a page to find them. If he tells the page the arrows are on his side of the stone, David can come to him, but if he tells them they are beyond the stone, he must run away. When Jonathan puts the plan into action, Saul attempts to kill him with his spear. Jonathan relays this to David using his code and the two weep as they are separated.

David arrives at [[Nob, Israel|Nob]], where he meets [[Ahimelech]] the priest, a great-grandson of Eli. Pretending he is on a mission from the king and is going to meet his men, he asks for supplies. He is given the [[showbread]] and Goliath's sword. He then flees to [[Gath (city)|Gath]] and seeks refuge at the court of King [[Achish]], but feigns insanity since he is afraid of what the Philistines might do to him.

=====David the outlaw (22:1–26:25)=====
David travels to the cave of [[Adullam]] near his home, where his family visit him, until he finds refuge for them at the court of the king of Moab in [[Mizpah (Moab)|Mizpah]].

One of Saul's servants, [[Doeg the Edomite]], saw David at Nob, and informs Saul that he was there. Saul arrives at the town, concludes that the priests are supporting David and has Doeg kill them all. One priest gets away: [[Abiathar]], son of [[Ahimelech]], who goes to join David. David accepts him, since he feels somewhat responsible for the massacre. David liberates the village of [[Keilah]] from the Philistines with the help of God and Abiathar. When God tells him that Saul is coming and the citizens of Keilah will hand him over to Saul, David and his men escape to the desert of [[Ziph (Bible)|Ziph]], where Jonathan comes and recognises him as the next king. Some Ziphites inform Saul that David is in the desert, but Saul's search is broken off by another Philistine invasion.

After the invasion, Saul learns David is now living in the desert of [[Ein Gedi|En Gedi]] and resumes his search for him. At one point, he enters a cave to relieve himself. David and his men are further back in the cave. They discuss the possibility of killing Saul, but David opts to merely cut a corner off his robe and use this as proof that he does not in fact wish to kill Saul. Saul repents of how he has treated David, recognises him as the next king and makes him promise not to kill off his descendants.

Samuel dies, and, after mourning him, David moves on to the [[Desert of Paran]]. Here he meets the shepherds of a [[Caleb|Calebite]] named [[Nabal]], and his men help protect them. At sheep-shearing time, he sends some of his men to ask for food. Nabal refuses, preferring to keep his food for his household. When his wife, [[Abigail]], hears of this, she takes a large amount of supplies to David herself. This turns out to be at exactly the right moment, since David had just threatened to kill everyone in Nabal's home. Abigail begs for mercy, and David agrees, praising her wisdom. That night Nabal has a feast, so Abigail waits until morning to tell him what she has done. He has a heart attack and dies ten days later. David marries Abigail and a woman from [[Tel Jezreel|Jezreel]] named [[Ahinoam]], but in the meantime Saul has married David's first wife, Michal, off to a nobleman named [[Palti, son of Laish]].

Saul decides to return to pursuing David, and the Ziphites alert him as to David's whereabouts. Saul returns to the desert of Ziph and sets up camp. One night, David and two companions, [[Achimelech]] the [[Biblical Hittites|Hittite]] and [[Abishai (biblical figure)|Abishai]] son of [[Zeruiah]] (his nephew), go to Saul's camp and find him asleep on the ground. Abishai advocates killing him, but David once again resists, content with taking a spear and water jug lying by Saul's head. The next morning, David advises [[Abner]], Saul's captain, to put the soldiers to death for not protecting Saul, citing the absence of the spear and water jug as evidence. Saul interrupts, and once again repents of his hunt. He blesses David, David returns his spear and Saul returns home.

=====David among the Philistines (27:1–31:13)=====
David joins the Philistines out of fear of Saul, taking his wives with him and brutally destroying his enemies, largely the [[Geshurites]], the Girzites and the Amalekites, but makes the Philistines believe he is attacking the Israelites, the [[Jerahmeelite]]s and the [[Kenite]]s instead. King Achish is pleased with him, and supposes he will continue to serve him. Eventually, the Philistines go to war with the Israelites, and David goes with them.

Meanwhile, Saul is growing increasingly anxious about the upcoming battle, but cannot get advice from God. He decides to attempt to contact Samuel from beyond the grave. While he has expelled all the witches and spiritists, he learns that [[Witch of Endor|one]] remains at [[Endor (village)|Endor]]. After Saul assures her she will not be punished, she agrees to summon Samuel. Samuel is not happy to be disturbed, and reveals that the Philistines will win the battle, with Saul and his sons dying in the process. Saul is shocked and, although at first reluctant, eats some food and leaves.

Back in the Philistine camp, several of the rulers are not happy with the idea of fighting alongside David, suspecting he may defect during the battle. Achish therefore reluctantly sends David back instead of bringing him to Jezreel with the Philistine army. When David and his men arrive in [[Ziklag]], they find it sacked by the Amalekites, and David's wives taken captive. After seeking God's advice, David decides to pursue the raiding Amalekites, finding the Egyptian slave of one, abandoned when he became ill, who can show them the band. When they are located and found to be feasting, David fights all day, with only 400 escaping on camels. David recovers everything and returns to the [[Besor Stream|Besor Valley]], where 200 men who were too exhausted to come with him have been guarding supplies. David announces all are to share in the treasure, and even sends some to the elders of [[Tribe of Judah|Judah]] when he returns to Ziklag.

Meanwhile, the Battle of [[Mount Gilboa]] is raging on and, as Samuel said, the Philistines are winning. Saul's three sons have been killed, and he himself has been wounded by arrows. Saul asks his armor-bearer to run his sword through him rather than let him be captured by the Philistines, but does it himself when the armor-bearer refuses. When they see the battle going badly, the Israelites flee their towns, allowing the Philistines to occupy them. The next day, the Philistines find Saul, behead him, and take his armour to the temple of [[Astarte]] and his body to [[Beit She'an|Beth Shan]]. When they hear what has happened, the citizens of Jabesh Gilead take his body and perform funerary rites in their city.