I Samuel (Anchor Yale Bible | AYB)
Overview
The two books of Samuel narrate the establishment and expansion of the Kingdom of Israel. From Samuel’s providential birth, to his appointment of Saul as Israel’s first king, to the demise of Saul and the rise of David as his successor, I and II Samuel are filled with the stuff of Israel’s everyday experience. Religious, political, economic, military, agricultural, and many other features of the Middle Eastern landscape populate this sacred narrative.
A thorough analysis of textual and literary sources, as well as an examination of the larger ancient Near Eastern context of the period, leads P. Kyle McCarter Jr. to descriptions of the people, places, customs, and noteworthy features of the language of 1 Samuel. For McCarter, a key issue is accounting for the historical circumstances that led to the composition of the books of Samuel. In dialogue with major schools of thought pertaining to the origin and transmission of I Samuel, the author offers his scholarly opinions on its composition. McCarter presents a unique new translation based upon the latest and most extensive textual sources available, including scrolls and fragments from Qumran. Furthermore, he disentangles the complicated textual history of Samuel.
Logos Bible Software gives you the tools you need to use this volume effectively and efficiently. With your digital library, you can search for verses, find Scripture references and citations instantly, and perform word studies. Along with your English translations, all Scripture passages are linked to Greek and Hebrew texts. What’s more, hovering over a Scripture reference will instantly display your verse! The advanced tools in your digital library free you to dig deeper into one of the most important contributions to biblical scholarship in the past century!
- Offers original translations, including alternative translations, annotations, and variants
- Provides verse-by-verse commentary on the text
- Presents the reader with historical background, including analysis of authorship and dating
- Features an extensive bibliography of primary and secondary literature
- The Story of Samuel
- The Advent of Kingship
- The Rise of David
Top Highlights
“The theological implications are clear: it is Yahweh who gives victory, and he may give it to the weak (Israel) in order that his power might be known to all.” (Page 297)
“To account for such an attitude in a northern writer it is best to assume that he was writing during or shortly after the collapse of the northern kingdom, thus near the end of the eighth century b.c.27 His background was northern, and he drew the fundamental principles upon which he based his interpretation of history from the teachings of the prophetic circles of the north; but his orientation was to the south, to which he looked for hope and in which he knew the future of Israel to be. It was also in the south that his work wound up, and there a Deuteronomistic writer incorporated it into his larger history.” (Page 22)
“It was for these reasons that the Deuteronomistic historian found it necessary to revise it only slightly, annotating it as needed to smooth its incorporation into his larger history or to introduce specifically southern concepts, such as that of the dynastic promise to David, into the whole.” (Pages 22–23)
“Julius Wellhausen, whose monograph Der Text der Bücher Samuelis untersucht, published in 1871, is generally acknowledged to be a major landmark in the development of the textual criticism of the Bible.” (Page 5)
“The Archaic Samuel Scroll (4QSamb). The older of the two principal MSS from Qumran Cave IV that witness to” (Page 10)
- Title: I Samuel
- Author: P. Kyle McCarter Jr.
- Series: Anchor Yale Bible (AYB)
- Publisher: Yale University Press
- Publication Date: 1995
- Pages: 496