2 Samuel at a glance

2 SAMUEL

 

The 10^th book in the Bible whose authors were Prophets Nathan & Gad, at least they were the main contributors. Samuel is also thought to have contributed records to the writing even though he died during King Saul’s reign. Tradition tells us that it was written around 900 BC. And covered the time period from 1000 BC to 975 BC. The book of 2^nd Samuel covers the reign of King David. This book was named after the prophet who anointed David & guided him to living righteously and rightly before God.

 

The Purpose of writing this book: There were 5 reasons why this book was written. 1) To record the history of David’s reign as king of Israel; 2) to demonstrate effective leadership under God; 3) to reveal that one person can make a difference; 4) to show the qualities that please God; and 5) to depict David as an ideal leader of an imperfect kingdom, and to foreshadow Christ, who will be the ideal leader of a new and perfect kingdom that is to come (Chapter 7).

 

The Setting of the book is the land of Israel under David’s rule.

 

Stories told ...

 

1) David brings the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and embarrasses his wife while dancing joyfully. (2 Samuel 6:16)

 

2) David takes Bathsheba, another man’s wife as his own & has husband slain in battle. (2 Samuel 11)

 

3) The attempted coup & death of David’s son Absalom. (2 Samuel 18)

 

 

Important Points found in this book:

 

1) 2^nd Samuel covers the reign of King David who became known as the first good king of Israel. There were only a few good kings in Israel’s history.

 

2) Chapters 1 thru 10 show David as an excellent warrior & leader who also is compassionate to the sick & poor & always tries to do what would be pleasing to God.

 

3) In Chapters 11 thru 24, we see David facing trials & tribulations. There are many wrong decisions made in his family, including his bad choice to commit adultery, the death of that eventual infant son, and a coup attempt by his oldest son Absalom, which resulted in the son being killed by David’s own warriors.

 

Key Verse(s):

 

“And David realized that the Lord had confirmed him as king over Israel and had blessed his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.” - (2 Samuel 5:12)

 

“His advisers were amazed. ‘We don’t understand you,’ they told him. ‘While the child was still living, you wept and refused to eat. But now that the child is dead, you have stopped your mourning and are eating again.’ David replied, ‘I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live.’ But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.’” - (2 Samuel 12:21-23)

 

Next time we’ll take a look at the book of 1 Kings ... Until then, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His glory,

Rich Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Resource: Books of the Bible at a Glance; published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (May 18, 2018); The Life Application Study Bible.

Note: I took my information from this lengthy compilation of bible book information for all 66 books of the Holy Bible & the margin notes from the study bible.