2 Samuel

Composition

Religious scholars traditionally date the composition of the Book of Second Samuel, frequently abbreviated as “2 Samuel,” to about 960–930 BCE. Along with the Book of First Samuel (“1 Samuel”), the paired works are jointly known as the Books of Samuel. In the Judaic tradition, 1 and 2 Samuel were initially formatted as a unified book. They were divided into two books when the Hebrew Bible/Christian Old Testament was first translated, which created the Septuagint, a scriptural work that became influential in early Christianity.

Samuel, the Israelite prophet and religious judge, has historically been cited as the primary author of both Books of Samuel. However, even religious fundamentalists acknowledge the limitations of this theory, given that Samuel’s death is described in chapter 25 of 1 Samuel, leaving the book’s six remaining chapters plus the totality of 2 Samuel without an obvious author. Scholars and researchers have forwarded various hypotheses to explain the gap, with a leading theory positing that King David’s court prophets Nathan and Gad completed the Books of Samuel after Samuel’s death. The Book of Jasher (Jashar) is also commonly cited as a possible bridge in the authorship gap. Lost to history, the Book of Jasher is believed to have been a poetic work of noncanonical scripture that may have served as a source for events referenced in the Books of Samuel that occurred after Samuel’s death. The Book of Jasher is mentioned on numerous occasions throughout the Christian Bible’s Old Testament.

Many religious traditionalists hold that the Holy Spirit is the divine author of all Christian scripture, a doctrine that serves to solve these and other unresolved biblical authorship questions. According to the doctrine, the Holy Spirit authored the entirety of the Christian scriptural canon, enacting its transcription into earthly language through a succession of divinely selected human agents. The doctrine therefore contends that the identities of the Bible's various human authors are essentially immaterial.

Summary

The narrative of 2 Samuel continues the story of David’s ascension to the Israelite kingship following the death of King Saul, whose suicide marks the end of 1 Samuel. In the early chapters of 2 Samuel, the Israelites divide along northern and southern tribal lines, with the southern tribes recognizing David as their king and the northern tribes anointing the late King Saul’s son Ish-bosheth (Eshbaal) as their new ruler. The rift escalates into a war, which ends when David is presented with the head of Ish-bosheth by two of the northern king’s servants, who betrayed and assassinated him. David, who considers Ish-bosheth innocent of any crime, has his murderers executed. Their executions end the infighting among the Israelites, unifying the twelve tribes again under King David’s universally recognized leadership.

Rallying under King David, the Israelites capture the holy city of Jerusalem from the Canaanites. King David makes Jerusalem his capital, building a palace in the city and anointing it the “City of David" (also rendered as “Zion”). After vanquishing the lingering military threat posed to the Israelites by their arch-rivals the Philistines, King David commissions thirty thousand Israelites to bring the sacred golden altar known as the Ark of the Covenant to the Israelites’ new capital city.

God delivers a message to Nathan, one of King David’s court prophets, revealing that the kingdom of Israel will persist for earthly eternity and inspiring King David to launch a series of expansionist campaigns into neighboring nations. King David’s successes swell the size of the Israelite state, but the king’s glories are soon undermined by an illicit tryst that he has with a married woman named Bathsheba. When Bathsheba becomes pregnant, King David sends her husband Uriah to his death in battle before marrying her. Nathan approaches King David with knowledge of his indiscretion, revealing to King David that he cannot hide his immorality from God. King David begs for God’s mercy and repents by fasting, but Bathsheba’s son dies at birth. King David and Bathsheba later have a second son, whom they name Solomon.

Amnon, King David’s eldest son whom he fathered with another woman, then rapes his half-sister Tamar. Despite his rage, King David does not punish Amnon, leading Tamar’s brother Absalom, also a half-brother to Amnon, to kill Amnon in the desert with the assistance of their other brothers. King David permits Absalom to return to Jerusalem from exile three years later, at which time Absalom acts on his plan to overthrow his father and claim the Israelite throne for himself.

Absalom ingratiates himself to the Israelite people and succeeds in coaxing King David’s chief advisor to defect and support Absalom as ruler. With his contingency and supporters, Absalom relocates to the city of Hebron and is declared king by his supporting faction. King David flees Jerusalem, allowing Absalom to enter the vacated capital and claim David’s throne for himself. Meanwhile, King David rallies an army and attacks Absalom, routing thousands of Absalom’s troops and supporters. Absalom is killed in the mayhem by Joab, King David’s nephew and chief military commander, despite King David’s orders to show Absalom mercy. King David mourns his son and later grants amnesty to Absalom’s insurrectionist supporters.

Returning to Jerusalem, King David retakes his throne and quashes the final uprising of Absalom loyalists. He turns his focus to rebuilding and reunifying his fractured kingdom, winning battles over the Philistines and showering his subjects with acts of kindness. The Book of Second Samuel ends with King David writing a hymn in praise of God’s love, wisdom, mercy, and continued protection of the Israelite people from their internal and external enemies.

Themes

Key themes of 2 Samuel include the fallibility of human leadership and the infallibility of God’s leadership. Religious scholarship surrounding the thematic question of the fallibility of human leadership includes a divisive and spirited debate on how King David is depicted in 2 Samuel. Some experts believe 2 Samuel ultimately depicts King David positively and as a just and worthy ruler despite some missteps and lapses into immorality. Others take the opposing position, suggesting that 2 Samuel ultimately problematizes King David’s standing in the pantheon of historical Israelite leaders and contending that the book presents King David more negatively than positively.

Major aspects of the scholarly debate over the treatment and presentation of King David focus on revealing episodes in 2 Samuel’s narrative. These include his affair with Bathsheba and his subsequent assignment of Bathsheba’s husband Uriah to a battle that King David knows will result in Uriah’s death. The act of self-interest exposes King David before God, and Nathan holds the king accountable for his choices. Another example extends to King David’s son Amnon, who faces no punishment from his father despite raping his half-sister and King David’s daughter.

Yet in other turns of 2 Samuel’s narrative, King David is depicted as righteous and merciful, qualities that liken him to God and seem to suggest his position as earthly ruler of the Israelite people is protected by divine providence. Specific episodes include King David’s insistence on the innocence of Ish-bosheth and his command to Joab to show lenience to Absalom. In both cases, King David intervenes to protect the safety and honor of rivals to his throne, even though both men attempted to overthrow King David and claim his power as their own.

Another manifestation of the fallibility of human leadership theme derives from the turmoil and uprisings that drive 2 Samuel’s narrative thrust. These episodes suggest that preoccupation with earthly power and human rule represent inherent dangers to the unity of the Israelite people, implying that the Israelites can only properly fulfill their destiny as God’s chosen people when they are united by a capable leader under God, who recognizes and defers to God’s superiority.

Meanwhile, God’s guidance and spiritual leadership proves time and again to advance the standing and unity of the Israelites. At certain times, God intervenes in the human affairs of the Israelites, but at others, God apparently chooses not to censure those who commit immoral and spiritually unlawful acts, including King David himself. These interventions and non-interventions all function to push God’s master plan for the Israelite people forward strategically, showing that God’s wisdom is perfect in its prudence, even when it appears to contradict or undermine established spiritual principles and accepted codes of conduct. Commentators also note parallels between King David’s story and the human experience. Like God’s faithful, King David wishes to serve God loyally but is repeatedly drawn into temptation and sin. From this perspective, confessing sin and repenting offer imperfect mortals like King David—and all God’s subjects—a path to redemption.

Bibliography

Kipfer, Sara. The Book of Samuel and Its Response to Monarchy. Kohlhammer Verlag, 2021.

Linafelt, Tod, Claudia V. Camp, and Timothy Beal. The Fate of King David: The Past and Present of a Biblical Icon. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2010.

Long, V. Philips. 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary. InterVarsity Press, 2020.

Piper, John. “The Holy Spirit: Author of Scripture.” Desiring God, 26 Feb. 1984, www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-holy-spirit-author-of-scripture. Accessed 19 Apr. 2022.

Winston, Bruce E. Transparent and Authentic Leadership: From Biblical Principles to Contemporary Practices. Springer Nature, 2021, pp. 171–172.

Zavada, Jack. “Introduction to 2 Samuel.” Learn Religions, 26 Feb. 2019, /www.learnreligions.com/book-of-2-samuel-701128. Accessed 19 Apr. 2022.