The first theme carried forward in 1 Samuel is one that first made its appearance in the Pentateuch. The Israelites are given instructions/commands to obey, they disobey, God punishes them, the people cry out to God and then God provides protection. One instance we see of this is when the people war with the Philistines in chapter 4. They lose the battle (and the Ark of the Covenant), but it is not due to widespread idol worship as it was in Judges. This specific loss was due to the sins committed by Eli’s sons (1 Sam 2:12-17). It was during this battle that his sons were killed, according to the prophecy by the man of God (1 Sam 2:27-36). It is in this prophecy that we also see more of a generational curse specific to Eli’s family. …show more content…
This curse brings with it both short-term (death of Eli’s sons) and long-term (curse on future generations of eli’s family) ramifications. However, God provided protection in the form of Samuel, Israel’s last judge who eventually anointed David as king which ultimately brought Israel out from under the Philistines. Next, barren women played a significant role in the development of Israel as a nation. In Judges, Samson’s mother is visited by an angel and is told she will bear a son that will live as a nazirite and begin the process by which Israel will be delivered from the hand of the Philistines (Judges 13:3-5). Samson eventually defeats the Philistines, but at great cost. In I Samuel, Hannah prays specifically for a son and promises God that she will dedicate him to the nazirite life. God answers Hannah’s prayer and she is blessed with Samuel and she gives him to the Lord (1 Sam 1:28). Samuel serves as the last judge in Israel and is commanded by God to anoint Israel’s first and second kings, Saul and David, respectively which changed Israel’s political landscape forever. Lastly, God used flawed leadership to accomplish his purposes, specifically in the characters Samson in Judges and Saul in 1 Samuel.
Both are blessed by God and receive his spirit (Judg 13:24-25, 1 Sam 10:9, 11:6). Both eventually lose focus on their role in God’s plan. Samson’s holy vengeance in wanting to deliver the Israelites from the rule of the Philistines turns personal when he finds out his wife had been given away (Judg 15:7, 15) and Saul took it upon himself to offer the burnt offering in place of Samuel which all but ended his reign (1 Sam 13:8-14). They both also reach the point where they turn away from God, thereby losing the spirit of God. Samson traded God’s spirit for love when he gave Delilah the secret of his strength which eventually led to his death (Judg 16:20-30). Saul’s rejection of God started when he didn’t allow the priest to consult God before entering the battle with Jonathan (1 Sam 14:19-20). After this, we see that Saul has lost favor with God when God doesn’t answer him, not once but twice (1 Sam 14:37, 28:6). He then denies God three while speaking with Samuel when he refers to God as “the Lord your God” (1 Sam 15:15, 21, 30). After this, the spirit of God left Saul and was replaced by an evil one (1 Sam 16:14). But it was Saul’s disobedience to God that led to the anointing of David (1 Sam 13:14) and Israel’s deliverance from the …show more content…
Philistines. At the beginning of 1 Samuel, Eli is instrumental in the Hannah/Samuel storyline. First, he is at the temple when Hannah begs God for a son (1:12-18) and is the one who receives Samuel from Hannah after he is weaned (1:25). He’s also responsible for ensuring Samuel knows that it is God calling him and instructs him on how to answer (3:9). This is the only specific information we have concerning the training that Samuel receives from Eli, but it is an important part of Samuel’s story as it is the first time he meets God. One of the significant things we see about Eli concerns his sons. We read in 1 Sam 2 that they “had no regard for the Lord or for the duties of the priests to the people” by taking the fat portion of the sacrifice instead of offering it to God (2:12, 17). When Eli heard of their transgressions, he confronted his sons, but they wouldn’t listen. The passage indicates that Eli took no further action when his sons wouldn’t listen. Not only did he not take any further action, he also allowed them to continue to be priests. Overall, the portrayal of Eli isn’t too favorable. He comes across as a passive, apathetic man who can’t seem to get his priorities straight. He wasn’t passionate enough about God to further discipline his sons for their sins, but when they die in the same battle in which the Ark of the Covenant is captured, he shifts his priorities to God and shows concerned for the Ark than he than for his sons. As it was with Samson, Samuel was consecrated for the Lord before he was born (1:11).
Other comparisons are that they were born to barren women, were nazirites, and were dedicated to serve God. That’s where the similarities end. Samuel was more faithful to the nazirite vow than Samson and never actually turned from God. Even though God had nearly ceased appearing to his people (3:1), he appeared to Samuel not only at his initial call (3:10) but also continued to appear to him (3:21). When God calls him at a young age, Samuel shows himself to be a very willing servant. After immediately running to Eli when Samuel hears his name, Eli instructs him on who is calling him and what to do. Even though Samuel doesn’t know God yet, he doesn’t hesitate to obey his instructions (3:10). As Samuel grows up, he is blessed by God and all of his prophecies came true (3:19). Additionally, he became known by all of Israel as a trustworthy prophet of God (3:20). Samuel’s narrative is one of a faithful servant. Although he wasn’t free from troubles as we see that he had similar issues with his sons that Eli did. Samuel made his sons judge, but the people saw that they didn’t know God (8:4) and demanded a king (8:6). Rather than ignore the problem as Eli did, Samuel went straight to God on the matter (8:6) which then set into motion the events that would lead to Saul as king. Throughout the process, Samuel continued warning the people of the ramifications of a king, even telling
them that they were basically rejecting God by demanding a king (12:12-13).
When I was young, it was easy to wish for infinite days on earth and beautiful youth for all eternity. As time passes, and more knowledge is gained, this wish starts to diminish. Reading the Odyssey really highlighted the differences between mortals and immortals. Over the course of the story we discover how different characters develop in these categories.
However, in the first book of Samuel, Saul does not possess the quality of self awareness. This can be because Saul ...
In 1 Samuel 28: 1-25 Yahweh guides Saul to his death because he has outright deceived and disobeyed God. This passage sets an example to obey Yahweh; otherwise he will inflict punishment upon the disobedient. It portrays that Yahweh's love, power, and covenant should never be taken for granted. Saul is, in essence, a pawn in an overall lesson and story by God. It is quite possible that the disobedience of God and punishment inflicted upon him was his very fate that only God could control.
In book eight of Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is on the island of the Phaeacians and is waiting to return home to Ithaca. Meanwhile, Alcinous, the Phaeacian king, has arranged for a feast and celebration of games in honor of Odysseus, who has not yet revealed his true identity. During the feast, a blind bard named Demodocus sings about the quarrel between Odysseus and Achilles at Troy. The song causes Odysseus to start weeping, so Alcinous ends the feast and orders the games to begin. During dinner after the games, Odysseus asks Demodocus to sing about the Trojan horse and the sack of Troy. This song too causes Odysseus to break down and cry. Homer uses a dramatic simile to describe the pain and sorrow that Odysseus feels as he recalls the story of Troy.
Allegedly, after his death, Samuel's wife/sister had a relationship with one of her slaves. She tried to keep the relationship a secret. Supposedly, there were two boys born from this relationship. The boys worked outside during the day, but were allowed to sleep in the house at night. They inherited the land at the time of her
Homer’s epic, the Odyssey, is a heroic narrative that follows the adventures of Odysseus, the powerful King of Ithaca. The main story involves Odysseus’s return journey to his homeland after the Trojan War. However, Homer skips around in the action periodically to give the reader a better understanding and interest in what is going on in the epic. Homer takes his audience from the present action involving Telemakhos’ search for news of his father’s return, to the past where Odysseus tells the Phaiakians of his tragic journey home after the war. The events in Homer’s epic are not in order but still prove more effective at guiding the reader through the narrative. Although the events in the Odyssey are not in chronological order, the story line is enriched by Homer’s use of the in media res method because it introduces characters that were not involved in Odysseus’ adventure, because it shows the urgency of Odysseus’ return to his kingdom, and because it allows the reader to become more interested in the opening chapters without having to wait for a climax in the action.
The Odyssey, an epic poem written by Homer and translated by Robert Fitzgerald, is about the war hero Odysseus' ten year adventure to return home after the Trojan War. At one point in the epic poem, Odysseus is retelling his adventure at the land of the Kyklopês, in which he and his crew go to an island filled with these creatures. Through Odysseus, Homer uses contrasting connotation when speaking of the crew and the Kyklopês to convey that mankind is better than the Kyklopês using two different domains domains of society.
The writing style of an author plays a giant role in expressing certain details and letting the reader become more drawn into the piece of literature. In the story summary David and Goliath, which we get from the first book of Samuel chapter seventeen verses one through fifty eight. This popular bible story expresses how a young and weak teenage boy named David can take down a giant with name of Goliath with faith in God. The use of different elements used throughout the summary such as diction, imagery, and language gives off hopeful feel because the main point of the story is for the reader to understand that anything is possible with God.
Scholars also believe the text of 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel were originally one manuscript. These scholars believe the book of Samuel was written as a part of a whole sequence beginning with Joshua and ending with Kings. Others believe two literary sources lay behind the present form of Samuel. Though differences have been noted, such as the story of David and Goliath being much shorter in the Septuagint, these scholars still have not determined the author, time of writing or the purpose of the text. I noted some minor textual differences in my research but the main theme and message remained the same in all sources that I verified.
Different lessons that are present are The Lord calls whom He will call, Right is better than might, The lord prepares his servants, and be yourself. The first lessons to learn from David is The Lord calls whom He will call. This means that the Lord can make who he wants into his instrument. It is up to us to be willing to accept that call and act as God wants us to. David shows this lesson by being willing to fight on the behalf of God. The second lesson is right is better than might. This lesson explains how David had the strength of the Lord behind him. It expresses that being on the right side of the Lord makes you stronger than anything. This is shown in the story when the underdog, David, defeats the monstrous giant, Goliath. The third lesson is The Lord prepares his servants. The says that each small challenge you face and beat prepares you for future challenges. God gives us the strength to face any challenges that may be presented to us. He will always be with us to accomplish what we are faced with. The last lessons is that The Lord will call whom he will call. This says that when you honor who you are and don’t pretend you are something else, you will be more successful. This applied to this story when God calls David to fight Goliath. It is clear that David was not expected to win this battle when looking at strength and size. God still chooses David to fight this battle because he knew he has the courage to
One of which is his attitude toward the evil that is brought to man and the world by sin. God becomes greatly angered by these things that man does and causes him to bring forth his rage upon them. When God is portrayed like this, he looks like more like how the Greek gods were seen by the people: God is seen as a force to be feared because of his awesome power and might, and as a God that does not take lightly to the evil things that come forth from creation. The other personality God seems to have is that he is very fond of the men that find favor with him. It even appears to be the case that he gives these people much more leeway than the others because of their importance to establishing his chosen people. For example, Abraham would often not tell the kings of nations that he journeyed in that Sarah was his wife. Because of this, the kings would often be lead into sin by this false information, but because of Abraham’s dishonesty and possibly even his partially lacking trust in God that everything would work out. When events like this happen though, God does not become angry with Abraham, but takes his side instead. This shows that God is willing to cut these chosen men some slack because of their importance to the story.
The similarities are great, but the differences are just as many. For instance, in the Bible in Genesis 34:1-30 it talks about the defiling of Dinah the daughter of Jacob and how his sons took
Samuel role has the same importance as the judges, although has more responsibility. The Samuel and the judges were specifically chosen from the Lord to be leaders. Samuel and Samson were both born into significant status because it was the Lord who helped their mothers conceive. Even though there are similarities between Samuel and the judges, Samuel was chosen to have the responsibility of something much greater. Samuel was a seer and it also was Samuel’s job to “anoint kings and declare that they have been rejected by God.” (p. 140) Luckily, thanks to the television show Vikings, I know what the job of a seer entails. I am assuming that seer later became know as a prophet. The explanation of how Saul became King was very confusing to me. I made sure I read the section multiple times to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. When the text explains the first account of the election of Saul, it is my interpretation that Saul didn’t become King right away or he didn’t start off with a good start because he confided in Samuel about how he losing his donkeys. (p. 142) Then the text mentions, “Lost donkeys were a matter of concern for prophets and for future kings.” (p. 142)
“The Odyssey” is an epic poem that tells the story of Odysseus and the story of his many travels and adventures. The Odyssey tells the main character’s tale of his journey home to the island of Ithaca after spending ten years fighting in the Trojan War, and his adventures when he returns home and he is reunited with his family and close friends. This literary analysis will examine the story and its characters, relationships, major events, symbols and motifs, and literary devices.
He lived in Bethlehem with his seven brothers and his father Jesse. Unbeknownst to David, God had always had his eye on him and had glorious things planned for his life. Samuel was sent to find a king to replace Saul in 1018 B.C. Samuel was surprised when David showed up and God announced, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one” (Barker, 1985). From this moment on, God’s spirit was with David and they developed a bond that would never cease. With God guiding David, he grew into a strong, courageous man who was not afraid of any situation. He learned to throw stones with his sling and hit the spot for which he aimed. This skill and David’s bravery would come to light with his first major accomplishment. He stood with his modest body before the giant named Goliath and took aim at his head. He hit Goliath in the forehead, knocked him down and then walked over and cut off his head. David had saved the people from their