According to passages 14b and 15a of the [[Bava Basra]] tractate of the [[Talmud]], the book was written by [[Samuel]] up until 1 Samuel 25, which notes the death of Samuel, and the remainder by the prophets [[Gad (prophet)|Gad]] and [[Nathan (prophet)|Nathan]]. Critical scholars from the 19th century onward have rejected this idea. [[Martin Noth]] in 1943 theorized that Samuel was composed by a single author as part of a history of Israel: the [[Deuteronomistic history]] (made up of [[Deuteronomy]], [[Book of Joshua|Joshua]], [[Book of Judges|Judges]], Samuel and [[Books of Kings|Kings]]).{{sfn|Klein|2003|p=316}} Although Noth's belief that the entire history was composed by a single individual has been largely abandoned, his theory in its broad outline has been adopted by most scholars.{{sfn|Tsumura|2007|pp=15–19}}
The Deuteronomisticmost common view today is that an early version of the history was composed in the time of king [[Hezekiah]] (8th century BC); the bulk of the first edition dates from his grandson [[Josiah]] at the end of the 7th BC, with further sections added during the [[Babylonian exile]] (6th century BC) and the work was substantially complete by about 550 BC.{{sfn|Walton|2009|pp=41–42}} Further editing was apparently done even after then.: For for example, A. Graeme Auld, Professor of Hebrew Bible at the University of Edinburgh, contends that the silver quarter-shekel which Saul's servant offers to Samuel in 1 Samuel 9 "almost certainly fixes the date of this story in the Persian or [[Hellenistic period]]" because a quarter-shekel was known to exist in Hasmonean timess.{{sfn|Auld|2003|p=219}}
The 6th century BC authors and editors responsible for the bulk of the history drew on many earlier sources, including (but not limited to) an "ark narrative" (1 Samuel 4:1–7:1 and perhaps part of 2 Samuel 6), a "Saul cycle" (parts of 1 Samuel 9–11 and 13–14), the "history of David's rise" (1 Samuel 16:14–2 Samuel 5:10), and the "succession narrative" (2 Samuel 9–20 and 1 Kings 1–2).{{sfn|Knight|1991|p=853}} The oldest of these, the "ark narrative," may even predate the Davidic era.{{sfn|Tsumura|2007|p=11}}
This view of late compilation for Samuel has faced serious scholarly opposition on the basis that evidence for the Deuteronimistic history is scant, and that Deuteronimistic advocates are not in consensus as to the origin and extent of the History. Secondly, the basic theological concerns identified with the Deuteronimistic school are tenets central to Hebrew theology from the time of Moses. Thirdly, there are notable differences in style and thematic emphasis between Deuteronomy and Samuel. Finally, there are widely acknowledged structural parallels between the [[Suzerainty#Hittite suzerainty treaty form|Hittite suzerain treaty]] of the second millenium BC and the Book of Deuteronomy itself, far before the time of Josiah. The alternative view is that it is difficult to determine when the events of Samuel were recorded: "There are no particularly persuasive reasons to date the sources used by the compiler later than the early tenth century events themselves, and good reason to believe that contemporary records were kept (cf. 2 Sam. 20:24–25)."{{sfn|Walton|2009|pp=258-259}}