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The two '''Books of [[Samuel]]''' ({{lang-he|''Sefer Sh'muel'' ספר שמואל}}) are part of a series of historical books ([[Book of Joshua|Joshua]], [[Book of Judges|Judges]], Samuel and [[Books of Kings|Kings]]) that make up a theological history of the [[Israelites]] and affirm and explain [[Torah|God's law for Israel]] under the guidance of the prophets.<ref>Gordon, p.18</ref>
The first Book of Samuel begins with a description of the prophet [[Samuel]]'s birth and of how [[Yahweh|God]] called to him as a boy. The story of the [[Ark of the Covenant|Ark]] that follows tells of Israel's oppression by the [[Philistines]], which brings about Samuel's anointing of [[Saul]] as Israel's first king. But Saul proves unworthy and God's choice turns to [[David]], who defeats Israel's enemies and brings the Ark to Jerusalem. God then promises David and his successors an eternal dynasty.<ref>Spieckerman, 2001, p.348</ref>
According to Jewish tradition the book was written by Samuel, with additions by the prophets prophets Gad and Nathan. Modern scholarly thinking is that the books originated by combining a number of independent texts of various ages when the larger [[Deuteronomistic history]] (the [[Nevi'im|Former Prophets]] plus [[Deuteronomy]]) was being composed in the period c.630-540 BCE.<ref>Jones, p.197</ref><ref>Knight (1995), p.62</ref>
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