Illustration created for this project.

Samuel — the last judge

The last of the judges and a great prophet, who anointed both Saul and David as king.

Role: Prophet · Judge

Lived: c. 1105 BC – c. 1012 BC

Belonged to: Judges, Prophets

Tribe/lineage: Levi

Born: Ramah

What we know — and how we know it

Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 1 Archaeology — physical evidence · 1

Life, role & deeds

BibleThe last of the judges and a great prophet, who anointed both Saul and David.

1 Samuel 10:1; 16:13

Deg777 — CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons) ArchaeologyShiloh, where the boy Samuel served, shows a destruction layer around the mid-11th century BC — consistent with the loss of the Ark in 1 Samuel 4.

Shiloh (Khirbet Seilun) Iron I destruction (Stratum V, mid-11th c. BC), Danish expedition (H. Kjaer, 1926-32) and Bar-Ilan/Tel Aviv excavations under I. Finkelstein ('Shiloh: The Archaeology of a Biblical Site', Tel Aviv University, 1993); link to the 1 Samuel 4 disaster is interpretive.

↳ Shiloh

Where in scripture

1 Samuel 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Psalms Jeremiah Acts Hebrews

1 Samuel 1:20 1 Samuel 2:18 1 Samuel 3:10 1 Samuel 4:1 1 Samuel 10:1 1 Samuel 11:7 1 Samuel 12:1 1 Samuel 13:8 1 Samuel 16:13 1 Samuel 19:18 1 Samuel 25:1 1 Samuel 28:3 1 Chronicles 6:28 1 Chronicles 6:33 1 Chronicles 9:22 1 Chronicles 11:3 1 Chronicles 26:28 1 Chronicles 29:29 2 Chronicles 35:18 Psalms 99:6 Jeremiah 15:1 Acts 3:24 Acts 13:20 Hebrews 11:32

Family

In their own words — 34 recorded sayings

“The voice of the Lord said Samuel's name; and he said, Here am I.” — 1 Samuel 3:4

“And running to Eli he said, Here am I, for you said my name. And Eli said, I did not say your name; go to your rest again. So he went back to his bed.” — 1 Samuel 3:5

“And for the third time the Lord said Samuel's name. And he got up and went to Eli and said, Here am I; for you certainly said my name. Then it was clear to Eli that the voice which had said the child's name was the Lord's.” — 1 Samuel 3:8

“Then the Lord came and said as before, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel made answer, Say on, Lord; for the ears of your servant are open.” — 1 Samuel 3:10

“Then Eli said, Samuel, my son. And Samuel answering said, Here am I.” — 1 Samuel 3:16

“Then Samuel said to all Israel, If with all your hearts you would come back to the Lord, then put away all the strange gods and the Astartes from among you, and let your hearts be turned to the Lord, and be servants to him only: and he will make you safe from the hands of the Philistines.” — 1 Samuel 7:3

“Then Samuel said, Let all Israel come to Mizpah and I will make prayer to the Lord for you.” — 1 Samuel 7:5

“Then Samuel took a stone and put it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, naming it Eben-ezer, and saying, Up to now the Lord has been our help.” — 1 Samuel 7:12

…and 26 more recorded sayings.

Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).