Samuel

William Smith's Bible Dictionary

was the son of Elkanah and Hannah, and was born at Ramathaim-zophim, among the hills of Ephraim. [Ramah No. 2] (B.C. 1171.) Before his birth he was dedicated by his mother to the office of a Nazarite and when a young child, 12 years old according to Josephus he was placed in the temple, and ministered unto the Lord before Eli." It was while here that he received his first prophetic call. (1 Samuel 3:1-18) He next appears, probably twenty years afterward, suddenly among the people, warning them against their idolatrous practices. (1 Samuel 7:3,4) Then followed Samuel's first and, as far as we know, only military achievement, ch. (1 Samuel 7:5-12) but it was apparently this which raised him to the office of "judge." He visited, in the discharge of his duties as ruler, the three chief sanctuaries on the west of Jordan-Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpeh. ch. (1 Samuel 7:16) His own residence was still native city, Ramah, where he married, and two sons grew up to repeat under his eyes the same perversion of high office that he had himself witnessed in his childhood in the case of the two sons of Eli. In his old age he shared his power with them, (1 Samuel 8:1-4) but the people dissatisfied, demanded a king, and finally anointed under God's direction, and Samuel surrendered to him his authority, (1 Samuel 12:1) ... though still remaining judge. ch. (1 Samuel 7:15) He was consulted far and near on the small affairs of life. (1 Samuel 9:7,8) From this fact, combined with his office of ruler, an awful reverence grew up around him. No sacrificial feast was thought complete without his blessing. Ibid. (1 Samuel 9:13) A peculiar virtue was believed to reside in his intercession. After Saul was rejected by God, Samuel anointed David in his place and Samuel became the spiritual father of the psalmist-king. The death of Samuel is described as taking place in the year of the close of David's wanderings. It is said with peculiar emphasis, as if to mark the loss, that "all the Israelites were gathered together" from all parts of this hitherto-divided country, and "lamented him," and "buried him" within his own house, thus in a manner consecrated by being turned into his tomb. (1 Samuel 25:1) Samuel represents the independence of the moral law, of the divine will, as distinct from legal or sacerdotal enactments, which is so remarkable a characteristic of all the later prophets. He is also the founder of the first regular institutions of religious instructions and communities for the purposes of education.

Related Words

Samuel
heard of God; asked of God ...

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
Samuel
Heard of God. The peculiar circumstances connected with his birth are recorded in 1 Sam. 1:20. Hanna...

Easton's Bible Dictionary
Bishop, Samuel
(1731-1795) Poet, b. in London, and ed. at Merchant Taylor's School and Oxf., took orders and becam...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Butler, Samuel
1) (1612-1680) Satirist, was the s. of a Worcestershire farmer. In early youth he was page to the C...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Clarke, Samuel
(1675-1729) Divine and metaphysician, b. at Norwich, was ed. at Camb., where he became the friend a...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Daniel, Samuel
(1562-1619) Poet, s. of a music master, was b. near Taunton, and ed. at Oxf., but did not graduate....

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Foote, Samuel
(1720-1777) Actor and dramatist, b. at Truro of a good family, and ed. at Oxf., succeeded by his ex...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Johnson, Samuel
1) (1649-1703) Political writer, sometimes called "the Whig" to distinguish him from his great name...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Lover, Samuel
(1797-1868) Song-writer and novelist, was a painter of portraits, chiefly miniatures. He produced a...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Pepys, Samuel
(1633-1703) Diarist, s. of John P., a London tailor, but of good family and connected with Sir E. M...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Phillips, Samuel
(1814-1854) Novelist, of Jewish descent, studied for the Church at Göttingen and Camb., but his f. ...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Pordage, Samuel
(1633-1691?) Poet, s. of a clergyman in Berks, ed. at Merchant Taylor's School, studied law at Linc...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Purchas, Samuel
(1575?-1626) Compiler of travels, b. at Thaxton, and ed. at Camb., took orders, and held various be...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Richardson, Samuel
(1689-1761) Novelist, s. of a joiner, was b. at Derby. His f. had intended him for the Church, but ...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Rogers, Samuel
(1763-1855) Poet, s. of a banker in London, received a careful private education, and entered the b...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Rutherford, Samuel
(1600?-1661) Theologian and controversialist, b. at Nisbet, Roxburghshire, ed. at Edin. Univ., wher...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Smiles, Samuel
(1812-1904) Biographer and miscellaneous writer, b. at Haddington, ed. at the Grammar School there,...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Warren, Samuel
(1807-1877) Novelist, b. in Denbighshire, s. of a Nonconformist minister. After studying medicine a...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Samuel, Books of
The LXX. translators regarded the books of Samuel and of Kings as forming one continuous history, wh...

Easton's Bible Dictionary
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor
(1772-1834) Poet, philosopher, and critic, s. of the Rev. John C., vicar and schoolmaster of Ottery...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Ferguson, Sir Samuel
(1810-1886) Poet and antiquary, b. at Belfast, the s. of parents of Scottish extraction, he was ed....

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Gardiner, Samuel Rawson
(1829-1902) Historian, b. at Alresford, Hants, was ed. at Winchester and Oxf. In 1855 he m. Isabell...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Garth, Sir Samuel
(1661-1719) Physician and poet, b. at Bolam in the county of Durham, and ed. at Camb., he settled a...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Parr, Dr. Samuel
(1747-1825) Scholar, s. of an apothecary at Harrow, where and at Camb. he was ed. He was successive...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Butcher, Samuel Henry
LL.D., etc. (b. 1850) Scholar. Prose Translation of the Odyssey (1879), with A. Lang, Some Aspects...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Clemens, Samuel Langhorne
(see Twain, Mark). ...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Crockett, Samuel Rutherford
(b. 1860) Novelist and poet. The Stickit Minister (1893), The Raiders (1894), Lilac Sunbonnet (1894...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Lilly, William Samuel
(b. 1840) Philosopher, etc. Ancient Religion and Modern Thought (1884), Chapters in European Histor...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Samuel, Books Of
are not separated from each other in the Hebrew MSS., and, from a critical point of view, must be re...

William Smith's Bible Dictionary
Baker, Sir Samuel White
(1821-1893) Traveller, b. in London, and after being a planter in Ceylon, and superintending the co...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Brydges, Sir Samuel Egerton
(1762-1837) Bibliographer and genealogist, ed. at Camb., was called to the Bar in 1787. He wrote so...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Sir Samuel Barnardiston's House
See New City Chambers. ...

A Dictionary of London by Henry A Harben.