1 and 2 Samuel

Tyndale Old Testament Commentary

by Joyce G. Baldwin

Recipient of a 1990 Christianity Today Critics' Choice Award!

The stories of Samuel, Saul and David are among the most memorable in the Old Testament. Yet the lives of these individuals are wound up in the larger story of God's purpose for his people. Looking beyond the well-known surface of these stories Joyce Baldwin explores the meaning of the biblical history of Israel's vital transition from a confederation of tribes to nationhood under a king.

Bible students at all levels will find that this commentary provides an excellent introduction to the critical issues of authorship, date, composition and structure of Samuel, as well as an able discussion of its theological themes. Written in a clear and straightforward style, here is a worthy addition to the acclaimed Tyndale Commentary series.

The original, unrevised text of this volume has been completely retypeset and printed in a larger, more attractive format with the new cover design for the series.

Genres: Reference, Biblical Studies, Christian, Christianity, Nonfiction, Theology, Old Testament

314 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1988

Reviews

[Deb Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5/5)

Readable and interesting commentary on the books of 1 and 2 Samuel.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars)

This was a better-than-average commentary on 1 and 2 Samuel that I read in parallel with my M'Cheyne Bible Reading Plan while reading through 1 and 2 Samuel (which is really just one book in Hebrew. It was split into two for length way back in history). Things I liked about this commentary:

1. It is blessedly spare. Commentary writers in general seem to think that "more is more," but I'm finding as I read through most commentaries "less is more." Reading through this commentary takes approximately the same amount of time as reading through the text, maybe a little more.

2. Joyce Baldwin does a fairly good job of balancing discussions of geography, people, and the Hebrew/Greek text. I felt like she hit the important parts, but didn't get bogged down in details too much.

Things I didn't like/wish it would have been better:

1. The author does an okay job of keeping the entire text in mind, but I feel like she could have done a better job of explaining how the parts fit into the whole. She seemed to be focused on the trees, but often skipped the forest. I'm finding this is a common failing of many/most commentaries. Why did the author of Samuel write the book? How did he shape the narrative to reach his goal? You won't find these questions answered in this commentary.

2. From time to time the author has some sort of odd digressions, or odd interpretations. Looking back on Saul's life she seems to agree with commentators who think that Saul's life and choices were sort of beyond his control, as if he was a mere puppet paving the way for David's rise. As anyone knows who has studied Scripture, God is perfectly capable of accomplishing his plans while all of the people in the plan are making their own independent, fully accountable choices.

[Joe Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent introductory level volume on 1 & 2 Samuel. The author has the knack of making the books and her thoughts accessible but still offering fine insight.

The introduction sets the Samuel books nicely into the broader history of the Biblical history of Israel. The explanation of the Deuteronomistic history was very useful.

Much of the commentary was in depth and covered the passages both in insightful overviews and verse but verse, though there were times where the brevity of the volume showed and the commentary covered paragraphs instead of verses at a time. It is a credit to the author that I wished that she had an extra hundred pages to go deeper into every passage. In general the more important passages had the deeper commentary.

When an unexpected question came up in Sunday School, I used Dr. Baldwin's explanation of how the Scriptures used certain story telling conventions to highlight important concepts inside history narratives. Since the question was on Genesis 1 & 2, I knew that what I had learned from her commentary was very useful indeed.

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, competent commentary. Helpful.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

At 299 pages (50 of which are introductory), there simply wasn't enough room to cover both 1 and 2 Samuel well. That's about 4.5 pages/chapter, or six verses a page. Within these rather limited constraints, Baldwin has written a helpful introductory/supplementary commentary that would be well worth consulting while studying or preaching through Samuel, but it won't clear up the more difficult questions sufficiently.

This commentary is more suitable as a quick reference for specific passages than as an introduction to 1 and 2 Samuel. For the preacher, teacher, or reader, Dale Ralph Davis' commentaries are a far better investment of your time.

[J Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This particular volume in the Tyndale OTC series is quite good. The author has done an excellent job of clarifying issues of geography, transliteration difficulties, historical context, and differences among manuscripts. There are a few areas of interpretation that are presented as factual rather than open to debate, but these are uncommon. On the whole, I would recommend this volume to anyone attempting to develop a greater knowledge or understanding of the books of Samuel.

[Rev Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good, concise option for a commentary following 2 or 3 other weightier reads. I would recommend this work for someone preparing a Bible Study on David or Saul. I agree with most of her points and insights, a good, theologically conservative commentary.

[Will Dole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baldwin is helpful, covers most of the hard questions that arise in the text.

[Chris Risley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A briefer treatment, but Baldwin is always clear

[Charles Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Used this in preparation for an OT History class. It was meant to be a skim-job, but I ended up sitting down unable to stop reading. In fact, this book triggered my (still-incomplete) efforts at collecting the entire TOTC collection! The author was a very good writer!

[Charlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was very pleasantly surprised to read this shorter work. Baldwin has the ability to summarize scholarly opinions on biblical books that have been intensely studied for centuries, and this commentary was easily accessible.

As with the other commentaries in this area of OT study, I studied the introductory materials through to the kingship of Saul, in order better to prepare a sermon on the transitional figure and ministry of Samuel, with focus on I Samuel 8.

I will return to this book for future reference. I'm pleased to have three different sorts of commentaries that are complementary on my personal library shelves.

[Bendick Ong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series of commentaries always provide many insights on particular verses and words. For one who is doing research paper, it is a good book to refer to as you look for a small portion of scripture to expand into a good research. Alternatively, it is also a good book to check if there are interesting points you can add as footnotes after you have completed your paper.

[Sae-chan · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a layman, it was not very easy to understand, but it sure helped me get a lot more that the bible text alone.