Apollos Old Testament Commentary: 1 & 2 Samuel (Firth): Apollos Commentary: Volume 8 / January 01, 2009

Requires Accordance 10.4 or above.

For even more information, see this release announcement and this review.

The books of Samuel contain two of the Bible’s best-known stories – David’s encounter with Goliath (1 Sam. 17) and his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah (2 Sam. 11). However, the text does more than just tell stories, particularly of how first Saul and then David became king of Israel and the mistakes both made; it also offers a profoundly theological reflection on this formative part of Israel’s history and an artistic telling of it. We are told how Israel’s monarchy began: the way this is done points to the interpretation of these events.

Thus, in this excellent commentary, David G. Firth takes seriously the narrative techniques employed in 1 and 2 Samuel. Arguing that the books are a carefully constructed, intentional unit for interpretation, he explores the central theme of how the reign of God is worked out in the interplay between king and prophet. What emerges is a text that spoke with power into its own context – and which continues to address believers today.

About the Series:
The Apollos Old Testament Commentary (AOTC) aims to take with equal seriousness the divine and human aspects of Scripture. It expounds the books of the Old Testament in a scholarly manner accessible to non-experts, and it shows the relevance of the Old Testament to modern readers. Written by an international team of scholars and edited by David W. Baker and Gordon J. Wenham, these commentaries are intended to serve the needs of those who preach from the Old Testament, as well as scholars and all serious students of the Bible.

The AOTC series introduces and examines the books of the Old Testament, bridging the gap between the age in which they were written and the age in which we now read them. Each commentary begins with an Introduction which gives an overview of the issues of date, authorship, sources, and outlines the theology of the book, providing pointers towards its interpretation and contemporary application. An annotated Translation of the Hebrew text by the author forms the basis for the subsequent commentary.

Within the commentary, Form and Structure sections examine the context, rhetorical devices, and source and form-critical issues of each passage. Comment sections offer thorough, detailed exegesis of the historical and theological meaning of each passage, and Explanation sections offer a full exposition of the theological message within the framework of biblical theology and a commitment to the inspiration and authority of the Old Testament.