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his sins. Thus all the separate parts and sections are fused together as an organic whole in the fundamental thought of the work before us. And this unity is not rendered at all questionable by differences such as we find in the accounts of the mode of Saul's death as described in 1Sa 31:4 and 2Sa 1:9-10, or by such repetitions as the double account of the death of Samuel, and other phenomena of a similar kind, which can be explained without difficulty; whereas the assertion sometimes made, that there are some events of which we have two different accounts that contradict each other, has never yet been proved, and, as we shall see when we come to the exposition of the passages in question, has arisen partly from unscriptural assumptions, partly from ignorance of the formal peculiarities of the Hebrew mode of writing history, and partly from a mistaken interpretation of the passages themselves.
With regard to the origin of the books of Samuel, all that can be maintained with certainty is, that they were not written till after the division of the kingdom under Solomon's successor. This is evident from the remark in 1Sa 27:6, that “Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day.” For although David was king over the tribe of Judah alone for seven years, it was not till after the falling away of the ten tribes from the house of David that there were really “kings of Judah.” On the other hand, nothing can be inferred with certainty respecting the date of composition, either from the distinction drawn between Israel and Judah in 1Sa 11:8; 1Sa 17:52; 1Sa 18:16, and 2Sa 3:10; 2Sa 24:1, which evidently existed as early as the time of David, as we may see from 2Sa 2:9-10; 2Sa 5:1-5; 2Sa 19:41; 2Sa 20:2; or from the formula “to this day,” which we find in 1Sa 5:5; 1Sa 6:18; 1Sa 30:25; 2Sa 4:3; 2Sa 6:18; 2Sa 18:18, since the duration of the facts to which it is applied is altogether unknown; or lastly, from such passages as 1Sa 9:9; 2Sa 13:18, where explanations are given of expressions and customs belonging to the times of Saul and David, as it is quite possible that they may have been altogether changed by the time of Solomon. In general, the contents and style of the books point to the earliest times after the division of the kingdom; since we find no allusions whatever to the decay of the kingdoms which afterwards took place, and still