The Background of 2 Samuel

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Author and Date

The author or authors of 1 and 2 Samuel are not known. These books recount the stories of Samuel, Saul, and David. Saul’s reign began between 1050–1030 BC and ended in 1010. David then reigned until 971. The books were probably written soon after the end of his reign.

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Theme

The central theme of the books of Samuel is how the Lord (1) established a dynasty (“house”) in Israel for David rather than Saul and (2) how he chose Jerusalem as the place where David’s successor would establish the temple (“house”) for the worship of the divine King Yahweh.

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Purpose

The purpose of 1 Samuel is to highlight two major events: the establishment of the monarchy in Israel (ch. 8–12); and the rise of David to be king after Saul (ch. 16–31). After ruling for a while, Saul was rejected by the Lord in favor of David (ch. 15–16), though Saul stayed on the throne until his death at Mount Gilboa (ch. 31). Later, in 2 Samuel 7, God promises David and his house an eternal dynasty. The book of 1 Samuel establishes the principle that obedience to the Word of God is the necessary condition for a king to be acceptable to the God of Israel.

First and Second Samuel deal with a transitional period in the history of ancient Israel. There is a transition of leadership first from the priest Eli to the judge Samuel, then from the judge Samuel to the king Saul, and then from Saul to David. Samuel thus is the link between the judgeship and the kingship in Israel. He is the prophet God uses to anoint both Saul and David. The kingdom of Saul was also transitional. Under Saul, Israel was more than a loose confederation that gathered together whenever there was a common threat, but there was no strong central rule such as existed later. The story of the rise of David in the second half of 1 Samuel prepares for the full-scale kingship of David in 2 Samuel.

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2 Samuel Key Themes

The themes of 1 Samuel are related to the themes of 2 Samuel: the sovereign God, who has guided David’s life, chooses David as the ruler of God’s people. God pledges to David an eternal covenant. David thus becomes the prototype of the future Messiah, Jesus Christ.

1. Davidic Covenant (See 2 Samuel 7)

2. Messianic Promise

Second Samuel 7 is a turning point in the history of salvation. God chose David to be the beginning of an enduring dynasty, from which the ultimate Ruler, Jesus, would come. God used David to fulfill his eternal plan of salvation, not because he was perfect from a human viewpoint, but because the Lord was “with him” and showed grace to him.

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2 Samuel Outline

I. Story of King David (1:1–20:26)
II. Epilogue (21:1–24:25)

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The Setting of 2 Samuel

The Global Message of 2 Samuel

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Second Samuel in Redemptive History

The reign of King David in 2 Samuel represents a breakthrough in God’s plan to redeem the world. The covenants that God had already made with his people, first with Abraham (Genesis 12:1–3; 15:1–21; 17:1–21) and then with Israel (Exodus 19–24), culminate in God’s promise to give David an eternal kingdom (2 Samuel 7:8–16). The later kings of Israel and Judah will be far from perfect—their unrighteousness eventually leads to God’s punishment through exile to a foreign land. But God’s promise of an eternal kingdom means that David’s family will ultimately bring a worldwide blessing for all peoples, most notably in the last and greatest Son of David, Jesus Christ.

The Israelites asked for a king. That was what they got. But their kings were plagued with the same fundamental problem that afflicted the people—sin. What the people needed most desperately was not a king to reign over them as a fellow sinner and to lead them to victory over other nations. What they needed was a king to lead them in victory over sin itself, and to bring that victory to other nations.

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Blessing the Nations

The Covenant with Abraham

God’s covenants with Abraham and Israel paved the way for his covenant with David. Back before Abraham’s time, rebellious humanity had plotted to “make a name for ourselves” (Genesis 11:4). Such sinful rebellion was thwarted when God chose an unlikely man, Abraham, and sent him on a rather different road to greatness: “I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). God planned to bless Abraham so that he would be the channel through whom “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). The Abrahamic commission to bless the world is later extended to Abraham’s descendants, Israel, a people chosen by God to be “a kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:6). Thus the covenant God made with Israel at Sinai commissions a people who will mediate between a righteous God and a sinful world.

The Covenant with David

The Davidic covenant joins together the ideas of divine election, kingship, priesthood, and blessing for the nations, all of which are found in God’s earlier covenants with Abraham and Israel. After God has given rest from Israel’s enemies (2 Samuel 7:1), King David desires to build God a “house” (2 Samuel 7:2), that is, a temple like those of other deities in the ancient world. But the God of Israel does not need such a house, since his presence is not confined to a single place (2 Samuel 7:4–7). As in the promises to Abraham, God promises David a “great name” (2 Samuel 7:9; compare Genesis 12:2) through building him a “house” (2 Samuel 7:11–12) —that is, an eternal kingdom through David’s descendants (2 Samuel 7:13). Unlike other kings, the “house” of David will remain even when his descendants fall into sin. God will forgive them and establish this dynasty forever (2 Samuel 7:14–17).

Understanding the global significance of God’s promises to him, David responds with words of gratitude and amazement (2 Samuel 7:18–29). This guarantee of a future dynasty must serve as “instruction for mankind” (2 Samuel 7:19), a truth that all nations must know (see also 2 Samuel 22:50–51). David receives “greatness” (2 Samuel 7:21) so that he might declare to the nations that God is “great” (2 Samuel 7:22). The mighty God who promises David a “great name” (2 Samuel 7:9) has been working since the days of the exodus to make a name for himself among the nations of the world (2 Samuel 7:23, 26).

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A Sure Promise

David’s Sin

God’s promise of an everlasting kingdom is quickly jeopardized by the sinful behavior of David and the later kings of Israel and Judah. David commits adultery with Bathsheba and then manipulates the death of her husband Uriah (2 Samuel 11–12). David’s son Absalom attempts to seize the throne (ch. 13–18). Solomon walks away from God, and the Davidic kingdom splits in two (1 Kings 11–12). And the last of numerous evil Davidic rulers, King Zedekiah, is taken into exile when Jerusalem is destroyed by Babylon (2 Kings 25). Kingship, then, appears to work out poorly in the long run for God’s people. Yet David could assert at the end of his life that God would preserve his throne forever: “He has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure” (2 Samuel 23:5). But how can David’s royal line endure in light of his family’s tendency to rule sinfully like other earthly kings?

The Messiah’s Suffering

The answer lies in the way the Bible speaks of the coming Messiah more broadly than as a Davidic king of military power. For all his virtues, David was typical among ancient rulers for maintaining his kingdom with military might (e.g., see 2 Samuel 22:35, 38). The New Testament transforms the expectation of a coming king by joining the military dimensions of Davidic kingship with other messianic foreshadowings such as the “suffering servant” of Isaiah 40–55. Jesus is not only a king who will one day rule over his enemies in perfect justice. He is also a king who suffers for the sake of God’s people (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33–34). Indeed, Jesus’ “weakness” in suffering is precisely what overcomes the powers of the world and crowns him as the rightful king (Philippians 2:5–11; Colossians 2:14–15). The cross of Jesus redefines true greatness.

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The Global Message of 2 Samuel for Today: True Kingship

In his suffering, then, Jesus Christ is crowned as the last and greatest king, fulfilling the Davidic covenant. It is in Jesus that God’s promise of an eternal kingdom is fulfilled. Yet this promise is clinched in two stages. His first crowning as a suffering king occurs through his death on the cross in the middle of history (Matthew 27:29; Mark 15:12–13; John 19:19). His second crowning as a triumphant king will occur when Jesus returns to earth at the end of history to claim and vindicate his own people, a people from every tribe and language and people group (Revelation 5:5, 9).

Around the globe today, many different forms of government exist. Some are more healthy than others. Leaders within various governmental systems vary widely in terms of integrity, virtue, and wisdom. Throughout the world, believers are to submit to the government God has placed over them (Romans 13:1–7; 1 Peter 2:13–17), while always remembering that their first loyalty is to God (Acts 4:19–20; 5:29).

We must work for justice and peace in the various governments that are over us, yet not place our final hope in human government. Whatever the specific political situation of global believers, we take heart in the hope of a coming leader and king who will reign one day in perfect integrity, virtue, and wisdom. This is the final Son of David, Jesus himself. “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and uphold it with justice and with righteousness” (Isaiah 9:7).