Samuel and His God

Chapter 3: The Many Roles of Samuel

chapter 3 The Many Roles of Samuel In previous chapters I have referred to Samuel as a “prophet.” However, this word is used only sparingly for him in the book of 1 Samuel itself. First Samuel 3:20 tells us that “all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.” First Samuel 9 refers to him as a “seer,” with an explanatory note in 9:9 that “seer” is an older word for “the one who is now called a prophet.” And in 19:20 we see Samuel “standing in charge” of a company of prophets, although he does not seem to participate in their frenzied activity. Other than that, biblical usages of the word “prophet” for Samuel all come from later books.1 But our identification of Samuel as a prophet does not rest on these explicit descriptions alone. We also think of him as a prophet because of the roles he plays in 1 Samuel, particularly his receipt and transmittal of communication from God. Prophet is not, however, the only role Samuel plays. His actions, especially in 1 Samuel 7, also resemble those of a “judge,” a charismatic war leader and governor . In the Hebrew text of 1 Samuel 12:11 (see the NRSV note) Samuel includes himself in a list of judge/deliverers. Hebrews 11:32 may intend the same thing when it mentions “Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, . . . David and Samuel and the prophets.” Yet another identity, “priest” (someone who maintains the relationship between God and community, especially through rituals), is suggested by Samuel’s relationship to Eli and offering of sacrifices. There is probably no single right answer to the question of Samuel’s role. Different sections of his story celebrate different roles for him. Furthermore the terms “prophet,” “priest,” and “judge” are ideologically loaded. The term “prophet ,” in particular, has had different implications for different people at different times. So in discussing whether Samuel was a “prophet,” we need to ask, by which definition? This chapter begins by examining the relatively clear terms “priest” and “judge,” then moves on to “prophet,” discussing each term’s range of meanings and how well each term fits Samuel. Given the fluidity of the roles and the differing pictures our sources provide of Samuel, we cannot neatly sort his activities into clear definitional boxes. However, discussing these issues improves our understanding of Samuel’s functions and the stakes of the storytellers who tell us about him. 28 samuel and his god Priest Priests, in the world of ancient Israel, were specialists responsible for seeing that the community stayed in a positive relationship to the divine realm. Scholars often describe them as having three primary duties: performance of religious rituals (especially sacrifice), divination, and teaching (Blenkinsopp 1995, 80–83; Miller 2000, 165–71; notice that these are the three functions mentioned by the blessing on Levi in Deuteronomy 33:8–11). Priests are also described as being responsible for blessing the people and resolving disputes between people (Num 6:22–27; Dt 21:5 and 17:8–12). This section deals first with general biblical information on priests, then with the picture in 1 Samuel, and finally with how Samuel himself fits into the picture. Our impression of biblical priests is a composite one based on writings assembled over the better part of a thousand years. During that period there were struggles over the priesthood. We see evidence of such a struggle in the oracles against Eli’s house in 1 Samuel 2 and 3. Deuteronomy equates “priests” and “Levites” (the passages just cited speak of “the levitical priests” and “the priests, the sons of Levi”), while Ezra/Nehemiah and Chronicles speak of priests and Levites as separate groups. Ezekiel 48:11 contrasts “the consecrated priests, the descendants of Zadok, who kept my charge, who did not go astray” with Levites who did go astray. The Aaronite/Zadokite priests emerge from this struggle with firm control of sacrificial privileges, while judicial and teaching functions belong to the Levites (Num 18:1–3; 2 C 19:8–10 and 35:3).2 We should not assume that the presentation of priests in 1 Samuel conforms to the standards of much later periods. Judges and Samuel preserve stories from a period when the restriction of priesthood to Aaronite or even Levitical families is not yet firmly in place. The Ephraimite Micah appoints his own son as priest in...