BOOKS OF. The two books of Samuel were anciently reckoned as but one among the Jews. That they form only one treatise is apparent from their structure. The present division into two books, common in our Hebrew Bibles since the editions of Bomberg, was derived from the Septuagint and Vulgate, in both which versions they are termed the First and Second Books of Kings. Thus Origen (apud Euseb. Hist. Eccles. vi. 25), in his famous catalogue of the Hebrew Scriptures, names the books of Samuel; so also does Jerome. It was desirable to have short names for the books of Scripture; and as Samuel was a prophet of such celebrity, and had such influence in changing the form of government under which the son of Kish and the son of Jesse became sovereigns, it was natural to name after him the biographical tracts in which the life and times of these royal chieftains are briefly sketched, especially as they at the same time contain striking descriptions of the miracle of his own birth, the oracles of his youth, and the impressive actions of his long career. The selection of this Jewish name might also be strengthened by the national belief of the authorship of a large portion of the work, founded on the language of 1 Chron. xxix. 29.

The contents of the books of Samuel belong to an interesting period of Jewish history. The first book of Samuel gives an account of the birth and early call of that prophet to the duties of a seer under Eli's pontificate; describes the low and degraded condition of the people, oppressed by foreign enemies; proceeds to narrate the election of Samuel as judge; his prosperous regency; the degeneracy of his sons; the clamour for a change in the civil constitution; the installation of Saul; his rash and reckless character; his neglect of, or opposition to, the theocratic elements of the government. Then the historian goes on to relate God's choice of David as king; his endurance of long and harassing persecution from the reigning sovereign; the melancholy defeat and death of Saul on the field of Gilboa; the gradual elevation of the man "according to God's own heart" to universal dominion; his earnest efforts to obey and follow out the principles of the theocracy; his formal establishment of religious worship at Jerusalem, now the capital of the nation; and his series of victories over all the enemies of Judah that were wont to molest its frontiers. The annalist records David's aberrations from the path of duty; the unnatural rebellion of his son Absalom, and its suppression; his carrying into effect a census of his dominions, and the Divine punishment which this act incurred; and concludes with a few characteristic sketches of his military staff. The second book of Samuel, while it relates the last words of David, yet stops short of his death. As David was the real founder of the monarchy and arranger of the religious economy; the great hero, legislator, and poet of his country; as his dynasty maintained itself on the throne of Judah till the Babylonian invasion; it is not a matter of wonder that the description of his life and government occupies so large a portion of early Jewish history. The books of Samuel thus consist of three interlaced biographies,—those of Samuel, Saul, and David.

The attempt to ascertain the authorship of this early history is attended with difficulty. Ancient opinion is in favour of the usual theory, that the first twenty-four chapters were written by Samuel, and the rest by Nathan and Gad. Abarbanel, however, and Grotius, suppose Jeremiah to be the author (Grot. Prof. in 1 Sam.). The peculiar theory of Jahn is, that the four books of Samuel and Kings were written by the same person, and at a date so recent as the thirteenth year of the Babylonish captivity. His arguments, however, are more ingenious than solid (Introduction, Turner's Translation, § 46). The fact of all the four treatises being named Books of Kings, Jahn insists upon as a proof that they were originally undivided and formed a single work—a mere hypothesis, since the similarity of their contents might easily give rise to this general title, while the more ancient appellation for the first two was The Books of Samuel. Jahn also lays great stress on the uniformity of method in all the books. But this uniformity by no means amounts to any proof of identity of authorship. It is nothing more than the same Hebrew historical style. The more minute and distinctive features, so far from being similar, are very different. The books of Samuel and Kings may be contrasted in many of those peculiarities which mark a different writer. The books of Samuel have an authorship of their own—an authorship belonging to a very early period. While their tone and style are very different from the later records of Chronicles, they are also dissimilar to the books of Kings. They bear the impress of a hoary age in their language, allusions, and mode of composition. The insertion of odes and snatches of poetry, to enliven and verify the narrative, is common to them with the Pentateuch. The minute sketches and vivid touches with which they abound prove that their author "speaks what he knows, and testifies what he has seen." As if the chapters had been extracted from a diary, some portions are more fully detailed and warmly coloured than others, according as the observer was himself impressed.

From public and acknowledged sources has the compiler fetched his materials, in the shape of connected excerpts. The last of the prophetic triumvirate might be the redactor or editor of the work, and we would not date its publication later than the death of Nathan, while the original biographies may have been finished at the period of David's decease. But certainty on such a subject is not to be attained. Probability is all that we dare assert. The compiler has in all probability framed out of authoritative documents a consecutive history, not dwelling on all events with equal interest, but passing slightly over some, and formally detailing others with national relish and delight.

Credibility

The authenticity of the history found in the books of Samuel rests on sufficient grounds. Portions of them are quoted in the New Testament (2 Sam. vii. 14, in Heb. i. 5; 1 Sam. xiii. 14, in Acts xiii. 22). References to them occur in other sections of Scripture, especially in the Psalms, to which they often afford historic illustration. It has been argued against them that they contain contradictory statements. The old objections of Hobbes, Spinoza, Simon, and Le Clerc are well disposed of by Carpzovius (Introductio, p. 218). Some of these supposed contradictions we have already referred to; and for a solution of others, especially of seeming contrariety between the books of Samuel and Chronicles, we refer with satisfaction to Davidson's Sacred Hermeneutics, p. 544, &c. Some of the objections of Vatke, in his Bibl. Theol., are summarily disposed of by Hengstenberg (Die Authentie des Pentateu., vol. ii., p. 115), who usually chastises such adversaries with a whip of scorpions. Discrepancies in numbers, and sometimes in proper names, are the most common; and it is well known that textual errors in numeration are both most frequently and most easily committed.

Victorini Strigelii Comm. in quatuor Libr. Reg. et Paralipp., 1624, folio; N. Serrarii Comm. in lib. Josuex Jud., Ruth, Reg., et Paralipp., 1609, folio; Seb. Schmidt, In Lib. Sam. Comm., 1684-89, 4to; Jac. Bonfrenii Comm. in lib. quart. Reg., &c., 1643; Clerici Comm. in lib. Sam.; Opera, T. ii.; Jo. Drusii Annotat. in Locos diffic. Jos., Jud., Sam., 1618; Hensler, Erläuterungen des I. B. Sam. &c., 1795; Maurer, Comment. Critic. p. 1; Exegetische Handbuch des A. T., st. iv. v.; Chandler's Critical History of the Life of David, 2 vols., 1786.

SANÀ, a town of Arabia, the capital of Yemen or Arabia Felix, 4000 feet above the sea, in a beautiful valley extending from N. to S., from 6 to 9 miles broad, and bounded on either side by mountains and table-lands, 110 miles N.N.E. of Hodeda; N. Lat. 15.22, E. Long. 44.31. The streets are in general narrow, and the principal one is crossed by a handsome bridge, as in rainy weather a stream of water runs through it. The houses are large, and those of the upper classes have windows filled with fine stained glass. A wall, about 5½ miles in circuit, surrounds the town, and has a few gates; but it is in a very ruinous condition. There are about 20 mosques, in general very splendid, and many of them surmounted by gilt domes. Sana also has a bazaar, and baths similar to those of Egypt. But the principal buildings are the two large palaces of the imam, which have extensive gardens attached to them, the whole being surrounded with fortifications. The architecture of these edifices is Saracenic, with an intermixture of round and pointed arches, but they are devoid of all superfluous ornaments. Most of the artisans in Sana are Jews, who live in a separate quarter of the town, and are subject to much oppression, paying heavy taxes for permission to reside in the town, and for the possession of gardens or vineyards. They, as well as the Banians, who form a large proportion of the population, are obliged to conceal their wealth, and they live by the sale of jewellery, gunpowder, spirits, &c. The most important and wealthy class in Sana are the merchants. The principal article of export is the coffee grown in the vicinity; while tobacco, thread, silk, velvet, glass, dates, spices, sugar, &c., are imported. Sana has been governed by an imam ever since the Turks were expelled from this part of Arabia, in the reign of Soliman the Magnificent. Some ancient inscriptions have been discovered here. Pop. about 40,000.