A guide to 2 Samuel

Who wrote 2 Samuel, and when?

Unnamed; tradition links it to Nathan and Gad. Events about 1010–970 BC; written after the division of the kingdom.

2 Samuel continues the single book that 1 Samuel begins, so its authorship is the same question. The writer is not named. Jewish tradition links the material to the prophets Nathan and Gad, both of whom appear in the book and whose records are mentioned in 1 Chronicles 29:29. The events cover about 1010 to 970 BC, the whole of David's reign. The book was completed after the kingdom divided in the 930s BC, and most scholars think it draws on court records and an early written account of David's family troubles that reads like an eyewitness report. Whoever wrote it had access to what went on inside the palace and chose to tell it honestly, faults included.

Who was 2 Samuel written to?

Israel under the monarchy, remembering the height of David’s reign and the cost of his fall.

The first readers were Israelites under the later kings, who looked back on David's reign as the high point of their history. They remembered the capture of Jerusalem, the bringing of the ark into the city and the promise that David's house would last forever. 2 Samuel gave them the full story, including the part they might rather forget: David's adultery with Bathsheba, the murder of her husband, and the years of grief that followed in David's own family. For readers in Judah, ruled by David's descendants, the book explained both why the line was chosen and why it had to stay humble. For any reader, it showed that God's promises do not depend on the goodness of the people who receive them.

What was happening at the time?

After Saul’s death David becomes king of Judah, then of all Israel, and makes Jerusalem his capital. God makes a covenant with him that his house will endure forever. Then David commits adultery with Bathsheba and has Uriah killed, and the second half of the book is the fallout: rape, murder and Absalom’s rebellion within his own family.

Why was 2 Samuel written?

To record God’s covenant with David and to show honestly both the greatness and the failures of God’s king.

2 Samuel was written to record God's covenant with David and to tell the truth about the king who received it. In chapter 7 God promises that David's house and throne will last forever, a promise the rest of the Bible returns to again and again. The book then shows David at his best, generous to Saul's family and quick to repent, and at his worst, taking another man's wife and arranging his death. The consequences spread through his family for years. The book wants readers to see that sin has a cost even when it is forgiven, that repentance is real (see chapter 12 and Psalm 51), and that God stays faithful to a flawed king. In the wider story of the Bible, the promise to David is the root of the hope for a Messiah, fulfilled in Jesus.

How to read 2 Samuel today

Read chapter 7 first, since the promise there is the heart of the book. Then read chapters 5 and 6 on the capture of Jerusalem and the ark, and chapters 11 and 12 on Bathsheba and Nathan's confrontation. The second half, chapters 13 to 19, is Absalom's rebellion and reads like a tragedy; take it slowly. Watch for the difference between David's public success and his private failure, and notice how his sin echoes in his sons. Do not force the book to defend David; it does not, and its honesty is part of its message. As you read, pray about anything you have been hiding, and ask God for the honesty David found in chapter 12 and the mercy he found after it.

The key verse in 2 Samuel

And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ’

Passages worth knowing in 2 Samuel

• 2 Samuel 5

  David king over all Israel

  Jerusalem becomes the city of David.

• 2 Samuel 6

  The ark comes to Jerusalem

  David dances before the LORD.

• 2 Samuel 7

  The covenant with David

  A throne established forever; fulfilled in Jesus.

• 2 Samuel 11–12

  Bathsheba and Nathan

  You are the man; the sin behind Psalm 51.

• 2 Samuel 15–18

  Absalom’s rebellion

  David flees Jerusalem and weeps for his son.

• 2 Samuel 22

  David’s song of deliverance

  The LORD is my rock and my fortress.

The main themes of 2 Samuel

• The Davidic covenant
• Sin and its consequences
• Repentance
• God’s faithfulness to a flawed king
• Kingship

An outline of 2 Samuel