Samuel is one of the most intriguing Old Testament figures (to me, at least). He’s a star player in the story of David and Saul: the first two God-anointed kings of Israel.
We meet him as a baby. We see him as a national leader, intercessor, and even a ghost.
Here are a few interesting biblical facts about the prophet Samuel.
(Special thanks to Logos Bible Software on this: that tool makes it really easy to find how certain characters are mentioned across the Bible.)
1. Samuel is a miracle child.
The Bible tells of many significant adults, but only a handful of significant pregnancies. Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob & Esau, Perez, Samson, John the Baptist, and Jesus are the others.
We meet Samuel’s parents before we meet him. His mother Hannah cannot have children, but God hears her prayers and opens her womb, blessing her with the child Samuel.
2. Samuel’s name means “name of God.”
The translation of Samuel (sometimes spelled “Samual” when spelled in the English alphabet) literally means “name of God,” or “God has heard.”
3. Samuel is from the tribe of Levi.
Not only was Samuel from the tribe of Levi, but he may have had Ephraimite blood, too (1 Ch 6:33–38, 1 Sa 1:1). This qualified him to serve in the temple, but Samuel was much more than a priest (see below).
4. Samuel is the last judge.
You can read about most of the judges in the book of—you guessed it!—Judges. After Joshua dies, the nation of Israel enters the “days of the judges,” (Ru 1:1) when there was no centralized government.
During this time, God would raise up individuals to deliverer Israel from her enemies (Jdg 2:16). The book of Judges tells us about 12 judges, and First Samuel introduces two more: Eli and Samuel.
Why is Samuel the last? Because after Samuel, Israel is led by kings (Ac 13:20).
5. Samuel anoints the first two kings of Israel: Saul and David.
When the people demand a national king, God directs Samuel to anoint Saul, a tall man from the tribe of Benjamin. Saul doesn’t turn out so well, and so God has Samuel anoint a young shepherd named David as the future king: not the king Israel needs, but the king they deserve. You can read all about that in First Samuel.
Samuel is qualified to do this because of another office he holds . . .
6. Samuel is the first of the prophets.
In the book of Acts, Peter also considers Samuel to be the first of the prophets—after Moses, that is (Ac 3:24).
A prophet is someone who speaks on behalf of God. Samuel isn’t the first person to be called a prophet in the Bible (Moses is both earlier and greater), but as far as we can tell, he lead an order of prophets in Israel (1 Sa 19:20).
Samuel’s prophetic ministry is significant because it begins at a time when words from the Lord are rare and infrequent (1 Sa 3:1). But after Samuel, Israel’s history comes alive with prophetic revelation: much of which is recorded in the prophetic books of the Bible.
7. Samuel is a priest.
He begins his ministry serving the chief priest in the tabernacle (1 Sa 3:1). Samuel makes sacrifices on behalf of the people, and offers intercessory prayers to God for them (1 Sa 7:9.)
8. Samuel is a Nazarite.
Like the mighty Samson, Samuel is dedicated to the Lord as a child. This dedication was for life, and so he never cuts his hair (1 Sa 1:11, Nu 6:1–21).
9. Samuel is the only ghost we meet in the Bible.
After Samuel dies, Saul meets with an Ewok—er, a witch of En-dor (1 Sa 28:7). The medium conjures up the spirit of Samuel, who isn’t too happy about what Saul has done. You can read the whole story in First Samuel chapter 28.
10. Samuel led the greatest Passovers.
Hundreds of years after Samuel’s death, a king named Josiah celebrates the Passover. It’s such an affair, the author says it’s the greatest Passover ever—well, ever since Samuel’s day (2 Ch 35:18).
11. Samuel is remembered for his prayers.
The psalmist who penned Psalm 99 ranks him with Moses and Aaron as one who called upon the Lord’s name (Ps 99:6).
12. God calls Samuel by name—twice
Samuel is one of 8 people in the Bible that God calls by name … twice. The others are Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Martha, Simon, “My God,” and Saul.
BONUS: Two books of the Bible are named after Samuel, but he only shows up in one.
Yes, we have the books of First and Second Samuel, but Samuel is never mentioned in Second Samuel! This is because both books were originally one document.
You can learn more about all 66 books of the Bible here.
Samuel is one of my favorite Bible characters—I’d encourage you to get to know him in First Samuel.
I used my favorite Bible study tool, Logos Bible software, to do research that made this post possible. If you're a Bible geek like me, you might want to check it out.
Thanks. Very educative
Abraham is actually referred to as a Prophet in the book of Genesis. And he is the first recorded that God Himself called a Prophet.
Genesis 20:7 “Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.”
Great information for the Bible student.
Samuel also cut an enemy of Israel to pieces before HaShem!
1 Samuel 15:33
Jefferey Kranz: At first I was going to correct you about Samuel being both a Levite and a Kohen. But Samuel lived in the period before the altar was established at Jerusalem, and his home faces the Temple Mount from a distance east. The Muslims built a mosque over his grave, and on the roof of the mosque, one can see 360 degrees all around, one of the most fantastic and hauntingly beautiful places one can visit here in Israel. The grave of Samuel is in the basement of the mosque, while the house that Samuel lived in is outside, and they found a small altar with four horns for sacrifices, and a pen to keep the sheep or goats, at Ramah.
Only Kohanim can offer sacrifices in the Holy Temple or the Mishkan, however. So he did not offer any korbanot in those places. Only at his personal altar in his home. He lived quite a modest and meager life compared to some, which can be seen by viewing his home.
Although his mother may have made a vow to dedicate her son only to God, apparently God had other plans for Samuel than merely serving Eli, whose two sons were corrupt.
Samuel also had sons, so he did not abstain or remain celibate, as some have incorrectly claimed from a failure to read the text sufficiently. I Samuel, chapter 8 relates his disappointing attempt to bring his sons to the service of Hashem as judges. But the sons did not follow their father and they took bribes and perverted justice. So Samuel had a wife, and was not celibate.
We only have access to this site because we forced the issue, and the Muslims let us alone here. Same in Hebron. But if we did not push, they would sit on all of our sites and keep us away like they did for seven hundred years or more in Hebron.
Hi Jeff, I love your work and the great way you present the material here and elsewhere. You sure do know your stuff and present it wonderfully. I did notice that in this particular article about Samuel two considerations I’d like to point out First is that the name Samuel I think, more correctly means “asked of/by God” or heard of/by God” Because his mother said “I asked of God and He heard me”. The other thing is that after Moses, Abraham is the next biblical character called a prophet by God himself. It is found in Abimelech’s dream found in Gen 20.7 “Now therefore, restore the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live…”
Thank you for your great materials!
Kurt Samuel M… (Biblically, names and their meanings are very important as I’m sure you know from all your biblical study. My name is ‘Kurt -“Bold Counselor” ….Samuel – “Heard by or Asked by God”).
Small quibble: Samuel is not the only ghost in the Bible. At the transfiguration, Elijah and Moses are there – it could be argued that Elijah never died, but Deuteronomy and Joshua were pretty clear that Moses did. So that means his appearance was as a ghost, by the same definition as Samuel’s appearance to the Witch of En-Dor and Saul.
Fair point!
So called transfiguration, whatever that may mean, is not in the Hebrew bible, and Samuel is the only person who appears after his death. Ghost is just a departed spirit, the soul of the deceased. Hebrew bible specifically forbids to contact any departed person, so when we have a dream of our recently deceased parents or loved ones, they do not speak directly to us, but we are nonetheless understanding their intentions in the dream.
Elijah never died and he appears to help people in every generation. I have had him visit me twice in disguise, as the same person. When I asked him what to call him, he was annoyed with me and then suddenly gave me a list of at least a dozen names in such rapid succession that I forgot all of them. I realized then that I was not talking to a normal individual. His behavior was quite unusual, but he did help me to realize certain things about my wife, since he accompanied us most of the way home, and then left us for another direction.
He’s the only one in the Tanach.
I understood the transfiguration to be a “vision”.. as Jesus tells them not to tell the “vision”to anyone . Could it have been a future vision? And not a ghost. An example of what will happen to a true believer after they die . Just a thought I guess.
Where in the bible does it say Samuel wrote Psalms 99?
Samuel didn’t write Psalm 99, he is mentioned in it?
Oops sorry I read that wrong
Who is Samuel’s father?
mr. bedford
i checked, i promise
Elkanah
Elkanah
Another great write-up, Jeffrey!