text · B0017
Sefer Shmuel ספר שמואל
The birth of the monarchy: Shmuel's own story, Shaul's rise and fall, and David's path to the throne. The baraita of Bava Batra has Shmuel write "his book" — but the Gemara immediately notes that the book records Shmuel's own death and keeps going, and answers that Gad the seer and Natan the prophet brought it to completion. One book, three prophetic hands, finished within David's reign.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- ספר שמואל
- Also known as
- Shmuel, Samuel, Book of Samuel, I–II Samuel
- Era
- bible
II. When
- Traditional
- begun by Shmuel c. 2830–2882 AM and completed by Gad the seer and Natan the prophet in David's reign, per Bava Batra 14b–15a
- Academic
- part of the Deuteronomistic History; composition dated between the late monarchy and the exilic period
- Duration
- ≈94 years
- Precision
- approximate
IV. What
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Shmuel wrote his book, and Shoftim, and Ruth" (שמואל כתב ספרו ושופטים ורות) — the baraita of Bava Batra. | rabbinic | ★★★★☆ | |
| The Gemara challenges — "but it is written, 'and Shmuel died'!" — and answers that Gad the seer and Natan the prophet completed it (דאסקיה גד החוזה ונתן הנביא). | rabbinic | ★★★★☆ | |
| Timeline placement c. 2830–2924 AM: begun in Shmuel's lifetime and completed by Gad and Natan within David's reign per the traditional chronology; the span is schematic. | tradition reconstruction | ★★★☆☆ |