Samuel the Prophet שמואל הנביא
prophet, the last judge, who anointed the first kings
Shmuel was born around 2832 in answer to the vow of the childless Chana, who prayed at Shiloh without sound—from her prayer the sages derived the laws of praying under one's breath. Weaned, he was given to the sanctuary for life.
As a boy he heard a voice at night and received his first prophecy: the verdict on Eli's house. After the disaster at Even ha-Ezer he became the nation's authority, gathering Israel at Mitzpah, demanding they remove foreign gods, and seeing the Philistines routed as he prayed. He rode a yearly circuit—Beit-El, Gilgal, Mitzpah—and judged at home in Ramah.
When the people demanded a king "like all the nations" he took it hard, but anointed Shaul at God's word. Later, when Shaul spared Agag and the spoil of Amalek, Shmuel told him: "Does the Lord delight in offerings as in obeying His voice?"—and declared the kingdom taken away. He then secretly anointed the young David.
He died around 2884, aged fifty-two by Seder Olam's count, and all Israel mourned him.
Chain of transmission
Eli the High Priest → Samuel the Prophet → King David
On the timeline
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Sources
Tanakh
- Shmuel I 1–25 — the birth in answer to prayer, the service at Shiloh, the anointing of kings
Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Berachot 31a–31b — the laws of prayer derived from Chanah’s prayer
- Taanit 5b — Shmuel’s early death and his sudden old age
- Seder Olam Rabbah 13 — the years of his service
Basis: stated in the Tanakh.