Below is a highly edited version of a chapter in my unpublished book The Structure of Scripture. I will send a copy of the complete chapter to those requesting it at elmerphd21@hotmail.com.
Structural Unity
The first issue to deal with is the cohesiveness of the four books that comprise the above titles. Our present division between Samuel and Kings and of each of these into two separate books appears to have arisen in the early Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, followed by the Latin Vulgate. This canonical distinction between four books has been called anything from a convenience, an accident of the transmission process, artificial, to “not particularly fortunate.” Therefore one is free, or even encouraged, to consider this block of narrative material as a literary unity unless the structure should show otherwise.
Despite this freedom, most students would agree with George Savran that “Kings is fundamentally different in style” from the rest of the Former Prophets. It certainly possesses a coherent theological direction apart from the book of Samuel. Also, there is an exact balance in the number of chapters dealing with the Northern Kingdom and those devoted to the Kingdom of Judah. Finally, the phrase “He walked before Me as David his father walked” appears exactly 14 times in I-II Kings. Turning to the Books of Samuel, the presence of a possible inclusio formed by the Song of Hannah in I Samuel 2 and the Song of David at the end of II Samuel might argue for the literary integrity of I-II Samuel. The present proposal will demonstrate the interconnection of Kings with Samuel while at the same time recognizing these books’ unique and separate characteristics.
One possible indication of the unity of these four books is the fact that “Moses” and “torah” both appear exactly twelve times in the collected work. Even more convincing evidence of a dual, yet unified, character for Samuel-Kings can be seen by consideration of a single word, “choose.” These examples, given below, also testify to the literary skill of the author and raise expectations that there is an overall organization to the collected books.
a. It has been noted that God is given as the subject of this verb "choose" (bachar or the related bachiyr) exactly seven times in the books of Samuel and exactly twelve times in Kings, both numbers having symbolic significance.
b. The 36 occurrences of these Hebrew words are almost evenly divided between Samuel and Kings.
c. In a pattern running throughout both books, God is stated three times in II Samuel and I Kings to have chosen David as king, balanced by the three times in I Samuel that God does not choose David’s brothers.
d. Exactly seven times in Samuel-Kings, kings or would-be kings are said to have chosen fighting men.
e. The choosing of Saul as king is attributed, in alternating fashion throughout the books of Samuel, to the people (I Samuel 8:18), God (I Samuel 10:24), the people (I Samuel 12:13) and God (II Samuel 21:6).
f. Eight times the city Jerusalem is said to be chosen by God – seven times in I Kings and once toward the end of II Kings (23:27).
g. Another Hebrew word for “choose” (barah, also meaning “to eat”) appears six times in the text, always referring to events in the life of David and all occurring in I and II Samuel.
h. The related concept of being “anointed of the LORD” is applied ten times each to Saul and David, all in 1-2 Samuel.
i. Gerhard von Rad noted a ten-fold pattern of prophecy and fulfillment within Sam-Kings.
Proposed Structure
Looking at the prior literature on the structure of these books, there is some recognition that at least portions of these narratives were composed as chiasms. Rosenberg, for example, states, “Samuel as a whole can be shown to comprise roughly a chain of several internally symmetrical cycles.” Also many scholars have noted that the ending of II Samuel (chs. 21-24) can be viewed as a simple chiasm. Starting with these observations, it is possible to reconstruct an overall architecture that encompasses all of Samuel and Kings.
Figure 1: The Structure of Samuel-Kings
IA. Samuel (I Sam. 1-7)
IIA. Saul's Reign (I Sam. 8:1-21:9)
IIIA. David Hides from Saul (I Sam. 21:10-II Sam. 1:27)
IVA. David the King (II Sam. 2-12)
IIIB. David Hides from Absalom (II Sam. 13-20)
IIB. Echoes of Saul's Reign (II Sam. 21-24)
IB. Solomon (I Kings 1-11)
IIC. Minor Kings (I Kings 12:1-16:28)
IIIC. Elijah and Ahab (I Kings 16:29-22:53)
IVB. Elisha Inherits the Mantle (II Kings 1-2)
IIID. Elisha and Ahab's Family (II Kings 3-10)
IID. Minor Kings (II Kings 11-17)
IC. Last Kings (II Kings 18-25)
The first feature worthy of note in Fig. 1 is that the structure is actually an interlocking double chiasm in which the Solomon stories function both to close out I-II Samuel and begin I-II Kings. This explains why some feel that II Samuel is broken at the wrong place and should properly include the first chapters of I Kings. Additional support for this overall pattern is found in the literature:
a. Dorsey’s scheme differs in several respects with Fig. 1 but does possess these commonalities: identical scope to Section IA, major break around the end of II Samuel 20, approximately the same limits to sections IIA and IB, and the same limits for IC.
b. One of Noth’s major divisions to the Deuteronomistic History occurs after I Samuel 7, as does Section IA above. Also, he sees I Kings 9 to begin the decline of the kingdom; this point coincides nicely with the center of the whole organization pictured in Fig. 1. More recently, Tsumura has also defended I Samuel 7 as the terminus of a major literary unit.
c. Both Childs and McConville divide the book of Kings into three parts that coincide, respectively, with sections IB, IIC through IID, and IC.
d. Carson notes the similarity in the temporal punishments meted out by God to Eli (I Samuel 2:27-36), David (2 Samuel 12:9-12) and Solomon (I Kings 11:9-13). These appear in the first, middle and last sections, respectively, of the first chiasm in Fig. 1.
Most of the reasons for identifying the elements in Fig. 1 as parallel are obvious from their titles (for example, “David Hides from Saul” and “David Hides from Absalom”). Also, the many parallels between the lives of Elijah and Elisha (sections IIIC and IIID) have been cited too often to need repeating. These parallel events even occur in roughly the same order in the two sections.
The common overall themes of parallel sections can be summarized as follows:
Sections IA, B, and C: These deal with prominent men of God such as Samuel, Solomon, and King Josiah (at the center of Section IC). Each account, however, ends in tragedy. Samuel's sons and the people as a whole reject God and his leadership; Solomon turns from God in later life; and the Babylonians capture Judah, which is led at the time by Josiah's evil successor.
Sections II A, B, C, and D: These sections concentrate on disobedient kings such as Saul or a succession of minor rulers.
Sections III A, B, C, and D: Men of God such as David, Elijah, and Elisha are pursued or persecuted by their enemies in these sections.
Sections IVA and IVB: Both of these sections deal with felicitous transitions of power (Saul to David and Elijah to Elisha, respectively).
In addition to these thematic similarities, parallel sections of Fig. 1 possess numerous verbal commonalities, often involving rare Hebrew words or very specific phraseology. As added confirmation, each of the proposed thirteen sections can be seen to possess a completely symmetrical structure, sometimes down to several levels of organization. As an illustration, only the all-important central unit will be examined below.
Figure 2: Solomon (I Kings 1-11)
1. Transition of power (I Kings 1-2)
a. Solomon appointed king (1:1-48)
b. Adonijah flees (1:49-53)
c. Charge to Solomon (2:1-9)
d. David dies after 40-year reign (2:10-12)
e. David’s enemies (2:13-46)
2. Solomon: wisdom and foolishness (I Kings 3)
a. Dubious religious and marriage practices (3:1-4)
b. God’s material blessings and wisdom “to administer justice” (3:5-28)
3. Prosperous kingdom (I Kings 4): Officials, prosperity, Solomon’s wisdom
4. The Temple (5:1-9:22)
a. construction (5:1-7:51)
b. feast and sacrifices (8:1-13)
c. Solomon’s prayer (8:14-61)
b'. feast and sacrifices (8:62-66)
a'. construction (9:1-22)
3'. Prosperous kingdom (9:23-28): Officials, prosperity, Solomon’s offerings
2'. Solomon: wisdom and foolishness (10:1-11:13)
b. God's material blessings and wisdom “to execute justice” (10:1-29)
a. Result of dubious religious and marriage practices (11:1-13)
1'. Transition of power (11:14-43)
e. Solomon’s enemies (11:14-39)
b. Jeroboam flees (11:40)
d. Solomon dies after 40-year reign (11:41-43a)
a. Jeroboam appointed king (11:43b)
The symmetrical arrangement of the material in the large Unit 4a is pictured below. Its overlapping structure approximately mirrors that of Sam-Kings as a whole.
Figure 3: Construction of the Temple (I Kings 5:1-7:51)
A1. King Hiram and Solomon (5:1-18)
B1. Building begun (6:1)
C1. Exterior of temple (6:2-10)
D1. God's word to Solomon (6:11-13)
C2. Interior of temple (6:14-36)
B2. Building completed (6:37-38)
A2. Solomon finishes his palace (7:1)
A3. Costly furnishings for Solomon's palace (7:2-12)
A4. Hiram of Tyre and Solomon (4x) (7:13-14)
B3. Pillars with capitals (7:15-22)
C3 Sea, Stands and basins (7:23-39)
D2. Smaller furnishings that Hiram made (7:40)
B4. Pillars and capitals
(7:41-42)
C4. Sea, Stands and basins (7:43-44)
D3. Smaller furnishings that Hiram made (7:45-47)
A5. Costly furnishings for the temple (7:48-50)
A6. Solomon finishes the House of the LORD (7:51)
Since Solomon's prayer in Section IB forms its centerpiece, it is worthwhile to look at its structure in more detail also:
Figure 4: Solomon's Prayer (I Kings 8:14-61)
A. Solomon blesses the assembly reminding them of God's fulfilled promise (14-21)
B. Solomon prays to God before the altar with outstretched hand (22-27)
C. “Hear the plea of your servant and your people Israel” (28-30)
D. Prayer
1. Sin against neighbor (31-32)
2. War and Deportation (33-34)
3. Drought (35-36)
3'. Famine (37-40)
1'. Foreigners pray (41-43)
2'. War and Deportation (44-51)
C'. “Hear the plea of your servant and your people Israel” (52-53)
B'. Solomon prayed to God before the altar with outstretched hand (54)
A'. Solomon blesses assembly reminding them of God's fulfilled promise (55-61)
Summary
Returning to the overall structure of Sam-Kings (Fig. 1), two additional insights can be offered. In the first place, a study of the outlines of the thirteen individual sections shows that several of them contain a variation on the double chiasm seen in the overall structure. This seems more than accidental and tends to highlight the many paired individuals (David and Saul, Elijah and Elisha) and concepts (prophetic vs. kingly rule, Divided Kingdom) that are present in this book.
Secondly, since a chiastic structure usually points to the center section as the main passage of interest, it appears likely that a double chiasm such as Sam-Kings should have three points of emphasis: sections IVA, IB, and IVB. Taking the center of each of these sections as determined by their respective literary analyses, one is directed to three passages of note: II Samuel 6-7, I Kings 5:1- 9:22, and II Kings 2:9-12. The following logical progression of ideas results from a consideration of these passages:
a. In II Samuel 6-7, the building of the ark is described, accompanied by a prophecy of the temple, which will become God's dwelling place among men.
b. In I Kings 5:1-9:22, the building of the temple is described, accompanied by Solomon's prayer of dedication. In it he affirms that God is too large to be contained in a house, and he prays that God will listen to his people wherever they may be, not just in the temple proper.
In II Kings 2:9-12, as the transition from Elijah to Elisha is accomplished, we are reminded that God's Spirit truly dwells in the individual believer, as fully revealed in the New Testament.
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