– His name means name of God. He was the son of Elkanah and Anna, who miraculously conceived him:
1Sm 1,1-20 : There was in Ramathaim-Sofim a man from the mountains of Ephraim, named Elkanah.
– He was consecrated to the Lord as a child:
1Sm 1,21-28 : When the boy is weaned, I will take him to present him to the Lord and there he will stay forever.
– Together with the priest Heli, he served the Lord:
1Sm 2,11 : Elkanah returned to his home in Ramah; the boy was in the service of the Lord with the priest Heli.
– God called him to be his prophet:
1Sm 3,1-18 : Young Samuel served the Lord under the eyes of Heli.
– He was a judge in Israel:
1Sm 7,3-17 : If you cling to the Lord with all your heart and serve him only, then he will deliver you.
– Advised the people not to ask God for a king, but they would not listen to him:
1Sm 8,1-18 : “Give us a king to govern us” displeased Samuel, who prayed before the Lord.
– Anointed Saul as the first king of Israel:
1Sm 10,1-8 : Samuel took a small bottle of oil and poured it on Saul’s head.
– The people recognize that they made a mistake asking God for a king:
1Sm 12,1-25 : I obeyed your voice in all that you asked of me, and I set a king over you. Now you have the king.
– Reproaches Saul for having disobeyed the Lord’s orders:
1Sm 13,8-15 : “What have you done?”, said Samuel. Seeing that the people dispersed.
1Sm 15,10-23 : Samuel said to him: ”Enough! I will tell you what the Lord told me tonight.”
– By order of the Lord, he anointed Jesse’s youngest son, David, to succeed Saul in the kingship:
1Sm 16,1-13 : Fill your horn with oil. Go; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, because I have chosen a king from among her sons.
– He died in Ramah, where he had retired after the anointing of David:
1Sm 25,1 : Samuel died. All Israel came together to mourn him. They buried him in his property in Ramah.
– His name is invoked in the AT and NT:
Ps 98 :6 : Among his priests were Moses and Aaron, and Samuel one of those who invoked his name.
Jer 15 :1 : Even if Moses and Samuel appeared before me, my heart would not turn to this people.
Acts 3:24 : All the prophets who have spoken successively since Samuel have announced these days.
Acts 13:20 : Then he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.
Heb 11:32 : What more shall I say? Time will fail me if I speak of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets.
