The stories of Samuel, Saul and David are among the most memorable in the Old Testament. Yet the lives of these individuals are bound up in the larger story of God's purpose for his people. V. Philips Long explores the meaning of the biblical history of Israel's vital transition from a confederation of tribes to nationhood under a king. He shows how attending to the books of Samuel repays their readers richly in terms of literary appreciation, historical knowledge and theological grounding.

Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Regent College, Vancouver. Ordained teaching elder in the PCA. His books include The Reign and Rejection of King Saul: A Case for Literary and Theological Coherence; The Art of Biblical History; the edited volumes Israel's Past in Present Research and Windows into Old Testament History; the co-authored work, A Biblical History of Israel; and 1 and 2 Samuel in the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary. He is the author of a number of scholarly and more popular articles, commentary notes and reviews, and has served on a variety of translation projects (NLT, ESV, Message).