Best commentaries on 1 Samuel

Update: I’m about to start preaching 16 to the end and looking forward to using a new commentary by Steinmann, whose commentary on Daniel I loved. Also, the Seceder George Lawson has a book Discourses on the History of David, though it’s not really a commentary. This time round, I also have the Reformation Commentary on Scripture which I’m looking forward to using. I’m also not sure if I had Graaf (Promise & Deliverance) before, but he seems like he’ll be helpful.

Also, DRD has a video overview of the book, where he mentions Vannoy’s commentary as particularly helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbw4A0Im3JY

Update 2: Don’t preach chapter 30 without listening to this by Matthew Roberts! He also has a few others, which I didn’t stumble across in time.

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I’ve just preached 14 sermons on the first 15 chapters of first Samuel. Here are the commentaries I found most helpful.

1. Dale Ralph Davis (FOTB): the best OT commentator alive today.
2. Tim Chester (1 Samuel For You). Wasn’t going to bother with this one, but Joel persuaded me a few chapters in. Some absolute gems, despite its small size.
3. David Firth (AOTC): the best technical commentary. Frustratingly not available in Logos, but so much better than Tsumura’s NICOT one.
4. John Woodhouse (PTW). One of the best PTW’s I’ve used. Tends to view everything through the theme of Leadership, but apart from that very helpful.
5. William Garden Blaikie (Expositor’s Bible). Bang on the money, as evidenced by the frequent quotations from him in the modern commentaries.
6. Peter Leithart: A Son to Me. Aims to connect 1 Samuel to the NT/Christ/Gospel. Some of his connections are great, some are bonkers.
7. Bill Arnold (NIVAC): I had a whole sermon point inspired by this commentary, until I realised his exegesis wasn’t entirely convincing and had to scrap it. But when he’s good, he’s very good.
8. Robert Bergen (NAC): Probably didn’t use this as much as I could have due to other helpful stuff and lack of time, but he’s pretty good.
9. Richard Phillips (REC): If you’re going to read one of these expository commentaries, read PTW. Occasionally helpful — but mostly left me thinking ‘I’d never preach like that!’.

Others: Keil & Delitzsch (not their greatest); Brueggemann and Goldingay (the liberals didn’t add much); Matthew Henry (always worth reading). I didn’t look at Joyce Baldwin, but quotations from her were generally helpful. Robert Alter also has a highly regarded translation/paraphrase, which I didn’t use.

Tsumura’s is the worst NICOT/NT I’ve used, despite the glowing reviews. Comments such as this really annoy me: ‘Some scholars immediately take expressions like this to mean that the event is unhistorical. However, Assyrian records also mention divine intervention in battles, and no one claims that those are unhistorical.’ (Divine intervention isn’t unhistorical, not because there is a God who intervenes, but because the Assyrians mention it. Aye, dead on.)

Sermons: KS had a few on the Dowanvale website, and Joel sent me his.
Sermons Update: Since I preached on the first half, David Gibson as preached on it all at Aberdeen IPC. His one on ch 18 is brilliant.