Holy Prophet Samuel

Life

The fifteenth and last judge of Israel. He lived about 1,100 years before Christ. Born of the tribe of Levi, of the parents Elkanah and Hannah, in the town of Ramah, or Arimathea, where later the noble Joseph was also born. The barren Hannah wept and prayed for Samuel from God, and she dedicated him to God when he turned three years old. Living in Shiloh, near the Ark of the Covenant, Samuel at the age of twelve received a true revelation from God concerning the punishment that awaited the house of the high priest Eli because of the wickedness of his sons Hophni and Phinehas. That revelation was soon fulfilled: the Philistines defeated the Israelites, slew both sons of Eli, and captured the Ark of the Covenant. When a messenger conveyed this calamity to Eli, he fell dead to the ground and expired at the age of ninety-eight. And the same thing happened to his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas. From that time for twenty years the Israelites were slaves of the Philistines. After that period, God sent Samuel to the people to preach repentance, if they wished to be saved from their enemies. And the people repented, and cast aside the foreign idols which they had been serving, and acknowledged Samuel as prophet, priest and judge. Then Samuel marched with the army against the Philistines and with the help of God confounded and slew them, and liberated the land and the people. After that, Samuel judged his people peacefully until his old age. Seeing him grown old, the people told him to appoint a king over them in his place. In vain did Samuel dissuade the people from this, telling them that God alone was their King — the people persisted in their demand. Though this demand was displeasing to God, God commanded Samuel to anoint Saul, the son of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin, as their king. Saul reigned a short time, and God rejected him for his insolence and disobedience, and commanded Samuel to anoint David, the son of Jesse, as king in place of Saul. Before his death Samuel gathered all the people together and bade them farewell. And when he died, all Israel mourned for him and buried him honorably in his house in Ramah.

From the Hymn of Praise

Samuel the righteous, servant of the living God,Beloved judge of his own people;He honored God, God above all,The will of God was his commandment.