Focus on the Bible - 1 Samuel: Looking on the Heart (Focus on the Bible Commentaries)

It's a good book, too, and in practically new condition.

While preparing to teach a class on 1 Samuel, I saw quite a few reviewers giving glowing recommendations to Dale Ralph Davis's commentaries on the OT historical books. Having never read anything by Dale Ralph Davis before, (or even heard of him prior to reading said reviews), I figured I would buy his work on 1 Samuel and see what all the excitement was about.The work is not a conventional scholarly commentary. Essentially, the book is a collection of sermons that has been adapted into commentary form. Davis peppers the sermons with occasional anecdotes. He obviously likes WWII history, since a quite a few of his illustrations seem to be pulled from that field. There's also the occasional joke thrown in. He includes some thought / discussion questions at the end of each chapter for devotional contemplation.Davis' exegesis is sound, but not immensely detailed. (Space doesn't really permit that!) He has obviously read enough of the scholarly literature to comment in an informed manner. He occasionally interacts with the Hebrew, but the words are all transliterated and it should be easy for anyone without knowledge of the language to understand. He also occasionally addresses text-critical issues when they are relevant, but he doesn't allow them to overshadow the main focus of the narrative. He is not dogmatically committed to the MT (like Tsumura), but he doesn't play fast and loose with emendations either (like McCarter).For me, this commentary was filled with numerous "Aha!" moments, and instances of wondering how I did not see something that was so plainly at the forefront of the biblical text. Davis is super readable and super quotable, and turns phrases like I see few biblical commentators do. He has a knack for getting to the real point of the text, rather than creating contrived applications that don't really fit what the author says. He is far more interested in how the stories fit into the overall Biblical narrative than in simply compiling a list of good deeds and bad deeds that each respective character did. He rightly leaves readers with the impression that the book is really not about Saul or David, but rather about God. He also frequently makes Christological / Christotelic applications, which I found (for the most part) compelling.If you are looking to study Samuel, this book needs to be near the top of your list. (The fact that Longman doesn't even mention this book in his survey is baffling). I heartily recommend this book, and plan to purchase more of Davis' books in the future. As a first time reader with no prior knowledge of the author, I can objectively say that it has certainly lived up to the praise that has been given to it, and it has been a refreshing reminder to me of the kinds of exposition that first got me interested in the field of biblical studies.

This commentary is generally rated highly by respected sites. Some commentaries are highly technical and others are purely for lay people. Davis does a nice job of writing a little in both categories. He will draw out elements of the Hebrew narrative that are important and will occasionally lay out the structure of a particular narrative in order to point chiastic structure or other elements. However, he doesn't go into all the technical speculation or overly academic elements that some technical commentaries will write on. He also draws out application from the text which is helpful for pastors and lay people. So, there's a nice balance of depth that is not untethered from the joys of application. If you are looking for something highly technical elements and want to draw upon academic debates or see how the MT text compares to the LXX, look at another commentary. However, if you are wanting something that aids your study or is just fun to read as a companion to studying 1 Samuel a little deeper, you will be quite pleased.

I want to leave a review for anyone debating which Dale Ralph Davis commentary to buy if they are still debating. I have read five of his commentaries and my favorites are in this order: 1) Psalms 13-24 2) 2 Samuel) 3) Joshua 4) 2 Kings and 5) 1 Samuel. Whoa!!! 1 Samuel is last? I don’t think Davis did a particularly poor job on this commentary. I still gave it a five stars. But I wasn’t blown away like I was with all the other commentaries of his I read. Probably he did as good of a job as he could for his writing style for this book. In case you don’t know Davis writes to try and extract practical applications we can make from the text to the church. He really has a gift for it. I’m grossly deficient in my knowledge of some of these OT historical books and these have been the perfect reading level for me. So if you’re debating which Davis book to buy I hope my review proves useful to someone. Even though this was my least favorite I don’t think this guy is capable of writing a bad book.

Dale Ralph Davis' work in this commentary on 1 Samuel has simply been a great blessing to me. As a relatively new Christian the Old Testament has often been tough for me to get into, after reading this commentary, however, the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel has come alive to me. Davis divides this commentary into three parts: Part 1 is called a Prophet from God's Grace (Chapters 1-7), Part 2 is a King in God's Place (Chapters 8-14), and Part 3 is called a Man after God's Heart (Chapters 15-31). After reading and highlighting all over the place I decided to write on a note card what I learned after reading this work, and I want to share some of them, as they will cover some of the major themes of 1 Samuel.God's work is often quiet (1 Sam. 2).God for his people acts with judgement and mercy (1 Sam.4).Yahweh's interesting and imaginative ways of deliverance calls forth praise from us (1 Sam. 19).Yahweh's protection is completely unknown to us often (1 Sam. 25).If you are someone who is scared of commentaries this one by Davis will not scare you. You will be able to tell by the first chapter that he does an excellent job explaining the text, illustrating the text, and applying the text for everyday life. Davis most importantly does draw out of the text the glories of Christ in a way that makes you so grateful for our great Savior.I agree with Eric Alexander, who said this on the front cover, "The best expository commentary I have read in years."

This is the first time I have used Dale Ralph Davis commentaries, and I do have to say it is vey good. It is readable with very helpful insight. I will definitely be purchasing more of Dales books.

This is an excellent series. Astonishing to think that it was almost orphaned half way through (see preface to 2 Kings) - astonishingly short sited. Buy them all. You'll never regret it!!

Ordered one day, delivered the next! What more needs to be said? Superb. Haven't read the book yet so can't comment but fully expect it to be up to the authors usual high and very readable standard.

This is an excellent book. It gets down to the nitty-gritty of the meaning of the text, and avoids all those side questions that so often confuse readers.

quite good in terms of exegesis and expository, will recomend thi to a friend any time of the day with no hesitation