1 & 2 Samuel - Help For the Helpless (Reading The Bible Today Series)

This is the popular-level commentary that I would recommend for anyone who is working through 12 Samuel for personal reading, or for Bible study preparation etc. We are often familiar with certain sections of the historical book but not others and can be surprised when we come into strange territory. For example, in 12 Samuel, David's battle with Goliath is the only section a popular reader will know. For the biblical-theologically inclined, 2 Samuel 7 is well known. But for someone reading through the whole book, the stories about the Ark of the Covenant in 1 Samuel 4-7 can be hard to make sense of, equally so the barrage of names and places that seems so unfamilar and difficult to keep track of. Enter Andrew Reid with this commentary. He works through each section methodically, but without getting bogged down in verse-by-verse word-by-word discussion, handling the narrative in larger section (which is the right approach for naarative). I really like that his target audience is the average Australian - for whom names etc. can be confusing - so he gives summaries to help you remember (eg: p. 160 for 'Who are the Main Players' - Abner, David, Michal, Joab). His comments are always insightful and show a good grasp of the bigger picture in Samuel, the Old Testament and whole Bible. As an aside, this commentary is better than Evans' BST volume on Samuel.