ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author shows that the narratives in Samuel mark relatively late developments in biblical thought about monarchy. The question of the Pentateuchal Yahwist was always a matter of exploring connections and lines of influence. Some of them continue to write of a 'Yahwist', but date his composition later than the Deuteronomist; and others prefer to speak of a 'D-work' providing a foundation for the 'Tetrateuch' which came to support the 'Priestly' work as well. The terminus a quo for the composition of Samuel is the fall to the Babylonians of the houses of Yahweh and of David in Jerusalem, reported in its main source: the synoptic material shared by Samuel–Kings and Chronicles. The material shared by Samuel–Kings and Chronicles uses in only two contexts: to describe what the queen of Sheba had no more of, after her amazement at Solomon and his court; and to identify members of Yahweh's court who could influence the king of Israel.
