The two books of Samuel narrate the establishment and expansion of the Kingdom of Israel. From Samuel’s providential birth, to his appointment of Saul as Israel’s first king, to the demise of Saul and the rise of David as his successor, I and II Samuel are filled with the stuff of Israel’s everyday experience. Religious, political, economic, military, agricultural, and many other features of the Middle Eastern landscape populate this sacred narrative. A thorough analysis of textual and literary sources, as well as an examination of the larger ancient Near Eastern context of the period, leads P. Kyle McCarter Jr., to descriptions of the people, places, customs, and noteworthy features of the language of I Samuel.