BiblePlaces Newsletter

Some years ago, when I was first asked to teach an adult Bible class at church, the book I started with was 1 Samuel. My reason was simple: I felt that I could communicate this exciting book in a way that would engage everyone and thereby give me a little bit of “job security.” The class went well, and we continued on to studies in Isaiah and Daniel, but as I look back I marvel at the fact that I taught the class without ever showing photos.

One factor was that our meeting room didn’t yet have a projector, but even if it had, it would have been quite difficult for me, in that stage of life (working on a doctorate), to have had the time to pull together all the photos, week after week. Unlike some Bible teachers, I actually had the photos, but the time involved to find the right photos and create an attractive presentation is not insignficant. I was spending what time I had studying the text and reading the commentaries.

Fast forward about a decade and I had the chance to teach through 1 Samuel again. This time, I had a team of friends working with me to create an extensive collection of images for every passage and story in the book. With that work already done, I could quickly grab, in a matter of 10 minutes or less, the 20-30 photos I wanted to share to help the group understand the setting and details of each chapter. I loved it, and they loved it.

Now our team has completed the writing of detailed notes and put on the finishing touches so that 1 Samuel is ready to share with you. We have endeavored to create a resource that is easy to use, attractive to the eye, and accurate in all of its details. Our launch price is only $49, and for that you will receive more than 3,000 slides that will help you understand and teach 1 Samuel unlike perhaps any other resource available. As you keep reading this month’s newsletter, you’ll get a sense for the special value of photos for 1 Samuel.

Todd Bolen
Photographer, BiblePlaces.com
Professor of Biblical Studies, The Master’s University

Every weekday I choose an interesting photo from the biblical world and post it on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. In the last few weeks, I have shared photos of favorite hikes in Israel, highlights of Petra, and images related to Jesus’s feeding of the 5,000. Follow us to see our latest photos as well as some classics.

The featured photos this month focus on the book of 1 Samuel, an exciting account of the prophet Samuel, King Saul, and and the rising David. For more photos, download the 1 Samuel 4 PowerPoint (89 slides). These and more than 3,000 photos are included in the new 1 Samuel volume in the Photo Companion to the Bible.

The tabernacle was located in Shiloh during the time of the Judges, including the years when Samuel was growing up there. Samuel apparently slept within the tabernacle so that he could care for the lampstand (menorah). One night the Lord called to Samuel and gave him a message, beginning his ministry as a prophet. This photo shows the view from the outer entrance of the tabernacle toward the sacrificial altar and the holy place. This tabernacle model is located in Timna Park in southern Israel.

After the Israelites lost in battle to the Philistines, they decided that they could force God to help them by bringing the ark of the covenant to the battle lines. This was certainly much easier than obeying the Lord’s commands so that the Lord would fight for his people (Deut 11:22-25). The Israelites were encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. This photo of Aphek shows its strategic location on the coastal plain; whoever controlled this funnel between the mountains and the Yarkon River controlled the coastal highway. Not surprisingly, the Israelites’ efforts to manipulate the Lord failed, and the Philistines captured the ark.

Unwilling to submit to the Lord’s rule, the Israelites demanded a human king. The Lord provided Saul, a tall man who was impressive in his outward appearance. At the Lord’s direction, the prophet Samuel anointed Saul as king by taking a flask of oil and pouring it on his head. He likely used a juglet similar to the one pictured here, which dates to this same time period. The juglet is made of black clay and has been hand burnished, a technique where the clay was allowed to dry until it was leathery, then rubbed with a smooth stick or pebble. The handle on this juglet is meant to be pinched between two fingers; it is too small for the insertion of a finger (other than by a child). The bowl under the juglet gives an idea of the relative size of the juglet. This flask was photographed at the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East.

The famous story of David and Goliath took place in the Elah Valley, shown in this photo which was taken at Socoh looking toward Azekah. In this valley, the Philistine giant taunted the Israelites and their God day after day. The Israelites were encamped on the opposite ridge, but their giant—King Saul—cowered in his tent instead of leading God’s people in faith. When David felled Goliath with a stone, he demonstrated that he was more qualified to be Israel’s king than Saul was. The Philistines then fled past Azekah on the way to their cities of Gath and Ekron.

David’s flight from Saul took him to the periphery of Judah’s territory. I recently wrote an article in a forthcoming volume in the Lexham Geographic Commentary series detailing the various places that David traveled in his fugitive years, and our new Photo Companion volume provides many photos showing these sites, wildernesses, and wadis, from Gath and Adullam to Ziph and En Gedi. This photo shows the Nahal Tekoa east of Maon, providing a sense for the difficult terrain where David sought refuge from Saul. These scenes are also helpful in understanding the background to some of the psalms that David wrote.

The story of Nabal and Abigail features a rich scoundrel who had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. This may seem like an exaggeration, but in 1874, Conder and Kitchener found that the nearby village of Yatta, not far from Nabal’s town of Carmel, had “17,000 sheep, besides goats, cows, camels, horses and donkeys.” The days of sheep shearing were a festive time of celebration, but Nabal refused to share his bounty with David’s men. The sheep shearing shown here occurred in the Judean hills west of Jerusalem. The family nature of sheep shearing is reflected in the participation of the two sons with their father.

Saul’s life came to an end during a battle with the Philistines near Jezreel. Because of Saul’s disobedience, the Lord did not give him victory over the invaders, and Saul fled up the slopes of Mount Gilboa. This photo gives a nice sense for the heights of Gilboa and its relation to the floor of the Jezreel Valley. Up on the mountain, the defeated Saul fell on his sword, a tragic end for Israel’s first king. But the disgrace only grew worse, as the Philistines beheaded Saul and hung his body on the wall of the nearby city of Beth Shean. If Israel was to enjoy peace and righteousness, they surely needed a king more faithful than this one.

This week you can purchase the 1 Samuel volume at our launch price of $49, including immediate download and free shipping. This unique collection includes more than 3,000 PowerPoint slides illustrating the entire book by chapter and verse. Purchase the collection as a DVD+download or download-only.

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All contents © 2020 Todd Bolen. Text and photographs may be used for personal and educational use with attribution. Commercial use requires written permission.