The Book of Samuel is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1-2 Samuel) in the Christian Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) that constitute a theological history of the Israelites and that aim to explain God's law for Israel under the guidance of the prophets.

The First Book of Samuel is the ninth book: The childless Hannah vows to Yahweh of hosts that, if she has a son, he will be dedicated to God. Eli, the priest of Shiloh, where the Ark of the Covenant is located, blesses her. A child named Samuel is born, and Samuel is dedicated to the Lord as a Nazirite-the only one besides Samson to be identified in the Bible. Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, sin against God's laws and the people, a sin that causes them to die in the Battle of Aphek. But the child Samuel grows up "in the presence of the Lord."