samuel books of

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samuel books of - Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary :

  Samuel, Books of
  The LXX. translators regarded the books of Samuel and of Kings
  as forming one continuous history, which they divided into four
  books, which they called "Books of the Kingdom." The Vulgate
  version followed this division, but styled them "Books of the
  Kings." These books of Samuel they accordingly called the
  "First" and "Second" Books of Kings, and not, as in the modern
  Protestant versions, the "First" and "Second" Books of Samuel.
  
    The authors of the books of Samuel were probably Samuel, Gad,
  and Nathan. Samuel penned the first twenty-four chapters of the
  first book. Gad, the companion of David (1 Sam. 22:5), continued
  the history thus commenced; and Nathan completed it, probably
  arranging the whole in the form in which we now have it (1 Chr.
  29:29).
  
    The contents of the books. The first book comprises a period
  of about a hundred years, and nearly coincides with the life of
  Samuel. It contains (1) the history of Eli (1-4); (2) the
  history of Samuel (5-12); (3) the history of Saul, and of David
  in exile (13-31). The second book, comprising a period of
  perhaps fifty years, contains a history of the reign of David
  (1) over Judah (1-4), and (2) over all Israel (5-24), mainly in
  its political aspects. The last four chapters of Second Samuel
  may be regarded as a sort of appendix recording various events,
  but not chronologically. These books do not contain complete
  histories. Frequent gaps are met with in the record, because
  their object is to present a history of the kingdom of God in
  its gradual development, and not of the events of the reigns of
  the successive rulers. It is noticeable that the section (2 Sam.
  11:2-12: 29) containing an account of David's sin in the matter
  of Bathsheba is omitted in the corresponding passage in 1 Chr.
  20.